50 lines
2.7 KiB
Plaintext
50 lines
2.7 KiB
Plaintext
HERBALISTHERBSCHINESEHEALTHMEDICINEDRUGONTARIOGOVERNMENT
|
||
CHINESE CHECKERS (Chinese Herbalists)
|
||
|
||
Chinese Checkers!
|
||
-----------------
|
||
|
||
Last December saw new Government initiatives directed
|
||
specifically towards imported Chinese medicines. The Oriental
|
||
community, fearing restrictions on the use of their traditional
|
||
medicinal herbs, organised a public meeting in Toronto, inviting
|
||
representatives from Health and Welfare Canada to explain the new
|
||
Government position.
|
||
|
||
I could not resist attending this meeting myself and after
|
||
hearing both sides speak, it seems that these remedies are now
|
||
subject to the same Food and Drug regulations that all other
|
||
herbal preparations have to deal with. Packaging must now be
|
||
bi-(tri?)-lingual, and no claims may be made in regard to their
|
||
medicinal effectiveness, unless of course the remedy has a
|
||
Government approved Drug Identification Number (DIN).
|
||
|
||
Unfortunately Health and Welfare Canada appear to have adopted
|
||
the `let's see how difficult we can make it for them' approach,
|
||
when it comes to issuing these DIN numbers. This was amply
|
||
illustrated at the meeting, with many fully documented examples
|
||
of importers and manufacturers bending over backwards to conform
|
||
to regulations, that seemed to change as frequently as the hair
|
||
styles of the Government bureaucrats involved!
|
||
|
||
As a service to our members the Society has available a full(?)
|
||
list of the restricted Chinese herb products. The size of this
|
||
list prohibits us from printing it here, so if you would like a
|
||
copy, please write to us and we will mail one out to you.
|
||
|
||
However, the importation and sale of non-proscribed Chinese herbs
|
||
in their natural form, i.e. roots, leaves, barks etc. is NOT
|
||
affected. Dong quai (Chinese angelica), will still be available
|
||
at your herb store. Although for how long is anyone's guess. Our
|
||
most useful and effective herbs are classed as restricted, with
|
||
more joining the proscribed lists than ever before. How long
|
||
before your chamomile tea becomes an illegal drug? Don't laugh,
|
||
it's happening. Yet thousands of our citizens are addicted to the
|
||
legal botanic drug caffeine, with the prospect of any restriction
|
||
concerning its use, non existent. What on earth is going on here?
|
||
|
||
This Article is taken from The Herbalist, newsletter of the
|
||
Canadian Herbal Research Society. COPYRIGHT June 1988.
|
||
Membership in the Society is $25.00 Canadian per year. You
|
||
receive four copies of the Journal each year and help to promote
|
||
herbalism and botanic medicine throughout Canada.
|
||
|
||
THE SOCIETY HAS NO PAID OFFICIALS and is run entirely by
|
||
volunteers from among the membership.
|
||
|
||
If you would like more info please write:
|
||
Botanic Medicine Society.
|
||
P.O. Box 82. Stn. A.
|
||
Willowdale, Ont. CANADA.
|
||
M2N 5S7.
|
||
|