November 29, 2008
The manufacturers of the Whizzinator, a male prosthetic urinary device used to pass anti-doping steroid testing and employer drug testing, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell drug paraphernalia. United States Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan prosecuted Gerald Wills and Robert D. Catalano of Puck Technology as part of Operation True Test that targeted companies who manufacturer products intended to “mask” illegal drug use and/or anabolic steroid use in athletes (”Men who sold ‘Whizzinator’ admit to federal charges,” November 26).
Mary Beth Buchanan is the “porn and bongs” prosecutor who spent $12 million to put Tommy Chong in prison for nine months for selling pipes and bongs as part of Operation Pipe Dreams and Operation Head Hunter, has turned her attention to anti-doping detection devices even though federal law does not explicitly prohibit the use of such “masking products.”
The federal anti-doping law entitled Drug Testing Integrity Act of 2005 was introduced in response to Minnesota Vikings running back Onterrio Smith’s detention by airport police due to the discovery of the Whizzinator. The bill specifically criminalized the use of such items but failed to gather momentum (”Whitfield, Engel Introduce National Drug Testing Integrity Act,” May 9, 2006).
The devastating effects of drug and steroid use are well known and we should not allow companies to sell products like the Whizzinator to falsify their tests with impunity. These devices should not be sold legally in the United States and this legislation will make our nation a safer place to live.
Even though the legislation did not pass, Mary Beth Buchanan, the aggressive obscenity prosecutor and vice hunter, nonetheless decided to pursue Puck Technology and Whizzinator under the rarely enforced federal drug paraphernalia laws much as she did with the case against Tomy Chong and Nice Dream Enterprises; many critics (and federal prosecutors) regard the pursuit of obscenity and paraphernalia cases as a waste of money that diverts significant resources away from other more serious crimes. Read more
November 27, 2008
James Drake was sentenced to 12 months in jail for an episode of “road rage” attributed to anabolic steroids in the Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court in South Wales. Drake got out of his vehicle wearing brass knuckles and pointed a crossbow at the driver of a truck that cut him off on the road. The court determined that steroids caused Drake to go into a “roid rage” during the traffic incident (”Crossbow terror of road rage witness,” November 27).
It appeared the use of steroids causes him to lose self-control and this is what happened on this occasion.
He said the combination of offences was so serious only custody could be justified.
James Drakes pleaded guilty to two charges of possession offensive weapons (a crossbow and a knuckleduster) and one charge of affray. Judge Christopher Vosper QC sentenced Drakes to 12 months in jail. Read more
November 27, 2008
Law enforcement agencies in Louisiana have conducted a “controlled delivery” of anabolic steroids this week acknowledging that there was “nothing unusual” about the steroid bust pointing out that they intercept packages originating in Europe, Asia and South America.
In this case, the Louisiana State Police were tipped off by U.S. Immigration and Customs Service officials in California to a large package of steroids that originated in China and was address to an individual in Thibodaux, Louisiana . Undercover agents from the Thibodaux Police Deparment and the Lafourche Sheriff’s Department dressed up as mail carriers in a controlled delivery to bust Clint Schwab Read more
November 25, 2008
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) reached an agreement with INTERPOL to faciliate international police cooperation in its politicized and moralistic campaign against the use of anabolic steroids for non-medical purposes (e.g. motivated by increased muscle size, improved strength, enhanced athletic performance and greater physical attractiveness). WADA has spearheaded the internationalization of steroid law with UNESCO International Convention against Doping in Sport with a stated objective of criminalizing personal non-medical steroid use by apply the force of international law behind the anti-doping WADA code.
Now, WADA has garnered the support of INTERPOL, the world’s largest police force, to act as a sort of international moral police upholding the steroids-are-evil morality, stamping out cheaters and protecting the children (”WADA strengthens ties with law enforcement agencies,” November 24).
“We’ve got to the point of the implementations of the arrangements with Interpol to help in the international fight we are endeavouring to undertake,” WADA president John Fahey told reporters. “This is a significant step forward.
“As demonstrated by the recent high profile doping cases and investigations, government action and the sharing of information between law enforcement agencies and anti-doping organisations can be crucial in exposing anti-doping rule violations that would not have been detected through testing.
“Law enforcement and government agencies possess investigative powers to attack the source and supply of illegal substances which sport does not have.”
