So anyone who's emailed me in the last two days via the contact form ( or blog@hushmail.com ) and not gotten a reply will need to resend their message via the new Hush contact form.
( that might only be you my old friend in NYC )
Click here to email SBC
btw I'm very happy to answer questions from any of my blog's readers especially those from the more unusual countries :-)
New study on elderly men shows link between low IGF-1 expression and mortality.
The growth hormone, insulin-growth factor-1 (IGF-1) is similar in molecular structure to insulin. It is released by the liver and also regulates childhood growth and continues to have anabolic effects in adults.
Researchers evaluated 376 healthy men aged between 73 and 94 years. A serum sample was taken from each subject at the beginning of the study. Researchers tracked their status over eight years.
Subjects with the lowest IGF-1 expression had a higher mortality rate than subjects with the highest IGF-1 activity. These results were significant in individuals at risk from cardiovascular complications.
Researchers used a new method, a bioassay, to measure the function of IGF-1. Compared to existing techniques, bioassay gives more information about the actual function of circulating IGF-1.
"The bioassay allowed us to more clearly see the association between high circulating IGF-1 bioactivity and extended survival," said Michael Brugts of the Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, and co-author of the study.
"Interestingly, we could not find such a relationship when IGF-1 in blood was measured with the more commonly used methods."
Findings of the study are slated to appear in the forthcoming issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Researchers evaluated 376 healthy men aged between 73 and 94 years. A serum sample was taken from each subject at the beginning of the study. Researchers tracked their status over eight years.
Subjects with the lowest IGF-1 expression had a higher mortality rate than subjects with the highest IGF-1 activity. These results were significant in individuals at risk from cardiovascular complications.
Researchers used a new method, a bioassay, to measure the function of IGF-1. Compared to existing techniques, bioassay gives more information about the actual function of circulating IGF-1.
"The bioassay allowed us to more clearly see the association between high circulating IGF-1 bioactivity and extended survival," said Michael Brugts of the Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, and co-author of the study.
"Interestingly, we could not find such a relationship when IGF-1 in blood was measured with the more commonly used methods."
Findings of the study are slated to appear in the forthcoming issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Rugby Football League to interview Terry Newton over autobiography doping claims.
Terry Newton will be asked to provide details to the Rugby Football League after claiming in his autobiography that he bought the human growth hormone for which he tested positive this season from a fellow player for £150 at a service station on the M62.
The former Great Britain hooker, who is in the early stages of a two-year ban that is likely to end his career, also voiced suspicions in an interview with the News of the World that other players have been taking the banned substance since at least 2007, when he suspected a team-mate in the national squad "was taking HGH and got away with it".
"We are aware of Terry Newton's comments and will be speaking to him about his claims," said a spokesman for the governing body. "The RFL is committed to eradicating drug use in the sport and any information Terry can provide to help with our efforts to root out cheats would be most useful. That Terry Newton was caught by our doping programme demonstrates that HGH is detectable. His suspension should act as a warning to every player of the consequences of cheating."
The former Great Britain hooker, who is in the early stages of a two-year ban that is likely to end his career, also voiced suspicions in an interview with the News of the World that other players have been taking the banned substance since at least 2007, when he suspected a team-mate in the national squad "was taking HGH and got away with it".
"We are aware of Terry Newton's comments and will be speaking to him about his claims," said a spokesman for the governing body. "The RFL is committed to eradicating drug use in the sport and any information Terry can provide to help with our efforts to root out cheats would be most useful. That Terry Newton was caught by our doping programme demonstrates that HGH is detectable. His suspension should act as a warning to every player of the consequences of cheating."
Canada's Waterloo University Football player admits steroid use story.
( boring bits and anti-steroid propaganda removed )
When Joe Surgenor was ushered into the head football coach’s office last month, he knew the jig was up. It took only a few minutes for him to break into tears and acknowledge there wasn’t any need for a drug test; he’d been using Winstrol, an anabolic steroid.
Soon others from the University of Waterloo football team would admit to doing the same.
“There are a few of us who self-declared,” Mr. Surgenor said yesterday, acknowledging his part in what could be the biggest drug scandal to hit Canadian Interuniversity Sports. “It doesn’t feel good.”
Mr. Surgenor, a 6-foot, 226-pound defensive lineman from Barrie, Ont., has been banned for two years from the CIS for admitting he used drugs. He agreed to tell his story for two reasons: to warn other athletes that the risk of using steroids isn’t worth the price of being caught, and to state that what happened at Waterloo is happening elsewhere across the country.
“To be perfectly honest, anyone who doesn’t think there are seven to 13 players on every team [using performance-enhancing drugs] in the CIS, you’re kidding yourself,” said Mr. Surgenor, 21. “There’s at least that number. I don’t think the CIS really wants to find out what’s going on. They don’t want to know the answer [to how many athletes are taking steroids].”
Mr. Surgenor was in his second year with the Warriors and utterly committed to his dream of one day playing professional football. He worked out, ate as best he could and even spent hundreds of dollars on a personal trainer.
