Lawmakers seek ban of dangerous supplement

A push to ban the fitness supplement DMAA brought a sports hero to the capitol and parents who say they lost their son to the substance.
 
Senate Co Leader Jeff Klein is pressing to ban the performance enhancing supplement DMAA, also know n as Jack 3 D in New York ,saying it causes dangerous conditions like rapid heart beat, a spike in blood pressure, and in some cases, death from stroke or heart attack.
 
“This won’t be tolerated,” Senator Klein said.
 
Leanna and Michael Sparling, are the parents of Michael Sparling, Jr., a marine who died of a sudden heart attack in 2011 while taking the drug.
 
“He was an amazing young man,” said Leanna Sparling. “Because of this supplement, my family has been given a life sentence.”  
 
The US Military has since banned the supplement, as has the NCAA and the World Anti Doping Agency, and Major League Baseball .
 
Former Baseball Player Jose Canseco, who has admitted to using steroids during his major league baseball career,  says his message to young people wanting to get ahead is- supplements aren’t the way.  
 
“Dietary supplements actually work against you,” said Canseco, who said combining them with other substances “can be deadly.”
 
Despite the numerous bans, DMAA is still legal. The Federal Food and Drug Administration is studying it’s potential harmful effects, however, and has sent warning letters to manufacturers and retail and on line suppliers.
 
Senator Klein says he’d like New York to act, and not wait for the federal government. He likens it to the delays over banning the diet supplement ephedra in the 1990’s which was found to also be dangerous.
 
“We’re putting manufacturers on notice,” said Klein. “What they’re doing is nothing but a back door way to just peddle drugs to our young people, and that has to stop.”
 
Senator Klein says the bill has a sponsor in the Assembly, Democratic Assemblywoman Michelle Schimell. He hopes that it moves quickly through the legislature.