One of the biggest problems caused by using the WADA code as the basis for international law is the fact that the overwhelming majority of non-medical steroid users are NOT athletes. So, instead of addressing the problem of doping in sports, it targets consenting adult non-athletes who have no relation to competitive sports.
November 25, 2008
Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control and the Tulsa Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit are continuing to target competitive bodybuilders in an ongoing anabolic steroid investigation that has implicated several amateur and professional bodybuilders in an alleged Oklahoma steroid trafficking network since December 2007. Over 75 individuals have been interviewed and a grand jury has convened to investigate the distribution of anabolic steroids and performance enhancement drugs in Oklahoma (”Anabolic steroids seized from Bixby home,” November 25).
OBNDD officials declined to comment on the seizures, but court records show that they are part of an ongoing investigation, and sources have told the Tulsa World of a recent grand jury investigation into the use and distribution of anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancement drugs in the Tulsa area.
Since December 2007, agents have seized a “large quantity of anabolic steroids from several unrelated individuals” in the Tulsa area, according to the affidavit, signed by an undercover agent who is a legal expert on the illegal use of performance-enhancement drugs.
Most recently, the OBNDDC and Tulsa Police, armed with search warrants, seized several vials of anabolic steroids and steroid paraphernalia during searches of the home of NPC national-level amateur bodybuilder Chris Waid on October 23, 2008. Read more
November 24, 2008
The INTERPOL operation codenamed Pangea targeted internet pharmacies in ten countries that were selling counterfeit pharmaceuticals. Operation Pangea involved regulatory agencies associated with INTERPOL from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Israel, New Zealand, Singapore and Switzerland.
The internet pharmacies that were raided as result of the operation were primarily sellers of prescription drugs for conditions such as diabetes, obesity and hair loss but also involved internet pharmacies selling ancillary bodybuilding drugs (”Interpol Media Release: Illegal online medicine suppliers targeted in first international Internet day of action,” November 13).
The first international Internet day of action co-ordinated by the Permanent Forum on International Pharmaceutical Crime, INTERPOL and the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce (IMPACT), targeting the illegal online sale of medicines to the public has resulted in a series of arrests and the seizure of potentially harmful medicines in operations carried out around the world.
Codenamed Pangea, the operation focused on those individuals behind Internet sites which illegally sell and supply unlicensed or prescription-only medicines claiming to treat a range of ailments.
While steroids and steroid pharmacies were not specifically targeted, Operation Pangea has significant ramifications for international steroid distribution. The most significant consequence results from a new definition of counterfeit drugs proposed by a World Health Organization’s (WHO) funded body allegedly supported by pharmaceutical multi-national corporations (MNCs).
November 24, 2008
Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), asserts that there is a “virtual absence” of steroid use by soccer players in the Premier League . The head of the players’ union cites this as one of his reasons behind his objections to the introduction of WADA drug testing to the popular professional soccer league in the United Kingdom. While there are several reasonable objections to increased steroid testing in soccer, the assertion that soccer players do not use anabolic steroids is not one of them (”Home drugs test idea upsets PFA,” November 11).
“If we complain about anything to do with drug-testing people think we might have something to hide, but football’s record is extremely good and there has been a virtual absence of any performance-enhancing drugs over decades.
“We do appreciate that football is a major spectator sport and we wish to co-operate, but football should not be treated in the same way as individual sports that do have a problem with drugs, such as athletics, cycling and weightlifting. (emphasis added)
United Manchester boss Sir Alex Ferguson made defensible objections to the more stringent anti-doping rules based on cost, convenience and privacy. But the PFA’s assertion of drug-free football (soccer) is contradicted by extensive evidence to the contrary (and basic common sense regarding performance enhancing drug use at the elite level).
November 23, 2008
Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United boss and hall of fame football (soccer) manager, has criticized the implementation of new steroid testing rules in the Premier League as a “real nuisance.” Barclay’s Premier League is the world’s most lucrative professional football league. The implementation of more vigilant steroid testing protocols comes as UK Sports, the United Kingdom’s anti-doping agency, incorporates “in-competition” anti-doping testing that is more consistent with that of World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code (”Fergie Slams Drug Testing Reforms,” November 14).
“The procedures are becoming a real nuisance to us.”
