August 3, 2009
An anabolic steroid expert’s plan to analyze the ingredients of various anabolic steroid preparations has made a few steroid manufacturers very nervous. The project involves laboratory analysis of various steroid products found on the underground black market.
William Llewellyn, the leader of the quality control project, has faced threats, intimidation and organized attacks on his credibility, reputation, and character after revealing his intention to publish the results in the forthcoming book entitled “William Llewellyn’s UNDERGROUND ANABOLICS”.
Balkan Pharmaceuticals
Balkan Pharmaceuticals, a pharmaceutical company registered in Moldova, has systematically pressured Llewellyn to remove Balkan steroid products from the project since the book project was first announced at the beginning of the year.
“Alin” of Balkan Pharmaceuticals has resorted to intimidation, threats, and attempted bribery in an effort to influence and/or suppress information in Llewellyn’s underground anabolics book.
Alin has organized a “smear campaign” to damage Llewellyn’s reputation as much as possible in order to discredit the underground anabolics book.
Llewellyn has steadfastly refused to acquiesce to Alin’s demands (”Open Letter to Alin (Balkan)“, July 18).
April 2, 2009
Detective Sergeant Lisa McElhaney was identified as the whistleblower in the most recent “cops and steroids” scandal involving the Broward County Sheriff’s Office (BSO) according to the Broward-Palm Beach New Times. Sgt. McElhaney led the investigation of the Lifestyle Rejuvenation Center in 2007 that uncovered suspicions of illegal steroid use by law enforcement in South Florida. McElhaney reported officers to their supervisors at the Plantation Police Department and the Broward Sheriff’s Office Read more
February 24, 2009
California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger voiced strong opposition to the use of anabolic steroids and performance enhancing drugs in sports during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union with John King”. Schwarzenegger told John King that he thinks athletes, and presumably pro bodybuilders, should come clean and publicly admit their own steroid use as a mistake for the sake of children who view them as role models (”Schwarzenegger: Steroid Use Sends Bad Message,” February 22, 2009) :
“I think it’s important to get the message out that we should not use drugs. I think we have a certain obligation as athletes to inspire young people. When someone wins an Olympic championship or a boxing championship, whatever it may be, you’re not only a champion, but you’re also an inspirational vehicle for young kids and for people in general to stay fit, to lose weight and all of this.
“I think that the message of not using drugs, not using alcohol, all of those things, always out there and inspire young kids. So I think there are some athletes go in that direction because there’s so much competition. I think they need to come out, be clean, and say look, I used that, I made a mistake, or whatever it is and the sports ought to be without drugs. That’s the important thing.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger, as promoter of the Arnold Classic, has previously urged bodybuilding officials to crackdown on steroid use in the IFBB and called a steroid summit with leaders in the industry to institute steroid testing in the sport. This is widely considered as nothing more than a publicity stunt.
Schwarzenegger has publicly admitted his own use of anabolic steroids as a professional bodybuilder as early as 1974. He has never denied his use of steroids and has consistently acknowledged using them during precontest preparation. However, Schwarzenegger’s statements regarding anabolic steroids have not always entirely consistent and have become increasingly more “anti-steroid” particularly since he became governor of California.
Schwarzenegger’s steroid statements have gone from being entirely unapologetic about his responsible and safe use of steroids to characterization’s of his steroid use as stupid experimentation due to ignorance about the dangerous side effects of steroids. Here are some of Arnold’s steroid statements over the years…
January 22, 2009
Former amateur bodybuilder Jay McGwire, the youngest brother of baseball player Mark McGwire, is fighting for the honor of being the first person to have introduced and injected Mark McGwire with anabolic steroids. The younger McGwire is trying to sell a manuscript entitled “The McGwire Family Secret: The Truth about Steroids, a Slugger, and Ultimate Redemption” that details Mark McGwire’s use of performance enhancing drugs (”Mark McGwire’s One-Eyed Baby Brother Reveals The Not-So-Startling Truth,” January 21).
“Shortly after I won the Contra Costa Bodybuilding Championships in May of 1994, Mark took the plunge. I accompanied him to Sacramento where we met with my supplier and trainer, who explained to him how the different drugs would work on his body and answered a myriad of questions from Mark. Given Mark’s curiosity and lack of knowledge about steroids I saw from Mark, I would be shocked if Mark did something like what Jose Canseco claimed happened back in the early years….[M]ark began to use, but in low dosages so he wouldn’t lift his way out of baseball. Deca-Durabolin helped with his joint problems and recovery, while growth hormone helped his strength, making him leaner in the process. I became the first person to inject him, like most first-timers he couldn’t plunge in the needle himself. Later a girlfriend injected him.”
