Julius Peppers has 11 quarterback sacks in 10 games and one controversial addition to the league's substance-abuse policy.

By next season, the penalty for testing positive for ephedrine will change, and Peppers will be responsible. Months of labor negotiations will precede revisions in the league's drug policy, but you can bet that the penalty won't be four games next season. It doesn't fit the crime, and the fact that Peppers could lose Defensive Rookie of the Year honors, more than $1 million and a trip to the Pro Bowl brought enough attention to the controversy to open a dialogue.

	Peppers is unlikely to win his appeal of a four-game suspension for the use of ephedrine.

Unfortunately for Peppers, Chiefs linebacker Lew Bush and a few others who will surface over the next few weeks, there won't be any adjustment in their penalties during this season. Peppers will miss the final four games when he loses his appeal because he can't defeat the reality that ephedrine was found in his system.

So how does it happen that a legal, over-the-counter product that includes ephedrine can cost a player a quarter of the season at a time when it takes three positive cocaine and marijuana tests to meet the same penalty? The answer is Korey Stringer. Memories are short these days. People tend to forget the tragedy of the 2001 preseason when Stringer, a popular Vikings offensive linemen, died in training camp on one of the hottest days of the year.

The complete cause of Stringer's death is still not known. Even though ephedrine wasn't found in his system during the autopsy, the fact that a bottle of an ephedrine-related product was found in his locker suggested that he had used it. Ephedrine speeds up the heart rate. For an athlete, that can be dangerous. Bodies are bigger than ever in the NFL, and who can tell how much stress a heart can handle if given a dietary supplement?

Those critical of the rush to ban ephedrine should think back a year. It's the first time in recent memory that a league, the NFL, reacted to a tragedy and came out with a policy. Go back to the panic of the time. Too bad such reaction -- even if it's an overreaction -- didn't happen in the 1970s and 1980s when questions were raised about anabolic steroids.

NFL Players Association executive director Gene Upshaw sided with players' safety, and he had good cause. Former player Steve Courson, a Steelers guard, needs a heart transplant because of his past steroid use. The escalation of the use of supplements and the decrease in government regulation of the ingredients leave every player who buys a supplement not knowing exactly what's going into his body.

"There was medical evidence that was available to the league and the union that ephredine was a great concern to a highly tuned athlete," NFLPA assistant executive director Doug Allen said. "NFL players who used high doses of ephedrine could cause stress to the hearts of an athlete."

Call it an overreaction but call it an overreaction for the sake of players' safety. Those who want to jump to criticize the current policy need only talk to a member of the 2001 Minnesota Vikings.

Because of their love for Stringer, the Vikings have a disdain for the use of supplements. The loss of Stringer is too fresh in their memories. It's not worth the danger. For years, the NFLPA and the league warned that the government doesn't regulate the supplement industry.

Upshaw came out strongly after the Stringer death. Whether or not ephedrine was involved in his death, the possibility that it could happen was enough for him. So, he went with the concept of ridding it from the league. What wasn't factored in is how extensive the use of ephedrine by NFL players was.

It had been used in treatments for allergies and asthma. It can be found in some cold medicines. And, of course, it's included in supplements used by athletes looking to get stronger and help their bodies recover from strenuous use.

A four-game penalty is harsh, but few complained last season. Many mourned the death of Stringer, so players accepted it. The program went in play in July and the test results didn't filter in until late August and early September.

Had the circumstances been different, the NFLPA might have agreed to a lesser penalty than four games. Maybe it would have been a game. Maybe it would have been a mandate that a second offense would result in fines or suspensions.

	“	Alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, whatever it is, those are personal things that have nothing to do with performance and nothing to do with compromising the integrity of the game. You take steroids, you take ephedrine, you are trying to gain that competitive edge on the field on Sundays. ”
		— Giants QB Kerry Collins, on comments by teammate Jason Sehorn that ephedrine-related suspensions are too harsh

But the elimination of any drug isn't going to happen unless there is a shock value involved. Some players are going to use supplements to lose weights. Some are going to use supplements to gain muscle mass. Some are going to use supplements or any medical product to get an edge.

Two New York Giants teammates had an interesting debate this week. Quarterback Kerry Collins didn't agree with cornerback Jason Sehorn's complaints about the penalties for ephedrine.

"I disagree with Jason," Collins said. "You are talking about performance enhancement and gaining a competitive edge. Alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, whatever it is, those are personal things that have nothing to do with performance and nothing to do with compromising the integrity of the game. You take steroids, you take ephedrine, you are trying to gain that competitive edge on the field on Sundays. That comprises the integrity of the game itself and of the league itself."

To Collins, four games for ephedrine is fine.

"There are multiple uses for everything," Collins said. "Just because the intention is not to use it a certain way, you can still feel the effects and have it perform in a way that is advantageous in another way, whether or not that was the intended use. I disagree with him there, too. That is part of it. You can take it 100 different ways, but the bottom line is still the same. It's able to be used to gain that competitive edge that we are all trying to maintain."

I side more with Sehorn than Collins on the punishment. Adjust the policy next year so that first-time offenders get the message. No one is saying that any product that increases that heart rate is a good thing. Many other sports have removed ephedrine, but there is also an uncertainty of small doses of the substance slipping into an unmonitored product.

"Change is needed," said the NFLPA's Allen. "There is no time frame on talking to the NFL about making a change. Gene has been talking to them. But we would like to get something done."

The fact that so few players tested positive is a sign that most got the message. Peppers, Bush and others can't change their penalties. They were test subjects in the ever changing war on enhancing drugs. There will be winners and losers, albeit one of the losers being Peppers, the current NFL sacks leader who might have his shot at a Pro Bowl berth as a rookie ruined by his four-game penalty.

But as long as player safety is the motive, casualties can be accepted.

John Clayton is a senior writer for ESPN.com.