Sir Alex Ferguson is particularly critical of the “whereabouts ruling.” The “whereabouts ruling” requires tested players to provide anti-doping officials with advance notification of their whereabouts for a particular hour each day year round. Read more
November 19, 2008
Steve Kettmann, the ghostwriter for Jose Canseco’s autobiographical memoir that exposed the use of anabolic steroid in Major League Baseball, reviews the Manhattan Theatre Club production of playwright Itamar Moses’ dramedy about the steroids in baseball scandal. The off-broadway play “Back Back Back” is a fictionalized portrayal of the relationship between Bash Brothers Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire, and the use of anabolic steroids during their baseball careers (”New play examines relationship between Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire,” November 15).
Steve Kettmann’s over-familiarity with the source material gives him a unique perspective on the relationship between Canseco and McGwire. Kettmann covered the Oakland Athletics baseball team for the San Francisco Chronicle between 1994 and 1998 and was on friendly terms with the Bash Brothers Canseco and McGwire. Kettmann’s relationship with Mark McGwire became much less friendly when he asserted that McGwire used anabolic steroids in a New York Times editorial entitled “Baseball Must Come Clean on Its Darkest Secret.” But Kettmann stayed in Canseco’s good graces eventually hanging out with him extensively to ghostwrite the explosive steroid expose “Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ’Roids, Smash Hits and How Baseball Got Big” which featured descriptions of Canseco injecting McGwire with steroids.
So when Itamar Moses reflects upon the reasons the Jose Canseco proxy “Raul” wrote the book that destroyed the hall of fame chances teammate Mark McGwire proxy Kent, Kettman finds the discussion “deeply fascinating and irresistible.” Read more
November 16, 2008
The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Portland Office launched a public-corruption investigation involving the role of the Canby Police Department in a steroid distribution network according to an investigative report by Maxine Bernstein of the Oregonian. Federal investigators allege that Canby police officer Jason Deason openly purchased anabolic steroids and growth hormone from local steroid sources and tipped off his suppliers to any police inquiries; furthermore, Canby Police Chief Greg Kroeplin was aware of his housemate Deason’s involvement with local steroid sources and not only failed to act upon it but may have actively covered it up. Officer Deason even submitted purchases for anabolic steroids and growth hormone on official Canby Police stationary (”Canby cop bought steroids on the job, FBI says,” November 15).
Federal agents this year launched a public-corruption investigation, revealing a cozy relationship between Kroeplin and Deason in the 24-member force that allowed the officer to brazenly buy steroids while on duty and in uniform and tip off his suppliers to police inquiries, according to multiple search warrant affidavits filed in U.S. District Court.
Canby police supervisors either failed to address the problem or concealed it, federal authorities allege in the court documents. The investigation also uncovered a steroid distribution network that operated in Oregon, Washington and Arizona.
No charges have been filed in an ongoing investigation by the FBI Portland Office. The Oregonian reports that Canby officer Deason purchased anabolic steroids and human growth hormone from local steroid sources William Traverso, of Canby Landscape Supply, and Brian Jackson, the former strength and conditioning coach for the Oregon City High School girls basketball team. All three worked out at Nelson’s Nautilus gym in Oregon City.
November 16, 2008
President-elect Barack Obama has selected Phil Schiliro as the Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs. Schiliro will play an important role in the Obama-Biden administration as Obama’s top White House Congressional liason. Phil Schiliro was Chief of Staff to Representative Henry Waxman, the chairman for the House Oversight Committee (”Philip Schiliro, Veteran Congressional Aide, Named To Obama’s Staff,” November ).
Phil Schiliro, as Waxman’s Chief of Staff, is given most of the credit for initiating the Congressional hearings on anabolic steroid use in baseball after reading Jose Canseco’s book Juiced. The Congressional grandstanding at the steroid witch-hunt was also known as “Restoring Faith in America’s Pastime: Evaluating Major League Baseball’s Efforts to Eradicate Steroid Use” Read more
November 15, 2008
International and domestic domain name registrars (DNR) have taken down numerous anabolic steroid websites over the past 30 days, most recently Advanced-Stealth.com and Steroids-Pharmacy.com on November 14, 2008. The DNR takedowns were NOT the result of any law enforcement or government regulatory action; the DNRs apparently initiated the action on their own after pressure from organizations like LegitScript. LegitScript announced the takedowns of the steroid pharmacies as two of over 500 affected websites in the “largest internet pharmacy shutdown in history” (”LegitScript Terminates Nearly 500 Rogue Internet Pharmacies and Steroid Websites,” November 14).
