Ephedra and forked-tongues

Okay, sometimes I feel like our rights are being eroded one by one until we will eventually have none left. I heard on the news last night that Illinois is banning tongue-splitting. For those of you that don’t know, tongue-splittinging is a body modification where someone has their tongue split down the middle. It’s cosmetic, and the latest trend to one-up tattoos and piercings. I can’t say I’m fond of tongue splitting, as it’s not something that will just go away if you don’t like it. I can just see you going in for an interview and causing your prospective boss to have a heart attack when he sees your forked tongue.

That all being said, what business is it of Illinois to legislate what an adult can do to their own body? Granted, they aren’t saying that you can’t HAVE your tongue split, you just cannot get it done IN Illinois. So, all this does is send people across the border into another state to have it done. So, Illinois is forcing dollars OUT of the state, and could be contributing to people attempting to do it themselves. I can only imagine the carnage that would happen there. Doesn’t our government have better things to do? And where does it end?

That brings me to the federal government banning Ephedra products. Um, why? The stats I’ve heard state that it can be dangerous to your heart when TAKEN IN LARGE DOSES. But, if taken in normal doses and as directed there are minimal if any ill effects. The stat I heard on TV is that there have been 1600 ephedra related deaths. Is THAT enough to make us take it off the market?

When I started college (and that’s been nearly 15 years ago) I took ephedrine. It was easily available over the counter. It was touted as a medicine for asthma. Everyone in college used it as a stimulant however. It was used to stay up all night cramming, or for a speed buzz before partying. Now I actually HAVE asthma, and as such, it worked well to help me breathe. It was also much cheaper to buy than stuff I could use at the Pharmacy. That being said, I did use it to stay up all night studying, or on the graveyard shift at some of my jobs occasionally. Taking too many of the pills did things like cause my hair to feel like it was it’s own sentient entity. After taking too many pills like that a couple of times, I decided that it was pretty stupid to do so, and I scaled back to using the product as directed.

So check this out. I was STUPID for taking too many pills. Just like the majority of those 1600 deaths were stupid for taking way too much ephedra products and then doing something strenuous enough to cause a heart attack. Trust me, if you OD on caffeine pills and do a heavy work out, the same thing is going to happen. You just have to take some personal responsibility. You will see that is a personal mantra of mine. Take Responsibility.

Now one of the mothers testified and said "How many children have to die before this is taken off the market?" To that I would reply. The stupid ones. Maybe if you had done your job as a parent, this wouldn’t have happened. Maybe if little Johnny didn’t take 10 pills when he should have taken two, this wouldn’t have happened. Maybe if people would take personal responsibility, this wouldn’t have happened.

But no. Another freedom taken away. People who could use epehdra legally and with good results will not be able to any more. Because we had to get the government involved, all because 1600 people took too many pills and wondered why their hearts exploded. I want Big Macs taken off the market next. For Christ’s Sake, too many people are having heart attacks for eating too many!!!!!