As President of CHF, it is my commitment to the members of this organization and the people of NC that I’ll do everything in my power to ensure we pass the necessary legislation to have access and freedom to choose complementary and alternative healthcare products and services.

Organic foods, vitamins, homeopathy, herbal supplements, etc. are abundantly available to us now through various health food stores, the Internet, retail stores, and healthcare practitioners in our state. We also are free to choose among our many licensed and unlicensed healing arts professionals for our healthcare preferences. Let’s keep it that way.

The first step to guarantee these choices will continue to be accessible is to pass “The NC Consumer Health Freedom Act” House Bill 1358 in 2008. HB 1358 is an amendment to the medical licensing law that allows the practice of complementary and alternative forms of health care. This is an important piece of legislation.

A special committee was recently appointed to study and investigate the need for this legislation and report back to the Speaker of the House. Their findings stated as many as 3,300,000 North Carolinians presently receive a substantial volume of health care services from complementary and alternative health care providers. Passing HB 1358 will allow professional alternative health care providers to offer their valuable services legally and safely, creating a safer environment for the practice of alternative healthcare and ensuring that you are free to select the broadest possible range of health care modalities.

Become a part of the statewide-network advocating for your healthcare freedom. Here’s what YOU can do for YOUR HEALTH FREEDOM

• Get involved! Become a member of NCCHF!
• Volunteer – every one counts and is needed!
• Spread the Word!
• Sign our Petition - Support our goal of 10,000 signatures by May 2008
• Support our goal to raise $100,000 to:
  • Lobby the NC Legislature
  • Educate consumers
  • Protect our Rights
• Join our mailing list to stay informed!
• Check out our website at www.ncchf.org for the latest news, projects and how you can help.

Click HERE to become a member of CHF and help us work to maintain your Natural Health Freedoms!

Working together, we can improve and maintain our right to make our own healthcare choices.

Your interest, involvement and financial support in Citizens for Healthcare Freedom in North Carolina are critical to moving forward with HB 1358.

May good health be yours,
Dr. Claiborne R. Holtzman, ND

This is an update on the status of our legislation in the General Assembly: House Bill 1358 - The Consumer Health Freedom Act - was introduced earlier this year in the 2007-2008 session. The bill has not come to the floor for a vote yet and the legislature has adjourned for this year, but the legislation may be considered in the short session, which begins May 2008. This is an important piece of legislation for consumers interested in unrestricted access to alternative healthcare and natural healing therapies.

The primary reason we have not been able to move this bill forward is because we haven’t had the financial resources or the “large numbers” of people involved at the grassroots level to make this issue a “priority issue” with our NC legislators. In order to achieve our goal of passing a North Carolina Health Freedom Act - or simply put, to ensure access to alternative healthcare practitioners, we need to get more people involved in CHF and raise the funds to carry out our legislative and association efforts over the coming months and years.

Without CHF working in support of alternative healthcare in NC, the opponents of alternative would no doubt put the entire scope of anything related to “natural health,” “alternative healthcare” or “complementary healthcare” totally under the jurisdiction of the NC Medical Society. Stated in dollar terms, it takes $25,000 to $30,000 per year to fund a minimal lobbying effort. A major lobbying effort can cost well in excess of $100,000 per year. Some groups, such as the Medical Society (MD’s) spend millions on lobbying efforts. We can’t even think about what is spent by some groups opposed to natural health access, but we can achieve great success if we can raise enough money to cover our legislative lobbying expenses. This has to be a priority for us!

Also, we need to get as many signatures on our petition for HB 1358 as we can as soon as we can to demonstrate a grassroots interest in allowing for healthcare freedoms for all our citizens.

The FDA (no friend of the natural health community) has long fought the use of the natural herb stevia rebaudiana in foods and beverages. Most industry watchers believe that this is due to the fact that the sugar and artificial sweetener lobbyists hold sway in the halls of the government. After all, stevia is a natural herb that has been used for thousands of years with no ill effects by hundreds of thousands, in fact, probably millions of people, with no ill effects. In fact, stevia can strengthen teeth, supports the heart muscle, and has no glycemic, or caloric value… yet it is hundreds of times sweeter than sugar… it would seem to be an answer to prayer for many facing obesity! Yet, the FDA will not allow it to be used as a sweetener. It can only be used as a “supplement.” And, many companies have, in fact, re-labeled their products as “supplements” to get around this conspiracy to keep a safe herbal alternative from consumers. Hain Celestial Teas recently applied to the FDA to allow them to use stevia as a sweetener in their beverages, however, the FDA has responded by “firing a new volley” in the war to prevent the use of this alternative from being used! This, in spite of the fact that in other countries, such as Japan, stevia is a common sweetener in foods. In fact, stevia makes up 40% of the sweetener market in Japan!

FDA warns Hain of stevia use; calls herb unsafe

In order to understand the war against stevia, we need only look to the power of the artificial sweetener and sugar lobbyists in the industry. After all, who would “lose” in a head-to-head battle of a safe, natural herb that could sweeten our beverages, against artificial chemical “frankenstein-like” creations like aspartame or saccharin? The public would quickly vote with their pocketbooks, and the artificial sweetener industry would soon be no more! They have everything to lose and nothing to gain by stevia’s universal acceptance! Is it no wonder that “hands are being greased” so to speak, to prevent this?

Links of interest with regard to stevia:

The History of Stevia

FDA Bookburning of Stevia Literature!

The FDA and Stevia

Also, for additional reading, I would recommend this book:

The Stevia Story (A Tale of Incredible Sweetness & Intrigue) by: Linda Bonvie, Bill Bonvie, and Donna Gates