Steroids-Pharmacy.com and Advanced-Stealth.com, which sold anabolic steroids, Schedule III Controlled Substances, without requiring a prescription, from overseas.
Steroids-Pharmacy.com and Advanced-Stealth.com have been two of the biggest supporters of U.S. steroid law reform and harm reduction-based steroid education.
The steroid website domains were registered through India Access, an India-based reseller of registration domain services from ICANN-accredited Public Domain Registry.
November 13, 2008
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) thanked governments around the world for joining them in their efforts to internationalize steroid law around the world during a ceremony to celebrate the ratification of the UNESCO International Convention against Doping in Sport 2005 by over 100 countries.
WADA has explicitly stated their desire for all national governments to criminalize the use of anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing drugs as defined in the WADA code. WADA’s politically-correct and moralistic agenda, like U.S. steroid law enforcement policy, seeks to pressure and coerce other governments to think alike and conform to accept its policy as the defacto international anti-steroid policy (”WADA praises governments for anti-doping stance,” November 12).
WADA’s David Howman said Wednesday that 102 countries have ratified the UNESCO Convention on Doping in Sport since it came into force nearly two years ago. It means anti-doping measures become part of national law in the countries that have ratified the agreement.
[...]
“We’re not there yet, we still have a long way to go. (Doping) is too easy in many countries because there are not strong enough laws,” Howman said. “Let’s enhance the fight through legislation.”
Steroid policy experts have been critical of the internationalization of steroid law for its highly politicized and moralistic agenda. Philip Sweitzer analyzes the trend of political correctness in the current debate on steroid law policy that has troubling consequences for countries around the world Read more
November 11, 2008
Bishop Dolegiewicz, who was former Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson’s first supplier of anabolic steroids, died at the age of 55 on October 28, 2008. Dolegiewicz was a three-time Olympic track and field athlete for Canada and considered one of the all-time best throwers (particularly in the shot put and discus) in sports history. He also competed in the World’s Strongest Man competition and was widely considered to be one of the strongest men in the world. His accomplishments as an athlete and as a coach are legendary and deserving of tribute. However, since this is an anabolic steroid blog, I will focus on Dolegiewicz significant role in the history of anabolic steroids in sports.
When Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson tested positive for stanozolol during the 100 meter finals at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the reaction triggered the largest government-sponsored investigation into performance enhancing drugs in history by Canada. The Dubin “Commission of Inquiry into the Use of Drugs and Banned Practices Intended to Increase Athletic Performance” (aka Dubin Inquiry) produced 14,000 pages of testimony from 119 witnesses at the cost of $3-4 million in 1989. The Dubin Inquiry is credited with breaking the code of omertà regarding anabolic steroid use in sports.
The Dubin Inquiry also revealed that Bishop Dolegiewicz was widely considered to be a major steroid supplier for many track and field athletes in Canada, including Ben Johnson. He was also known for his expertise and knowledge on anabolic steroids and anabolic pharmacology. Read more
November 10, 2008
Three individuals who purchased anabolic steroids with a prescription for their own personal use were indicted on steroid possession charges. Cleveland Police Lieutenant Anthony Tuleta, former firefighter Craig Romey and former EMS paramedic Angel Otero purchased various anabolic steroids and human growth hormone with prescriptions obtained over the Internet from California-based physician Ramon Scruggs via the New Hope Med website. A Cuyahoga County grand jury indicted Tuleta, Romey and Otero on multiple drug (steroid) possession charges for illegally purchasing steroids for bodybuilding purposes (”Cleveland cop, firefighter and paramedic charged in steroid probe,” November 10).
Police Lt. Anthony Tuleta, 50, former firefighter Craig Romey, 38, and former EMS paramedic Angel Otero, 41, received prescriptions over the Internet between January 2003 and June 2007 from Dr. Ramon Scruggs of Santa Ana, Calif., prosecutors said. Scruggs faces 13 charges for drug trafficking.
Prosecutors have rarely pursued cases against individual steroid users who obtained steroids with a doctor’s prescription. Successful prosecution would require successfully defining and proving legally ambigous issues like what constitutes a “valid medical prescription,” “legitimate medical purpose,” and “doctor-patient relationship.” Only recently has legislation (i.e. Ryan Haight Act) been introduced to clarify such definitions. Perhaps prosecutors are now emboldened to take on such cases now that the Act has passed and will be enacted in April 2009 Read more
