Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) has cosigned the Designer Anabolic Steroid Control Act (DASCA) of 2014 (S. 2012), legislation that provides new authority to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to place designer anabolic steroids on the Controlled Substance Schedules more rapidly. The bill also gives the agency new enforcement tools to prosecute disreputable companies that develop and market anabolic steroids mislabeled as dietary supplements. 

In April, AHPA contacted Sen. Heinrich's office to notify the senator of AHPA's support of S. 2012 and requested that the Senator consider cosponsoring this critical legislation.  

"AHPA is pleased that Sen. Heinrich decided to cosponsor this important bill," said AHPA President Michael McGuffin. "Just a handful of bad actors selling illegal products can tarnish the regulated supplement industry. This legislation will help protect consumers and the supplement industry by providing federal law enforcement officials with additional authority to crack down on those who don't comply with current laws and regulations."

Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) introduced DASCA on Feb. 11 and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) cosigned the bill on Feb. 26. The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) joined the Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA), the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), the Natural Products Association (NPA) and the United Natural Products Alliance (UNPA) to express support for the bill. 

"This bill will make it easier for DEA to identify and catalog new chemicals," the associations said in a joint statement. "DASCA will also allow DEA to respond faster to stop those criminals who create new anabolic substances closely resembling listed ones, but tweaked just enough that they are not identical to their flagged counterparts."

"Responsible dietary supplement industry stakeholders have consistently supported congressional and regulatory efforts to enact and enforce laws that help eliminate illegal products that masquerade as dietary supplements, and to prosecute the criminals who manufacture and sell them," the associations said in the statement.