Well kiddies, they're counting down all over the world. We have to be up really early tomorrow so I'm toddling off to bed now. Happy New Year everyone!! I wish you all the best for 2004.

On that note, I'm posting a final article of the year. Some people are just too stupid to live. Whoever thinks, "yeah, that stuff's gonna be banned, best go out and stock me up some." Sheesh, some people are just morons.

Ephedra Products Sell Fast Ahead of Ban
By JENNIFER PETER, Associated Press Writer

WATERTOWN, Mass. - Products with names like Speed Stack, Ripped Force, TrimSpa and Kranker started flying off the shelves at the Lo Fat Know Fat Gourmet Cafe after the Food and Drug Administration announced plans to ban the dietary supplement ephedra in two months.

"People have been buying it like crazy," co-owner Christopher Pappas said. "They know it's going to be taken off the shelf so they're stocking up."

After months of rising concerns, the FDA announced Tuesday that it would ban ephedra next year and strongly urged people not to take the herbal supplement in the meantime.

Ephedra, used for weight loss and bodybuilding, has been linked to 155 deaths, including that of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler last February, and dozens of heart attacks and strokes.

Across the country, some stores reported sharp increases in sales Wednesday, while others said some customers knew the ban was coming and stocked up some time ago. Some said the demand for ephedra decreased long ago in favor of products advertised as ephedra-free.

GNC, which has 5,000 health food stores across the country, banned ephedra-containing products in June. The NFL banned its players from using ephedra as a dietary supplement in 2001.

"We have customers who have been stocking up for several months, knowing what was coming down the road," said Claudia David-Roscoe, co-owner of Claudia's Natural Food Market in Toledo, Ohio.

In Overland Park, Kan., Russell Wood of Fit 4 Less said that after the ban was announced, one woman wanted to buy two cases of 24 bottles each. Normally, Wood said, he sells 30 to 50 bottles per month.

At the Lo Fat Know Fat Gourmet Cafe, manager Ryan McElhiney, who takes ephedra himself, said one customer spent $369 on ephedra tablets Tuesday soon after the announcement.

Kate Morreale, 22, a regular customer and part-time worker at the dietary supplement store, did not wait that long. She bought two cases of an ephedra-containing drink, called Speed Stack, over the summer when a ban seemed imminent.

"It should last me a while, at least through the year," she said.