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.
[to top of second column in
this article] |
[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]
|
Month |
Avg.
temp. |
Dep.
from normal |
Precipi-tation |
Dep. from normal |
Snow |
Lincoln |
December |
31.7 |
+2.4 |
1.62 |
-1.01 |
5.5 |
January |
22.0 |
-1.6 |
0.74 |
-0.96 |
9.1 |
February |
25.7 |
-3.1 |
0.85 |
-0.70 |
6.8 |
Winter* |
26.5 |
-0.8 |
3.21 |
-2.67 |
21.4 (+5.5) |
Springfield |
December |
33.1 |
+2.8 |
1.70 |
-0.84 |
5.3 |
January |
22.1 |
-3.0 |
0.76 |
-0.86 |
9.1 |
February |
26.2 |
-4.4 |
1.15 |
-0.65 |
10.5 |
Winter* |
27.1 |
-1.5 |
3.61 |
-2.35 |
24.9 (+7.3) |
Peoria |
December |
32.1 |
+4.3 |
2.21 |
-0.19 |
3.3 |
January |
22.0 |
-0.5 |
0.47 |
-1.03 |
6.3 |
February |
24.4 |
-3.8 |
0.77 |
-0.90 |
7.9 |
Winter* |
26.2 |
0.0 |
3.45 |
-2.12 |
17.5
(-1.3) |
*December, January, February
[to top of second column in
this article] |
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] |