Washington, D.C.—The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the Designer Anabolic Steroid Control Act (DASCA), an act designed to give the DEA added authority to act when designer anabolic steroids are mismarketed as dietary supplements.

This practice takes place when illegal steroids are reverse engineered and slightly chemically altered to avoid placement on the DEA’s controlled substance list. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), who introduced the House bill along with Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA), noted the potential dangers in a statement, saying “Designer anabolic steroids can cause serious harm to consumers, as well as young athletes, who may unknowingly be using these products. Ensuring that they are classified as controlled substances is vital to protecting the public health."

The act has been generating bipartisan support for quite some time. In June, Senators Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John McCain (R-AZ), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) all came together to support the bill. Several health and natural products associations are also firmly behind the passage of the act, including American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA), Natural Products Association (NPA), United Natural Products Alliance (UNPA) and the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN). Mike Greene, vice president of government relations at CRN congratulated the House and praised Rep. Pitts and Rep. Pallone for their leadership in passing the act. In a statement, he said “if DASCA is passed by Congress and signed into law by the president, DEA’s enhanced authority would help protect consumers from illegal products that could present safety concerns and will give them greater confidence that the products brought to market and sold as dietary supplements are legal.”

Published in WholeFoods Magazine, November 2014 (online 9/16/14)