Lincoln can lead state and
nation in ephedra ban

Budget meeting Saturday

[MARCH 12, 2003]  The city of Lincoln can set the benchmark for the state, and even for the nation, by passing an ordinance regulating sales of ephedra, Kevin Riggins told the Lincoln City Council.

The ordinance, which bans sales of the herbal supplement to anyone under 18 and requires merchants to keep products containing ephedra behind the counter, was reviewed Tuesday evening at a council work session and will be on the agenda at the next regular meeting, March 17.

Riggins told the council that even if state and federal laws are passed that supersede Lincoln's ordinance, "We can say we saw we had a problem and did something about it."

He said the American Medical Association, the Chicago Medical Society and other groups, including local physicians, say ephedra is unsafe and should not be on the market.

"When physicians are telling us this, we don't need to listen to the hype of the industry." He said the 55 studies that say such products are safe were "bought and paid for" by the herbal supplement industry.

Riggins' son, Sean, a 16-year-old athlete, died of a heart attack after taking energy-enhancing products containing ephedra and other stimulants.

Since the death of his son, Riggins and his wife, Debbie, and Logan County Coroner Chuck Fricke have been campaigning both locally and nationally to keep pills containing ephedra out of the hands of young people.

They have attended a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing in Washington, D.C., with Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, who has also been working to regulate the sales of these products, and recently attended a media conference with Durbin at Whitney Young School in Chicago.

Along with other members of the Sean Riggins Foundation for Substance Free Schools, they recently made a presentation at Lincoln Community High School to warn students about the dangers of the drug, which is promoted as an energy enhancer and a weight-loss aid.

On Saturday they will go to Chillicothe to put on a program for members of school boards in that area. They have also been approached by other schools in Logan County.

     Coroner Chuck Fricke demonstrates that the “warning label” on Yellow Jackets, which must be peeled off the container, is usually difficult or impossible to read. 

Fricke told the council that several medical groups, including the American Medical Association, are asking the Food and Drug Administration to "take back the control they lost in 1994," when the FDA ruled that herbal supplements were food and not drugs and therefore did not qualify to be regulated.
 

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[photos by Joan Crabb]
Kevin Riggins, Debbie Riggins (right of center) and board members of the Sean Riggins Foundation (left to right) Teresa Haferkamp, Kelly Crabtree-Patton and Darla Pinney attended Tuesday’s city council meeting.

Buying herbal supplements is a case of caveat emptor or "buyer beware," he said.

"When you take an aspirin, you know that what is in the first pill is the same as what is in the last pill. When taking products like ephedra, there is no control at all."

Demonstrating the so-called warning label on a bottle of Yellow Jackets, an ephedra-containing product, he showed how difficult it is to find the warning, let alone read it. The warning is on the underside of the label, which has to be pulled from the container to be read, the print on the warning is very small, and part of message can be lost because some of the printed material is pulled off the back of the label as it is peeled from the container.

Fricke urged the council to pass the ordinance. "Senator Durbin urged us to go back to the city council and get an ordinance passed. He wants to see each community take a stand. I don't want another incident like Sean Riggins," he said.

Mayor Beth Davis said she thought the ordinance prepared by City Attorney Bill Bates would "do what the city wants to do" to support the ban on ephedra.

Fricke said some retailers in the city have already put the herbal stimulants behind the counter, but others have not. He said many gas stations and convenience stores make very little profit on gasoline or cigarettes but do have a large profit margin on the herbal supplements.

Although the council cannot take official action at a work session, there was every indication that the ordinance will pass next Monday.

When Bates said there is legislation pending in Springfield that will prohibit the sale of ephedra products entirely, Alderman Verl Prather said the council doesn't want to wait.

"We can't sit around on our hands waiting for the state and federal government to do something, he said. "We've already lost one of our own."

In other business, Prather reminded the council that the finance committee will have its first meeting on next year's budget Saturday morning at 9 a.m. He said he had received detailed information from heads of the fire, police and street departments about the number of personnel and their duties. Although council members have said they do not want to cut staff to balance the city's budget, they are facing a serious budget crunch.

[Joan Crabb]

Winter 2002-03 and spring outlook

[MARCH 12, 2003]  The following statistics are for the meteorological winter of 2002-03, which is comprised of the months of December, January and February.

*December, January, February

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In summary, a warmer than normal December nearly offset the colder than normal temperatures in January and February to produce normal to slightly below normal temperatures for the winter. Snowfall ranged from about 1 inch below normal in Peoria to more than 7 inches above normal in Springfield. Most of the snow had very little water content, resulting in liquid precipitation of 2 to 3 inches below normal for the winter.

Locations in central Illinois, roughly north of a line from Quincy to Bloomington, remain in a moderate to severe drought. Precipitation at Peoria has been 8.08 inches below normal for the past six months.

The long-range forecast for the months of March, April and May is calling for precipitation to continue to be below normal, with temperatures near normal.

Normal precipitation for March through May in central Illinois is around 10.50 inches. Normal snowfall for March through May is 4.0 to 5.0 inches.

Normal highs range from 50 in March to the lower 60s in April, with middle 70s in May. Normal lows range from the lower 30s in March to the lower 40s in April, with lower 50s in May.

[National Weather Service office, Lincoln]

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