WASHINGTON -- A New York lawmaker called Wednesday for an immediate ban on sales of the diet drug ephedra after the spring training death of a 23-year-old Baltimore Orioles pitcher.

Rep. John Sweeney, R-Clifton Park, said ephedra, already banned by the NCAA, the NFL, and the International Olympic Committee, is too dangerous for athletes.

Pitching prospect Steve Bechler collapsed Sunday during a spring training workout in Fort Lauderdale and died after his temperature soared to 108 degrees. The Broward County medical examiner said Bechler was taking a product containing ephedrine, the active ingredient in ephedra.

"Baseball has nowhere to hide anymore," said Sweeney. "How many young men have to die before someone wises up and bans this junk?"

Sweeney said he is sending a letter to the Food and Drug Administration asking to halt all sales of ephedra products until Congress holds hearings on the issue.

He also wants Congress to end over-the-counter sales of products containing ephedra, arguing the current loose regulatory requirements endanger not just professional athletes, but teenagers and non-athletes trying to lose weight.

Sold as a dietary supplement under numerous brand names, ephedra speeds up metabolism, but can make it harder for the human body to stay cool.

Broward County medical examiner Dr. Joshua Perper said Bechler was taking Xenadrine RFA-1, which contains ephedrine.

Perper has urged baseball to ban use of the substance.

Preliminary autopsy findings indicated Bechler died from complications of heatstroke that caused multi-organ failure, Perper said.

A full toxicology report will be needed to determine exactly what role ephedrine played in Bechler's death.

Baseball officials have said they will wait to make a decision about the substance until more is known about the circumstances of Bechler's death.

Sweeney said baseball has dragged its feet on the issue, making it "incumbent upon Congress to take a look and act, not just wait."

New York State Assemblyman Felix Ortiz, D-Brooklyn, who has held hearings on safety concerns of dietary supplements, said he would push for a statewide ban of ephedra, and urged Congress to ban it completely.