Jay McGwire seeks to take credit for designing Big Mac’s first steroid cycle that incorporated Deca Durabolin as well as human growth hormone (HGH). Jay McGwire also took credit for introducing his brother to androstenedione shortly after Associated Press reporter Steve Wilstein published the story “Drug OK in Baseball, Not Olympics” announcing the discovery of the legal anabolic steroid supplement in Mark McGwire’s locker in July 1998 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
October 28, 2008
Rick Collins, leading steroid legal expert from Collins, McDonald & Gann, has released an analysis of the Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2008 that doubles maximum steroid trafficking sentences. President Bush signed the legislation on October 15, 2008 to “put an end to the illegal sale of highly addictive prescription drugs on the Internet” to “ensure a safer future for our children.”
The legislation amends the Controlled Substances Act to address issues related to internet pharmacies, internet pharmacy prescriptions and the dispensing of controlled substances via the Internet. Even though, the legislation’s namesake was a teenager who overdosed on Vicodin (and not anabolic steroids), the Act represents a continuation in the “war on steroid trafficking.”
Rick Collins specifically looks at the far-reaching consequences for anabolic steroid trafficking cases (”Maximum Steroid Trafficking Sentences to Double,” October 28). Read more
October 27, 2008
Maricopa County Medical Examiner Vladimir Shvarts, M.D. has added anabolic steroid intoxication as a contributing factor in an accidental fatal drug overdose. The cause of death for Aaron Michael Achley was originally attributed to an accidental overdose of the prescription drugs Xanax (alprazolam) and Oxycontin (oxycodone) in addition to the recreational drug Cocaine.
The family of Aaron Achley, ABC15 Investigative Reporter Josh Berstein and Arizona state investigators pressured the Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner to change the official cause of death to include steroids. The medical examiner repeatedly refused to conduct additional testing for steroids. However, the medical examiner apparently relented once Doreen Achley, the victim’s mother, paid to have tissue samples tested by an independent lab (”Autopsy amended to include anabolic steroids,” October 24).
The amended “pathological diagnoses” on Aaron Achley’s autopsy identified the drugs responsible for the accidental fatal “Combined drug intoxication.” This time anabolic steroids (allegedly testosterone obtained from Revolution Medical Center) were a contributing factor to the death.
October 23, 2008
Don Hooton, of the Taylor Hooton Foundation and Dr. Michael Scally, M.D., of HPT/Axis Inc., are both urging the medical community to recognize the condition of Anabolic Steroid Induced Hypogonadism (ASIH) and move towards the acceptance of a medical treatment for hypogonadism after androgen cessation. The recent A&E documentary about Jose Canseco’s decision to stop using anabolic steroids has highlighted the problem of androgen induced hypogonadism that can occur after the discontinuation of anabolic steroids.
Dr. Michael Scally has been a long-time critic of the medical establishment’s failure to address the adverse side effects of hypogonadism in steroid users. He is troubled by the lack of medical initiatives seeking to eliminate, shorten, or minimize the period of anabolic-steroid induced hypogonadism. Dr. Scally released a statement expressing his concern about Jose Canseco’s unsuccessful attempts to find effective treatment for ASIH in response to the A&E special on Canseco. Read more
October 18, 2008
The internet domain registrar GoDaddy has started shutting down anabolic steroid-related websites under increasing pressure from a pharmacy special interest group called LegitScript.com. LegitScript.com is an internet pharmacy verification service that approves pharmacies that conform to United States federal and state laws.
The service apparently promotes the internationalization of steroid laws and prescription laws such that international internet pharmacies not subject to U.S. laws are considered illegitimate if they fail to comply. Furthermore, LegitScripts.com has requested that GoDaddy shut down websites that only provide information related to the non-medical use of anabolic steroids; in other words, LegitScripts wants GoDaddy to pull the plug on steroid-related websites that do NOT even sell anabolic steroids but just discuss the use of steroids for bodybuilding purposes.
GoDaddy recently shutdown the following steroid pharmacy websites ominously listing the nameservers as NS1.SUSPENDED-FOR.SPAM-AND-ABUSE.COM and NS2.SUSPENDED-FOR.SPAM-AND-ABUSE.COM: Read more
October 9, 2008
William Llewellyn and Ashley Vincent Livingston have been both involved in the underground anabolic steroid market for over a decade. Llewellyn chose a legal path writing and reporting on the illicit androgen market whereas Livingston (better known as Redicat) chose to participate as a producer and distributor of anabolic steroids sold on the black market. Redicat was responsible for the introduction of “Paper Anabolics” that was explicitly created to pass undetected through customs controls into the United States.
In August 2000 Redi Cat announced on the boards that the new steroid revolution had come about in the shape of Paper Anabolics – a concept first discussed between Redi Cat’s associate and the late steroid guru, Dan Duchaine.
