DHEA, GNC, and DC

As we mentioned last week, the substance that landed Rashard Lewis in NBA purgatory for ten games -- Dehydroepiandrosterone, or DHEA -- is totally legal and available over-the-counter in a variety of forms.

The question is, why?

As in... if DHEA is legal, why is it banned by the NBA? Why isn't it banned by Major League Baseball? And if it is a steroid, why wasn't it pulled off the shelves at GNC like androstendione -- Mark McGwire's supplement of choice?

Would it surprise you to learn that politics were involved?

DHEA was banned in 1985, only to go back on the market in 1994, re-classified as a "nutritional supplement." It was slated to become a prescription drug as part of the Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 2004, but a powerful Senator with connections to the supplement manufacturer lobby intervened. Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports breaks down the history of DHEA.