Brendan Lyons and the Albany Times-Union have received a lot of praise and acclaim for their “investigative journalism” in the coverage of the Signature Pharmacy steroid distribution scandal. Admittedly, they do a throrough job of covering the Albany-based investigation initiated by District Attorney David Soares. But the reporting is anything but well-balanced serving as little more than a public relations branch of the Albany County District Attorney’s Office.
I do not understand how becoming the bedfellow of a publicity-seeking prosecutor David Soares and the unofficial Albany County District Attorney Office PR agent qualifies as “investigative reporting.” Does this represent the current state of what is valued in investigative journalism? (”Investigative journalism still thriving in Albany,” April 2) Read more
In the aftermath of the British Dragon and Redicat steroid bust in Thailand, steroid sources in the Southeast Asian country continue to face disruptions in their steroid distribution efforts (”Customs uncover ‘huge’ steroids stash,” April 1).
More than 2000 vials of a banned steroid have been found by Customs officials inside a parcel sent to Sydney from Thailand.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the steroid seizure by customs in February has resulted in ongoing steroid busts in Sydney Australia (”Steroids found in Thai parcel: customs,” April 1).
Customs officers at Australia Post’s Gateway Facility in Sydney found the 2,378 ampoules of Sustanon 250, Stanozol and Nandrolone in plastic bags after examining a parcel from Thailand said to contain glass figures…
After finding the drugs in the mail on February 19, Customs investigators executed search warrants on premises in south-western Sydney last Friday and seized evidentiary material.
Investigations into the major steroid seizure are continuing.
Customs national manager for investigations, Richard Janezcko, said the agency was “continuing to detect and investigate increased attempts to smuggle prohibited and restricted performance enhancing drugs into Australia”.
Australia’s war on steroids is one of the most aggressive in the world, perhaps even more draconian than the efforts by the United States.
The “war on steroids” in the United States has been highly effective in one regard; it has limited the availability of anabolic steroids for those individuals who use steroids as a matter of medical necessity. Nelson Vergel has written about the problems arising from the nation’s steroid hysteria as it affects the medical applications of steroids. These problems include Watson Pharmaceuticals discontinuation of nandrolone decanoate (Deca Durabolin) and the increasingly limited number of compounding pharmacies that offer nandrolone.
Since nandrolone decanoate is no longer manufacturer by any U.S. pharmaceutical company, it is difficult to find in the United States with availability limited to compounding pharmacies. Members of Vergel’s Yahoo Group PozHealth have researched and identified only five compounding pharmacies nationwide that still offer nandrolone decanoate with a valid medical prescription (and in some cases, additional requirements) ["Nandrolone Prices at Compounding Pharmacies," March 28).
Prices of a 10mL vial Nandrolone Decanoate (200 mg/ml) at Compounding Pharmacies
[NOTE: Pricing and compounding pharmacy has been removed per request. The publication of such information has regrettably caused adverse attention for at least one compounding pharmacy.]
Two other compounding pharmacies have ceased production of nandrolone decanoate due to federal pressure and/or limited availability of the raw materials (Applied Pharmacy Services and Leiter’s Pharmacy, respectively).
We desperately need a rational discussion on anabolics steroids to replace the steroid demonization and steroid hysteria sweeping our country. Legislation and federal actions involving anabolic steroids over the past several years have arguably done nothing to decrease steroid use among professional athletes or high school athletes; the war on steroids has indisputably compromised the available of anabolic steroids for medical purposes in affected populations. This is the real crime.
Anabolic-androgenic steroids are probably the least dangerous category of drugs scheduled under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) even though the medical side effects are irrelevant to the scheduling criteria of the CSA. According to the American Medical Association, they do not meet the traditional Control Substances Act criteria for scheduling. Even as the “bastard child of controlled substances,” there has been little advocacy for the reform of anabolic steroid laws.
Anabolic steroids are currently illegal for non-medical purposes such as performance enhancement or cosmetic enhancement. If you think that anabolic steroids should be legal for the purposes in adults who do not compete in sports subject to a doping code prohibiting performance enhancing drugs, you may want to consider strategies discussed by other drug law reformers.
According to Alex Coolman of the Drug Law Blog, how you frame the legalization argument is crucial:
But I agree that it’s time to move away from the argument that “we should legalize drugs because, hey, they aren’t that harmful.”
My take on the “right” approach tends to be more oriented around civil rights and the costs of using prisons as tools of social control.
Just because you believe the dangers of anabolic steroids have been exaggerated, manufactured, or overstated doesn’t make for an effective anabolic steroid legalization strategy.
Pete Guither has some advice for drug reformers at Drug War Rant. He focuses on legalization efforts for marijuana, but replace pot with steroids and the advice is equally useful.
What we need to do is show the people that legalization is safer than prohibition.
We need to convince people that marijuana prohibition is endangering their children, robbing their checkbooks, hurting their property values and causing moral decay. We need them to understand that legalizing pot will make their streets safer and eliminate poverty.
You get the idea. Self-interest.
Now that’s not so critical to you or I. We understand what’s at stake. But we forget that the rest of the population doesn’t have our knowledge. We have to shake them out of their drug policy illiteracy.
Wrong approach:
Pot isn’t very harmful. We can protect against drugged drivers. It’s not a proper law. We should legalize marijuana.
Right approach:
Pot prohibition is causing criminals to prey on your children. We must legalize and regulate it NOW to cut back on damage to our cities and our families.
The only way to motivate people enough so that they’ll go past what the government tells them they should think is to make it personal.
The government is spending a lot of money and resources in the war on steroids (as part of the overall war on drugs). What is the cost-benefit of incarcerating steroid users? Wouldn’t legalizing steroids and regulating them be a better alternative?
