Re: [RC] claming agents that won't test positive, know any? - Heidi Smith
>If some of these weeds were harvested,
dried I am sure you could classify them as a herb. The whole issue about herbs
is quite gray as far as I see. So in my pasture it is okay since it is a
naturally occurring substance but bought at GNC the same exact substance is not
allowed?
No, Truman, the rule is not gray at all. It
is just as illegal if they eat it in your pasture as if you buy it at GNC and
give it to them. It behooves endurance folks to not have their horses
eating strange things. The actual policy for implementation of the
rule, though, is that if your horse tests positive for trace amounts of some
off-the-wall thing that you clearly didn't give him, your violation of the
rule is most apt to be treated with a warning letter, whereas if he tests
positive for therapeutic amounts of something, you're gonna get
whacked.
>However, it's not all that clear how the drug rule
expressly applies unless these herbs contain prohibited active drugs in
sufficient amounts to have some pharmacological effect or a making agent. Both
of these are specifically addressed in the list that was at one time on the AERC
website.
The rule doesn't state "sufficient amounts."
It states a no tolerance policy. These substances ARE NOT "natural
foodstuffs"--even if your horse eats them in plants in the pasture. Heck,
in the woods in southern Oregon in some places, he could go on a cannabis
"high" from grazing along the trail, just as surely as if he was eating laced
brownies in the 60's. Doesn't make it legal...
>The FDA
has been wrestling with how to regulate the herbal industry for several years
and as of yet they (and Congress ) can't seem to come up with anything that
makes much sense. How do you regulate something "grandma grows in the back yard
(and has been doing it for 50 years ) as something to make her feed good on a
cold day?"
The FDA's task is not at all equivalent to
AERC's. The AERC rule says you won't use it, period. FDA has to
regulate with regard to efficacy and quality--those CAN be gray areas with
herbal/"natural" preparations.
