Pubdate: Wed, 07 Apr 1999 Source: Houston Chronicle (TX) Page: 24A Copyright: 1999 Houston Chronicle Contact: http://www.chron.com/ Forum: http://www.chron.com/content/hcitalk/index.html Author: John W. Gonzalez, Julie Mason and Kathy Walt BILL TARGETS SALES OF EPHEDRINE TO MINORS The Texas Senate gave preliminary approval Tuesday to a bill that would make it illegal to sell products containing ephedrine to minors. Under Senate Bill 656, muscle enhancers, diet supplements and other products containing ephedrine could not be sold to people 17 years old and younger, unless a doctor or parent approves. Many over-the-counter drugs for treating hay fever, asthma, nasal congestion and hemorrhoids as well as weight-loss supplements and energy boosters contain ephedrine, a chemical that can be extracted from herbs or produced synthetically in a lab. The bill, which also would require labeling the product with a warning that sale to minors is prohibited, would make it a class C misdemeanor, punishable by fine of up to $500, for a seller's first-time offense, and a class B misdemeanor, punishable by $2,000 fine and 180-day jail term, for subsequent violations. Ephedrine has been linked to depression, psychosis, high blood pressure and some deaths. The Texas Department of Health has been trying since 1995 to require prescriptions for products containing ephedrine. - --- MAP posted-by: Rich O'Grady