Redicat purportedly made millions of dollars in his chosen profession manufacturing and distributing PaperBol (Methandienone), PaperStrol (Stanazolol), PaperDrol (Oxymetholone), PaperVar (Oxandrolone), PaperHalo (fluoxymesterone), PaperPrimo (methenolone), etc. He was arrested in Thailand after a major international bust that involved the British Dragon cofounder Edwin Crawley in March 2008.
October 9, 2008
Prosecutors representing the State of Florida and Albany County (New York) methodically planned to prosecute Signature Pharmacy in two separate steroid investigations in a manner that would deprive the defendants of protections against double jeopardy according to court documents.
William N. Shepherd, the Statewide Prosecutor for the Florida Attorney General, and David Soares and Christopher Baynes, prosecutors for the Albany County District Attorney’s Office in New York allegedly had a secret in-person meeting where they specifically planned complex legal proceedings in two jurisdictions to make it more difficult for Signature to defend itself. The plan was detailed in a report by Mark Haskins, an investigator with the New York Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, who worked with Albany County District Attorney David Soares in the Signature Pharmacy steroid investigation.
October 9, 2008
Signature Pharmacy has filed a lawsuit against District Attorney David Soares and the Albany County District Attorney’s Office over its steroid investigation entitled “Operation Which Doctor.” The Signature Pharmacy steroid scandal implicated numerous professional athletes and entertainers including top pro bodybuilders. Several months later, an Albany County judge dismissed the criminal indictments against the principals at Signature Pharmacy due to the incompetence of prosecutor David Soares.
Signature Pharmacy and its owners, Stan and Naomi Loomis, allege that David Soares illegally operated outside his jurisdiction in the steroid investigation and prosecuted them without probable cause; Signature Pharmacy further alleges that David Soares is a political opportunist who flew in an Albany Times-Union reporter and tipped off local media to cover an unnecessary steroid raid that was clearly designed as a photo op to promote Soares’ celebrity during an election year Read more
October 3, 2008
Barack Obama made an unintentional attack on Joe Biden, his running mate on the Democratic Presidential ticket, for his long legislative record on anabolic steroids. Joseph Biden has been on an anti-steroid crusade for almost two decades; Biden is responsible for key legislation criminalizing anabolic steroids and diverting significant government resources in a misguided attempt at fighting steroids in sports.
Obama attacked Joseph Biden’s position on anabolic steroids (without specificially attributing it to his vice presidential candidate by name) on ESPN Radio’s “Mike & Mike in the Morning“. Obama suggested that congressional obsession with anabolic steroids was largely a waste of time and that the federal government had far more important things to worry about (”Obama Differs from McCain on Steroids,” October 2).
“I gotta admit that seeing a lot of congressional hearings around steroid use is not probably the best use of congressional time,” Obama said.
[...]
But Obama suggested this morning there were more important things on which the government should focus.
“Kids are watching sports. They’re modeling themselves on athletes,” Obama said. “It’s a serious problem, but it’s one that you want to see the leagues themselves handle in a more appropriate way. We’ve got nuclear weapons and a financial meltdown to worry about. We shouldn’t be worrying about steroids as much as I think sometimes we do.”
Some people think that Barack Obama was criticizing the Republican presidential nominee John McCain which he was most likely attempted to do. But Obama’s campaign disagrees with this interpretation of his comments.
Read more
August 30, 2008
A Connecticut man was convicted and sentenced for second-degree assault and first-degree unlawful restraint. Carlos Ramos threatened the life of his girlfriend, punched and kicked her on the ground and then forced himself upon her; he did not face rape charges because she allegedly consented. He invoked the “dumbbell defense” blaming his behavior on his use of anabolic steroids (”Victim asks judge to go easy on abuser,” August 30).
“I was not like that before I did steroids,” Carlos Ramos said. “I know I hit her, but I don’t remember doing it.”
Judge Michael Sheldon, of the Litchfield Superior Court, agreed that anabolic steroids caused Ramos to beat his girlfriend.
August 26, 2008
Advocates of steroid law reform are very disappointed that Democratic presidential candidate Barrack Obama selected Senator Joseph Biden as his vice presidential nominee. Senator Biden was the chief architect of the Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 1990 that criminalized the possession of anabolic steroids for non-medical purposes. Biden also wrote the Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 2004 which opened the door for significantly harsher penalties for steroid possession and steroid distribution; this has resulted in the increased prosecution of steroid users over the past few years who are treated as dangerous criminals with the worst penalties for the non-medical use of steroids in history. Senator Biden has been on his anti-steroid crusade for almost two decades.
Steroid law expert Rick Collins revealed in testimony to the United States Sentencing Commission that the typical non-medical steroid users has been misrepresented to the public and to legislators.
