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)
So how did this lone journalist from a mid-sized, out-of-state paper beat all the local and national powerhouses on such a major story? And perhaps more importantly, why did he bother?
The answer lies in the origins of the 2006 steroid case, which actually began in the Albany County District Attorney’s Office — a place Lyons knows well from years of crime reporting for the TU. As the investigation led to Florida and several other states, Lyons was well-positioned to get advance word of the raid. Since then, he has broken multiple follows, including a report in January revealing that numerous stars, from singers Mary J. Blige and 50 Cent to Danny Bonaduce, were linked to the pharmacy.
Apparently making deals to aggressively promote the local district attorney is the key to investigative reporting.
“I approached the DA, and he put me off for a while,” Lyons says. “Then he explained that they were in the throes of a multi-state investigation that would resonate from that office.”
Further digging found that the Orlando site was next. “I started working sources to find out as much as I could,” he says. “I found out that some celebrity athletes were involved.” Names such as boxer Evander Holyfield arose, and Lyons learned a big raid was in the works. But he did not report it, as investigators requested he hold off.
Lyons deludes himself into believing he was involved in serious investigative journalism by fancying himself as a real journalist surrounded by danger in a hostile military environment covering a significant military operation. As Lyons tells the story, coverage of the war on steroids is analagous to the war on terrorism in many ways.
“I thought it was no different than being embedded with a military unit that was going to raid Kirkuk tomorrow,” Lyons says. “The pitch was, ‘If you publish it, they could potentially destroy records and computer files.’” Then Lyons learned that Sports Illustrated was also on the story. “I knew they were being given the same request to hold off,” he recalls. “And the clock was ticking.
“We knew some things and could have moderately reported it,” Port adds. “But if we had done it, we would have ruined their investigative plans, and they made a case that was true. The deal was, when it happened, we would report the heck out of it.”
Thus, Brendan Lyons and the Albany Times-Union entered into a deal with District Attorney David Soares that has greatly benefitted both parties. The seemingly quid pro quo relationship has worked well from the beginning when prosecutor Soares invited Brendan Lyons and a Times-Union photographer to take lots of pictures during a raid that was clearly unnecessary and designed only as a photo op and publish “the heck out of it” (”Soares, Steroids and Albany,” March 2, 2007).
The Florida defense attorney said in a video clip that the suspects were aware of the investigation and offered several times to turn themselves in. David rejected their offer because he wanted to fly down to Florida “…with a camera crew.” Now we are stuck not only with the cost of David’s trip but also with the transportation costs of bringing the suspects up to Albany. In addition to two assistants, David invited a Times Union reporter and photographer on these out of state raids. This doesn’t look good and it appears that David is playing for publicity.
It is my opinion that we need much higher standards for what qualifies as investigative journalism.
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.
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?
