Thread: is ephedrine illegal in the military

It's banned from sale at military exchanges/commissaries, but I don't think it's banned for use by military personnel.

Doesn't matter. When you go for a Golden Flow they aren't looking for those types of drugs anyway. They test for opiates, THC and meth based drugs. If you're truely concerned, and assuming you're getting them from a legit store, just save the receipts from your bottles. If you ever got tagged you'd show your 1st Sergeant the receipt and tell him you thought you were getting them legally. The worst he'd do is slap you on the wrist and tell you to knock it off.

ephedrine is no longer banned, you can go and buy it.. finally

Originally Posted by gr81

ephedrine is no longer banned, you can go and buy it.. finally

The FDA will probably appeal the decision so don't count your chickens just yet.

Originally Posted by joesmooth20

I know you can buy pure ephedrine pills but i'm in the military and really don't
want to ask any of the corpsman this question since i take it.

Easy. Diverge attention. Go like this: Is heroin legal here? What about cocaine? Ephedrine and sex with horses?

Ephedrine is INDEED illegal in the Military. My unit spicifically passed policy that specifically names Ephedrine (and any products containing ephedrine) as banned substances that are punishable under the UCMJ.

Hence the reason that the PX cannot sell ephedrine products.

Originally Posted by gr81

ephedrine is no longer banned, you can go and buy it.. finally

Ephedrine never was banned....

Originally Posted by Witmaster

Ephedrine is INDEED illegal in the Military. My unit spicifically passed policy that specifically names Ephedrine (and any products containing ephedrine) as banned substances that are punishable under the UCMJ.

Hence the reason that the PX cannot sell ephedrine products.

thanks dude, i guess i'll stop taking it. hmmmm what to use now for some
extra metobalic boost

Originally Posted by Witmaster

Ephedrine is INDEED illegal in the Military. My unit spicifically passed policy that specifically names Ephedrine (and any products containing ephedrine) as banned substances that are punishable under the UCMJ.

Hence the reason that the PX cannot sell ephedrine products.

Huh? Your UNIT passed a policy that made it illegal in the entire military??? Now THAT is one powerful commander. :eek

The UCMJ applies to the entire military. ALL branches. One unit commander can't make policy that doesn't correspond to what's already in there.

Originally Posted by ALBOB

Huh? Your UNIT passed a policy that made it illegal in the entire military??? Now THAT is one powerful commander. :eek

The UCMJ applies to the entire military. ALL branches. One unit commander can't make policy that doesn't correspond to what's already in there.

you're right. My Commander is indeed all powerfull and should be feared by all who oppose him... now please allow me to articulate this a little more clearly for you anal-retentive detail freaks out there.

Back in 2002 some jackass gave testimony to the FDA encouraging them to ban ephedrine. This guy was citing cases in where 30 or so MILITARY personnel died from taking ephedrine alkaloid products (you can read about it here ). This testimony, the subsequent "banning" of ephedrine products, predicated the Pentagon to establish policy making it illegal for persons in military service to take these substances.

Now the point I was trying to make was this... Because the military (Pentagon) has established policy making it illegal to take ephedrine, Commanders now have the latitude to enforce these policies. Now, granted, Ephedrine "abuse" is not as high a concern as say, cocain or marajuana abuse, so a commander may choose to ignore ephedrine and concentrate his budget on other narcotics that promote a higher risk.

Anyhow.... enough of this prolonged explanation. If you didn't understand my intent in the first post I certainly hope this makes it a little more clear.

Originally Posted by Witmaster

Now the point I was trying to make was this... Because the military (Pentagon) has established policy making it illegal to take ephedrine, Commanders now have the latitude to enforce these policies. Now, granted, Ephedrine "abuse" is not as high a concern as say, cocain or marajuana abuse, so a commander may choose to ignore ephedrine and concentrate his budget on other narcotics that promote a higher risk.

Anyhow.... enough of this prolonged explanation. If you didn't understand my intent in the first post I certainly hope this makes it a little more clear.

Yyyyyyyyeah................NO! Sorry, now you've flipped in the opposite direction. If the DoD says something (Ephedrine) is illegal, then commanders have NO latitude to enforce this policy. They do what the Pentagon tells them to do or they aren't commanders for very long.

P.S. You do realize I'm only being pissy here, right? This isn't something I'm going to lose sleep over, just looking for an explanation that makes sense so joesmooth20 can sleep easy tonight.

Originally Posted by ALBOB

Yyyyyyyyeah................NO! Sorry, now you've flipped in the opposite direction. If the DoD says something (Ephedrine) is illegal, then commanders have NO latitude to enforce this policy. They do what the Pentagon tells them to do or they aren't commanders for very long.

P.S. You do realize I'm only being pissy here, right? This isn't something I'm going to lose sleep over, just looking for an explanation that makes sense so joesmooth20 can sleep easy tonight.

Of course I realize you're being pissy. But I also realize that there is what policy states and what reality dictates.

Example: While in afghanistan we conducted drug screenings for the usualy narcotics (barbituates, amphetamines, opiates and the like). Then one day a platoon Sergeant discovered a shiload of needles, syringes, and about 5000 ml of Deca in one of his squad's tents. What happened next? Well the Brigade Commander ordered a whole new slew of drug tests screening specifically for steroids!

My point is this. Unless a commander percieves (or has evidence showing) there is a problem with ephedrine abuse within his ranks he is likely to not test for it. This does not alleviate the fact that it is still illegal.

Originally Posted by Witmaster

My point is this. Unless a commander percieves (or has evidence showing) there is a problem with ephedrine abuse within his ranks he is likely to not test for it. This does not alleviate the fact that it is still illegal.

Ah HA!!! NOW you're starting to speak the same military jargo I do. There's a difference between what's illegal and what's actually enforced.

(You had guys smuggle Decca all the way to Afghanistan?!?!? Damn, I thought I was on the cutting edge just smuggling bodybuilding mags into Saudi Arabia. )

Originally Posted by du510

Ephedrine never was banned....

Sounds like it was banned in the Military 2 me...

Could you imagine receiving punishment under the UCMJ...

And... Having to attend D&A counseling for like a year...

For taking some Ripped Feul caps!?

Originally Posted by ALBOB

(You had guys smuggle Decca all the way to Afghanistan?!?!? Damn, I thought I was on the cutting edge just smuggling bodybuilding mags into Saudi Arabia. )

Actually, we had guys get it locally. Our interpreters had connections in Pakistan.