FORM LETTER FOR CONSUMER HEALTH FREE SPEECH ACT  (HR 2868) 
     
     
CONSUMER HEALTH FREE SPEECH ACT
H.R.2868 NEEDS YOU AS A CO-SPONSOR!
      
To The Honorable______________________________
                        United States House of Representatives
Washington,DC 20515
      
Dear Representative_______________________________,
                                    ,
     
Simply changing "or" to "and" two times in the Federal Food, Drug, and
Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act), and adding three words "other than food" in the
appropriate places will greatly increase health freedom in the United 
States.
      
FIRST: The present definition of the term "DRUG" in the FD&C Act is so
overly-broad that it includes foods, herbs, and dietary supplements. The
present flawed definition reads: "The term ‘drug' means articles intended
for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of
disease in man..."
      
Congressman Ron Paul's simple 5 word bill would add three words "other than
food" immediately following the word "articles" so it would read:
      
"The term ‘drug' means articles, other than food, intended for use in the
diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of disease in man..."
      
Adding these three words would exempt all foods (which include herbs and
other dietary supplements) from being regulated as drugs by FDA. It would
also prevent FDA from banning true health claims for these food products
simply because they have not been cleared as "drug" claims by FDA.
      
Excellent scientific research in nutrition has been exploding in recent
years which shows that herbs and other dietary supplements are safe and
incredibly effective in preventing and mitigating many diseases. However,
the flawed definition of the term ‘drug' makes it a federal crime for the
dietary supplement industry to give this true information to consumers as
part of the label or labeling of herbs or dietary supplements.
      
Section 403 of FD&C Act protects consumers against false or misleading
health claims for foods. It says:"Sec.403. A food shall be deemed to be
misbranded if its labeling is false or misleading in any particular..."
This gives FDA tremendous authority over false or misleading labeling.
    
Second: By changing the "or" to an "and" it will set a much higher and more
fair standard that FDA must meet before it can limit or ban the sale of
herbs or dietary supplements by claiming they present an unreasonable 
"risk".
     
The Paul amendment will require the FDA to prove the risk is both
significant AND unreasonable.
     
It is well known that FDA has a long history of hostility against true
health claims by the herb and dietary supplement industry. Under present
law, FDA can easily charge that a targeted food, herb, or dietary
supplement has a risk because there is admittedly a risk to some sensitive
or allergic persons from virtually every food, herb, or dietary supplement.
     
Name_________________________________
      
Date________________
      
Address_________________________________________________
       
City____________________________________State_______Zip______________
         
(cc this to both Senators, and ask them to sponsor a Senate companion bill!)
Information provided courtesy IAHF
http://www.pnc.com.au/~cafmr/hammell/index.html
******************************************
Donations Needed- Am One Person Working Alone
International Advocates for Health Freedom
John C. Hammell, Legislative Advocate
2411 Monroe St.#2 Hollywood, FL 33020 USA
800-333-2553, 954-929-2905, FAX 954-929-0507, 
FAX ON DEMAND 954-927-8795,jham@concentric.net
http://www.pnc.com.au/~cafmr/hammell/index.html