A Maryland lawmaker wants to ban the sale of over-the-counter sexual stimulants — products with names like “Rize 2 The Occasion,” “Horny Goat Weed” and “All Nite Long” — to minors.
Del. Saqib Ali, D-Montgomery County, said the over-the-counter supplements are widely available at gas stations and convenience stores and pose a “substantial” health risk because there’s little government oversight into what actually goes into the products.
“Not only is this a danger to public health. It is also a very big rip-off,” Ali wrote in his blog. “It’s just a scam to separate over-eager men from their hard-earned money.”
Ali initially filed a bill to ban the sale of sexual stimulants to minors in Montgomery County only, but later withdrew that bill and submitted a new one that would apply to all of Maryland.
Ali said in an interview that sexual stimulants ought to face the same restrictions as cigarettes, and in addition to the age limit, the products should be accessible only to store employees until they are purchased.
A person caught violating the proposed law would be fined $300 for a first offense; repeat offenses in a 24-month period would carry a $500 fine.
Ali said he hasn’t heard of much resistance to his bill except from the Montgomery County Council.
In a memo to the Montgomery County delegation, the county’s office of intergovernmental relations said county health and police officials have not seen any evidence that there are problems with minors taking sexual stimulants and notes that the proposed law “raises workload questions” for county staff.
Council President Phil Andrews said the council typically supports bills only if it thinks they are vitally important to the county.
“There’s plenty of other stuff that is urgent,” Andrews said, referring to the county’s budget woes.
Ali said he’s heard plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest that teens in Montgomery County are abusing sex pills, and said that other evidence is readily available.
“There’s plenty of stuff on YouTube,” he said.
Dave Kratka, a Florida-based distributor of “Rize 2 The Occasion” said he’s sold more than 20 million “doses” of male enhancement products without ever receiving any serious health complaints.
But he added that he supports the idea of limiting the sale of his product to adults.
“You’d have to be pretty cold not to want to protect youth,” he said.
