From: ba@mrcnext.cso.uiuc.edu (B.A. Davis-Howe)
Subject: Re: herbal freedom
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 00:27:48 GMT

shava@hermes.oit.unc.edu (Shava Nerad Averett) writes:

>This new law would, in my opinion, be an unenforceable mess for anything
>that could be grown in this country (at least for us herb gardeners! ;),
>but I believe that it is wrong-minded in its concepts (opinion, in case
>you think I'm pontificating).  I believe that people would be better off
>with a more liberal reform of the patent laws in this country, which would
>allow us to certify the effectiveness of herbal medicines in a cost-effective
>manner -- or at least prove no-harm, and label the herbs for their TRADI-
>TIONAL theraputic use, so people don't end up poisoning themselves. (My
>favorite current example is the sports drinks with aloe vera juice in them.
>Aloe, in addition to being a pretty powerful laxative when taken internally,
>is a powerful abortifacient -- yet the FDA won't allow a 'unproven claim'
>to be published as a warning on the labels of these drinks, warning women
>who might be pregnant away from them -- of course, one suspects that the
>FDA doesn't want folks to know that there are effective, and cheap 
>abortifacients out there...)

>I encourage folks to contact their congresscritters.  Remember that 
>this law would also restrict trade in traditional medicinals such as
>mhyrr, which folks here might like to use for various purposes...  

Well, I've discussed this in the past with a friend of mine who is an herbalist
and is All But Dissertation on a PhD in Family and Consumer Economics.  The law
restricting claims on packaging is part of a whole effort to make food labeling
more accurate.  She has been working for years to get this law passed.  It does
prevent manufacturers from claiming that herbs have particular benefits on the
packaging, but it does not restrict the sale of the herbs at all.  The only
limit the FDA is putting on things is what can be claimed on a label.  Please
note that these substances are being sold as *foods* not as *drugs*.  They have
none of the restrictions or protections on them that drugs have.  (Granted, some
of those protections go too far, but they do save lives.)  The herbal products
will continue to be sold, however, they will no longer have claims on them of
drug-like abilities unless they are verified as drugs.  This is to deal with all
those "wake-up teas" etc.  There are a great deal of herbal products out there
with deceptive advertising.  ("All natural herbs which will help you keep 
awake.  Avoid caffeine and harmful stimulants"  Check the ingredients and you 
will see Ma Huang or some such--caffeine is every bit as "natural" as Ma Huang.)
Also, this may actually stop the silly uses of "natural" on things which are
very questionable.  The information may be a little harder to find (one will 
have to use an herbal book, rather than labels), but the disinformation will 
majorly be decreased (authors of herbal books have no stake in tricking you into
buying a given product).  All in all, the restriction of labels helps the people
who are doing good work.

              Merry meet, merry part, merry meet again,
                               Br'anArthur

Queer, Peculiar, and Wyrd! :-)
Newsgroups: alt.magick