Over at Off Wing, Eric responds to the SOTU steroid story. Noting that some supplements are spiked with steroids, Eric wonders whether the President will take the opportunity to crack down on the supplement industry.

The answer, as Eric suggests, is almost certainly no.

One reason is that the highly-profitable supplement industry has become a formidable lobbying force, especially in the Republican party.

Orrin Hatch is one of the most powerful Republican Senators and also a huge backer of the supplement industry. Many supplement companies are based in Utah, Hatch's home. The industry has donated over $100,000 to Hatch over the past decade. And Hatch's son runs a lobbying firm with supplement industry clients, who have paid the firm millions.

Hatch wrote in his memoirs: "I have taken dietary supplements almost my entire adult life and can attest to the benefits they provide." He has argued that adults should be able to decide for themselves whether to ingest these chemicals, and that government regulation shouldn't get in the way.

Ironically, Hatch is also the leading elected official fighting the War on Drugs. Unclear why he thinks adults should be able to decide for themselves whether to ingest kava, e.g., without any government regulation, but shouldn't be able to decide to ingest marijuana, e.g., at all.