Why is it legal for Ephedra to be sold as a decongestant but be banned from being in diet pills?

Question:

I used to use Xenadrine and Hydroxycut with Ephedra when I was training and needed to lose a few pounds. Then it was banned from being used in these and other diet products. When they took the ephedra out of the products I use I noticed right away. Now they don't work at all. The funny thing is when I went to look around on the net I noticed that diet sites are selling Ephedra..but in brackets they put (as a decongestant).
Here is a link to see for yourself
http://www.supplementscanada.com/popeyes...

What is the point of banning ephedra in diet pills if you can get it "as a decongestant"? I thought the ephedra worked great as long as you didn't take too many. I admit, if you take too much of the stuff your heart races and you feel awful but taken responsibly it works wonders in combination with excercise and good diet. I think people should have the choice to buy supplements with and without the Ephedra. What do you think?

Answer:
Because it hasn't been tested and approved for use as a weightloss drug.

It has been tested as a decongestant and used as such, it does not have any dangerous side affects. This type of usage comes with many assumptions: limited use, short duration usage, low dosage.

In order to be effective as a weightloss product, usage would have to be longer term and higher dosage. This may or may not be dangerous depending on the individual. Since the company has not proved it safe for this usage, it cannot be advertised as such. The FDC enforces this by placing strong restrictions on drug manufacturers and by making it illegal for individuals to use any drug for a purpose other than as indicated.

I read an article a while ago it isn't banned anymore from diet pills, the thing is they are only allowed to put so much in.

Why is it legal for Ephedra to be sold as a decongestant but be banned from being in diet pills?

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