Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 10:53:24 -0800 (PST)

Honorable John Mizuno, Vice Chair

Honorable Rep. Josh Green, M..D.

Greetings and hello. I wrote to you last week regarding the bill to ban Aspartame from the great state of Hawaii. I feel so strongly about this issue, I had to write to you again. In the coming days you are going to hear from a number of people that have been seriously affected as well as the lobbyists that say it is perfectly safe. What to do, what is the answer? Examine all of the evidence, consider your populations" general health and consider the decline of the overall general health of the entire population of the US. Your own state health department can give you accurate statistics of the number of neurological diseases and the increase in those diseases since 1980. The one to pay particular attention to is the increase in Multiple Sclerosis in women versus men. Nearly 4 times as many women as men have developed MS in the past 10 years. Why is this? Possibly because women are heavier users of diet products and Aspartame? I think it is.

In my own case, I have been using it for 15 years and a heavy user for the past 3 years. At some point my body reached critical mass and I developed MS. I was diagnosed with progressive MS and I was supposed to get worse with time. I have a good friend that has primary progressive MS, he is 42 and has been in a wheelchair for the past 9 years. He is bedridden now and can no longer communicate. Both he and his wife are diet coke drinkers and have been for years. Did this have anything to do with his MS? I don't know but it would be interesting to test him and find out. Over the past 3 weeks I have met 3 people that have Fibromyalgia and one that has MS. I live in a rural area of Arkansas and there should not be that many people with neurological disorders here.

I am taking the time to write to you again because I often wonder what I would think and do if I were in your position. It is not and easy decision and should not be taken lightly. However, when you stop and think about the uninformed people in your state that have no idea what they are consuming I believe you have to take action. They are your constituents and they are relying on you to keep them safe. I'm sure there are a large number of people that have no idea this legislation is even pending. If the industry has their way, they never will.

Ask the industry lobbyists if they would be willing to have a truly independent research facility test Aspartame, are they willing to have an open, well publicized debate on its effects and how much money is on the line for them? They have a huge financial interest in keeping Aspartame on the market and will do whatever it takes to do so. Also, ask yourself what impact this will have on your own state. Sugar prices have been down a long time due to the popularity of artificial sweeteners. I'm sure the local growers would love to see their product in demand once again. Also, what about the artificial sweeteners that can be made from sugar? This will satisfy the diabetics and those that cannot consume sugar.

As for me right now? I have been off of Aspartame for two months and I have not felt this good in 10 years or more. I was using a cane on a daily basis and a walker back in August. My symptoms were horrendous and I felt like a little, feeble old man. I am 40 years old and I want to live my life to the fullest and now I can. I have started going on hikes in the woods and I'm even getting a home gym next week. If you had told me that I would be working out again I would have never believed it. I have so much energy now and I am thinking so clearly, I can't wait to get started and again, it has only been two months.

Thank you for your time and attention to this very serious matter. I hope you will do what is right for your people, protect their safety and ban Aspartame as soon as possible.

Tony Orman
Cherokee Village, Arkansas