Conscious Choice: So Many Tricky Choices

October 2002 | Editor’s Note

So Many Tricky Choices

We all have our idea of what a Dream Job would be. At the top of my list is editor of Conscious Choice. So you can imagine the excitement and determination I bring to my new position. Simultaneously, however, there’s a cruel nagging realization in doing this job. And that is: there’s no one right way to be correct in each of the "conscious" choices we make.

Damn! If only our choices were black and white...eat one way, shop another, recycle that way and vote this way. It would be so much easier and so would my job! But, then again, Conscious Choice’s entire reason for existence is to help us sort through the complex and rough-edged issues that challenge us to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.

More often than not, the question as to what is right for the "better good" is deep and complicated with no clear-cut answers. We encounter several examples in this issue alone and I’m thankful for our skilled writers who can sort through the torturous dimensions of subjects that have twisted implications.

Politics, for instance, in this election season, poses the stickiest wicket for making wise choices. Several of our writers confront the realities of choosing lawmakers who are more than handmaidens to Big Business. Jim Slama gives us a compass for picking the candidates and, on this page, we offer our endorsements of those we believe would tow the line for sustainability and conscious living.

Yet, one can take pause with these thoughtful choices as well.

Personally, I’m wrestling with concerns I have over U.S. Senator Richard Durbin’s aggressive moves to tamper with the law that gives us nearly unfettered access to dietary supplements. First, he is on a crusade to suspend sales of ephedra (ma huang), a popular dietary supplement in the U.S. that has been deemed safe and effective (when used as directed) in studies by Harvard and Columbia Universities.

Secondly, Durbin is looking to address, in general, the "safety of dietary supplements" by holding senate hearings. My concern is over potential action that could well result in altering, or gutting, the law, known as the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (dshea) that governs the sale of supplements in the U.S.

Durbin’s alleged intent is to protect consumers from this evil herb. Although his motives may be pure, his actions are dangerous and risk our health freedoms. Insiders know that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has had an historic bias against nutritional supplements infused with a strong desire to bring them under its regulatory control, much like drugs. Imagine if we had to count on our conventional medical doctors (who are steeped in a pharmaceutical drug culture) to prescribe nutritional supplements. It could well be the demise of natural healing in this country.

Durbin must know that when dshea was enacted in 1994, Congress gave the fda the authority to assure that dietary supplements, including ephedra, are safe and are accurately and truthfully labeled. But the fda has repeatedly failed to exercise its authority to remove dangerous drug products masquerading as dietary supplements, some of which contain ephedra.

Hence there is no need to start fiddling with the dietary supplement law. But congressional hearings produce a lot of high profile huffing and puffing as opposed to quiet behind-the-scenes maneuvering. Politicians like to be noisy.

And so here comes the clincher and another tough choice. There’s no question that Senator Durbin is a friend on other issues close to our Conscious Choice hearts. As Slama notes, Durbin gets high scores on his environmental record and his ability to capture money and jobs for Illinois.

The trade-offs are evident in choosing whether to back the senator for reelection. And so go the myriad choices that will keep me vigilant as this magazine’s editor.— Rebecca Ephraim

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