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Posts Tagged ‘THG’

Patrick Arnold Made Little Profit from THG and Norbolethone

Friday, March 28th, 2008

Patrick Arnold’s ex-girlfriend, Kelcey Dalton, testified as a witness in cyclist Tammy Thomas steroid case. She told the court that Patrick Arnold (of Ergopharm) made very little profit from the sell of performance enhancing drugs (which were classified as “unapproved new drugs” prior to the Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 2004) [”Witness: Little Profit for Steroid Maker,” March 27].

The sums of money Arnold was making were “very low,” she said. “I think we should have charged more.”

Pat confirmed via email that he only made $15-20 thousand over the course of the THREE YEARS he provided tetrahydrogestrinone (THG) and norbolethone to elite athletes while working with Victor Conte. The government calls a $5,000 a year operation a major steroid bust?!

While the BALCO steroid bust involving undetectable performance enhancing drugs was a big deal to Pat Arnold et al and the athletes involved, the dismantling of BALCO had practically no direct impact on the commercial trade of anabolic steroids on the black market.  However, the role of the BALCO scandal as the impetus for the current steroid hysteria can not be underestimated.

Steroid Chemist Patrick Arnold Testifies in Tammy Thomas Doping Case

Tuesday, March 25th, 2008

Steroid chemist Patrick Arnold of Ergopharm testified in San Francisco federal court today in the perjury case against cyclist Tammy Thomas. Pat Arnold said under oath that THG was explicitly created to avoid detection by athletes subject to doping controls. He admitted to selling tetrahydrogestrinone (THG) to Victor Conte of BALCO and directly by mail to Tammy Thomas. (”Chemist testifies he created steroid at the heart of BALCO scandal,” March 25)

THG was also known as “the clear” because it was not detectable at the time Arnold developed it in about 2001.

Under questioning by prosecutor Jeff Nedrow, Arnold said, “That’s the primary reason why THG was developed.”

Arnold also said, “I believe that Miss Thomas understood full well it was undetectable and that that was its purpose.”

He said he believed the cyclist understood the drug had “steroid-like qualities.”

Tammy Thomas denied ever receiving any products from Pat Arnold other than Ergopharm 1-AD; she denied receiving anabolic steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs from Pat Arnold or anyone else; she denied using anabolic steroids.

Tammy Thomas is being prosecuted for perjury, obstruction of justice and making false statements - including denials that she used anabolic steroids. IMO, this is an offshoot of the steroid hysteria and federal war on steroids where prosecutors want to make an example of athletes who they suspect have used steroids.

The Anabolic Steroid Control Act (which made anabolic steroids a controlled substance) has proved virtually useless in prosecuting athletes who use anabolic steroids. Instead, federal prosecutors have perverted the perjury laws to target athletes who dope. Tammy Thomas’ case is the first test of the effectiveness of the government’s strategy of using perjury laws to target athletes and a preview of the Barry Bonds perjury case.

Ironically, THG was not legally classified as an anabolic steroid at the time that Patrick Arnold claims to have sold it to Tammy Thomas. This fact will apparently was highlighted in the defense’s opening statement. The defense strategy appears to maintain that “technically” Thomas told the truth because (1) THG was not legally an anabolic steroid at the time; (2) she did not think THG was banned at the time; (3) she obtained THG from Kelsey Dalton (Arnold’s former girlfriend) and not Pat. We’ll see how the case plays out.

Baseball’s Steroid Education Program

Saturday, December 15th, 2007
The Mitchell Report acknowledged that current steroid education programs used by Major League Baseball that focus on the dangerous side effects of anabolic steroids are generally ineffective:

[T]hese health risks… generally will not deter a player from using these substances. This is because players who use or are considering using performance enhancing substances do not consider them dangerous if used properly. This view is reinforced when players see that other players who they know are using performance enhancing substances arc not experiencing the adverse health effects described in the educational materials.


With the widespread use of steroids by baseball players and the lack of significant negative side effects, it is not surprising that scare tactics using overstated and exaggerated dangers of steroids are unsuccessful at steroid prevention in baseball.

But Senator Mitchell’s proposed solution to restore credibility to steroid education programs seems like a disaster. The Mitchell Report proposes offering “education on alternative methods to achieve the same results.”

[W]hile it is important to educate players about the dangers of performance enhancing substances, it is just as important to educate them on how to achieve the same results through proper training, nutrition, and supplements that are legal and safe.
So, all baseball players need is a creative chemist who can discover or synthesize a legal supplement [that complies with Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA)] with steroid-like effects. This legal supplement will be considered safe since newly introduced supplements are assumed to be safe under DSHEA unless proven otherwise by the FDA.

And the baseball player will have a legal and safe supplement to use.

This is the recommendation of the Mitchell Report?

But isn’t that what started the whole steroids in baseball scandal? THG redux.