Bill Bans Dietary Aids for Minors

SACRAMENTO — SACRAMENTO -- The Senate voted Thursday to ban the sale to minors of widely available dietary supplements including creatine, androstenedion and the stimulant herbal ephedrine, sending the bill to the Assembly where similar legislation has stalled.

Sen. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough), who is carrying the bill, SB1750, won Senate approval of similar legislation last year, but it stalled in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

This year, Speier is one of three Democrats pushing bills to crack down on the largely unregulated niche of the dietary supplement industry that markets hormones, stimulants and other herbal concoctions to people who want to lose weight, bulk up their muscles or enhance their athletic ability.

Urging support for her measure, Speier noted that the Olympics, NCAA and National Football League all ban at least some of the products, but that there is no such prohibition on their use by high school-age athletes.

The bill also would require that manufacturers place more prominent warning labels on such products and include a toll-free phone number to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration so consumers could report adverse reactions.

Opponents include several industry trade groups representing manufacturers of largely unregulated dietary supplements, as well as the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which fears that retail clerks would be subject to discipline for failing to check consumers’ ages.

The Senate approved the measure on a 27-8 vote without debate. Several Republicans opposed it, contending that the federal government should take the lead in regulating such products, the argument made by Gov. Gray Davis when he vetoed related legislation in 2000.

“The fact is, the federal government hasn’t acted,” said Sen. Rico Oller of San Andreas, one of a handful of Republicans who backed the bill. He added that he believes herbal ephedrine, contained in products marketed to people hoping to lose weight or enhance their athletic ability, “is a serious problem, particularly for young girls who want to lose weight.”