Rarely does research reach into your medicine cabinet and prompt you to take another look at those pills that you might have thought were harmless just because were "natural." Our cover story may do just that.
Paul Shekelle, Margaret Maglione, Sally Morton, and others have illuminated the debate about the safety and efficacy of the herb ephedra, which millions of Americans have consumed with the intent of losing weight, building muscle, or boosting energy. The research comes in the wake of several highly publicized deaths of people who had apparently ingested the herb shortly beforehand.
These deaths, combined with the research, have prodded some lawmakers to reconsider the wisdom of a 1994 piece of legislation that eased the regulatory standards on herbs and other dietary supplements. The legislation also made it tougher for researchers to gather definitive data on ephedra. Our cover story explains how the research team built a compelling case from the medical evidence available on the herb despite the absence of conclusive clinical data.
Our next feature story outlines the contrasting lessons learned from two very different educational interventions. Susan Bodilly, Brian Gill, and others describe the results of a business-driven intervention that had a poor community plan and of a community-driven intervention that had a poor business plan. Both interventions met with mixed success. The lessons learned in each case could help future efforts meet with greater success.
To supplement direct military and police actions against terrorism, Paul Davis and Brian Jenkins describe principles for a sustainable "systems approach" that recognizes the many different types of actors in terrorist organizations and that seeks to influence them in a broad range of ways. The authors also discuss some of the most vexing challenges involved in implementing the approach.
From RAND Europe, Caroline Wagner warns that global anxiety about weapons of mass destruction should not divert attention away from the proliferation of "weapons of mass creation." These weapons, associated with genetic manipulation, could also threaten society. Her message reaches beyond the medicine cabinet and into the womb of every expectant mother.
—John Godges