WATERTOWN, Mass. (AP) – The federal government’s ephedra ban may have been intended to steer consumers away from the dietary supplement, but it has had the opposite effect at the Lo Fat Know Fat Gourmet Grille and Cafe.

Since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced its plans to ban the herbal remedy in two months, the Speed Stack, Ripped Force, TrimSpa and Kranker have been flying off the shelves.

“People have been buying it like crazy,” co-owner Christopher Pappas said. “They know it’s going to be taken off the shelf so they’re stocking up. There’s sort of a craze right now.”

Store manager Ryan McElhiney, 24, who takes ephedra himself, said one customer spent $369 on ephedra tablets Tuesday soon after the announcement was made.

Kate Morreale, 22, a regular customer and part-time worker at the dietary supplement store, didn’t wait that long. She bought two cases of an ephedra-containing drink, called Speed Stack, over the summer when a ban seemed imminent.

“I thought the ban was going to happen earlier,” said Morreale, who drinks one bottle a week before a vigorous workout. “It should last me a while, at least through the year.”

Across the country, some stores reported sharp increases in sales Wednesday, while others said the demand for ephedra decreased long ago, replaced by products that flaunt their ephedra-free status. Ephedra is generally favored by dieters and elite athletes.

GNC, which has 5,000 health food stores across the country, banned ephedra-containing products in June.

“We saw people were looking for ephedra alternatives,” GNC spokeswoman Jaime Young said. “We responded to that and discontinued selling those items that contained it. We haven’t seen a negative effect from that action.”

After months of rising concerns and decreasing sales, the FDA announced Tuesday that it would ban ephedra sales next year and strongly urged consumers not to take the herbal supplement before the ban takes effect.

The ban represents the first time the FDA has removed a dietary supplement from the market since Congress passed a law limiting the government’s regulation of herbal products in 1994.

Ephedra has been linked to as many as 100 deaths, officials have said. And Congress gathered testimony from families of people who are believed to have died from its side effects. Among those who testified were the parents of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler, who died during spring training in February. Toxicology tests showed ephedra in his system.

The National Football League banned its players from using ephedra as a dietary supplement in 2001.

These early warning signs had already prompted hoarding by people who use the herbal supplement as a dietary aid or as an energy boost prior to a workout.

“We have customers who have been stocking up for several months knowing what was coming down the road,” said Claudia David-Roscoe, co-owner of Claudia’s Natural Food Market in Toledo, Ohio.

She said many use the herb for respiratory enhancement – not weight loss.

“We guide people to make different choices for weight loss,” she said. “Ephedra is a wonderful, safe herb, but when you have people taking handfuls it it’s not.”

Ed Bogacki, general manager of a Gold’s Gym in Tampa, Fla., said he’s seen no change in sales since the announcement.

“People haven’t been coming in saying, ‘I need to get all these products before they take it off the market,”‘ he said. “People who use ephedra, they knew this was coming months ago.”

But Bogacki said he wouldn’t be surprised to see a spike in sales just before the ban takes effect.

In Overland Park, Kan., Russell Wood of Fit 4 Less said it was the newcomers – and not the regulars – who have been flocking to the store since the ban was issued.

He said one woman wants to buy two cases of 24 bottles each. Normally, Wood sells 30 to 50 bottles per month.

Even while hoarding the product, some ephedra enthusiasts said they welcomed the FDA’s decision, because they know it’s not good for them.

“It makes me feel jittery,” said Morreale, who plans to buy a few more cases from Lo Fat Know Fat before the ban takes effect. “And that makes me nervous. But I use it because it helps.”

AP-ES-12-31-03 1615EST