Dissatisfied with the results, he decided to take the plunge and use steroids. He wouldn’t say where he got them, but insisted it had nothing to do with Mr. Zettler. In fact, Mr. Surgenor said many on the team were surprised when they heard Mr. Zettler had been charged and banned from campus.
“As far as I know, he wasn’t trying to sell to anyone on the team,” Mr. Surgenor said. “There was a select few who knew [that there were users on the Warriors]. It was kept quiet. It wasn’t something we tried to focus on.”
Mr. Surgenor, a transfer student athlete from Yuba College in Marysville, Calif., said he was once approached by Warriors’ head coach Dennis McPhee, who asked if his hard-charging defensive player was using anything illegal. Mr. Surgenor said no, which made his April meeting with Mr. McPhee all the more painful.
“I walked into coach McPhee’s office, told him everything and started crying. He was disappointed because I had lied. I felt sick to my stomach,” said Mr. Surgenor, who then told his parents everything. “They understood but they were disappointed, too.”
Mr. Surgenor will stay at Waterloo and has not given up on playing football again. He will continue to train with two notable exceptions – no more drugs, no more hiding the truth.
“I was taking Winstrol, which is essentially a fat cutter. I wanted to be leaner and stronger and I kept it quiet,” said Mr. Surgenor. “It’s really unfortunate the prestige of the Waterloo name has been tainted by our actions. I’d like everyone to know it’s just not worth it.”
When Joe Surgenor was ushered into the head football coach’s office last month, he knew the jig was up. It took only a few minutes for him to break into tears and acknowledge there wasn’t any need for a drug test; he’d been using Winstrol, an anabolic steroid.
Soon others from the University of Waterloo football team would admit to doing the same.
“There are a few of us who self-declared,” Mr. Surgenor said yesterday, acknowledging his part in what could be the biggest drug scandal to hit Canadian Interuniversity Sports. “It doesn’t feel good.”
Mr. Surgenor, a 6-foot, 226-pound defensive lineman from Barrie, Ont., has been banned for two years from the CIS for admitting he used drugs. He agreed to tell his story for two reasons: to warn other athletes that the risk of using steroids isn’t worth the price of being caught, and to state that what happened at Waterloo is happening elsewhere across the country.
“To be perfectly honest, anyone who doesn’t think there are seven to 13 players on every team [using performance-enhancing drugs] in the CIS, you’re kidding yourself,” said Mr. Surgenor, 21. “There’s at least that number. I don’t think the CIS really wants to find out what’s going on. They don’t want to know the answer [to how many athletes are taking steroids].”
Mr. Surgenor was in his second year with the Warriors and utterly committed to his dream of one day playing professional football. He worked out, ate as best he could and even spent hundreds of dollars on a personal trainer.
Dissatisfied with the results, he decided to take the plunge and use steroids. He wouldn’t say where he got them, but insisted it had nothing to do with Mr. Zettler. In fact, Mr. Surgenor said many on the team were surprised when they heard Mr. Zettler had been charged and banned from campus.
“As far as I know, he wasn’t trying to sell to anyone on the team,” Mr. Surgenor said. “There was a select few who knew [that there were users on the Warriors]. It was kept quiet. It wasn’t something we tried to focus on.”
Mr. Surgenor, a transfer student athlete from Yuba College in Marysville, Calif., said he was once approached by Warriors’ head coach Dennis McPhee, who asked if his hard-charging defensive player was using anything illegal. Mr. Surgenor said no, which made his April meeting with Mr. McPhee all the more painful.
“I walked into coach McPhee’s office, told him everything and started crying. He was disappointed because I had lied. I felt sick to my stomach,” said Mr. Surgenor, who then told his parents everything. “They understood but they were disappointed, too.”
Mr. Surgenor will stay at Waterloo and has not given up on playing football again. He will continue to train with two notable exceptions – no more drugs, no more hiding the truth.
“I was taking Winstrol, which is essentially a fat cutter. I wanted to be leaner and stronger and I kept it quiet,” said Mr. Surgenor. “It’s really unfortunate the prestige of the Waterloo name has been tainted by our actions. I’d like everyone to know it’s just not worth it.”
Owner of Strength Beyond gym chain ( an ex-cop ) charged with steroid possession.
( I presume his co-defendant was making halo capsules from Chinese steroid powders )
A former Paw Paw police officer and the owner of several area gyms were arraigned Wednesday in Van Buren County District Court on felony drug charges.
Robert P. Kusmack, 33, who was terminated May 19 from the Paw Paw Police Department, is charged with possession of Fluoxymesterone, an anabolic steroid. The felony is punishable by up to two years in prison.
Kusmack’s co-defendant, Aaron J. Diprima, 33, is charged with delivery/manufacture of Fluoxymesterone, a seven-year felony. Diprima, according to his Facebook page, is the owner of Strength Beyond, a fitness center franchise with locations in Decatur, Kalamazoo and Paw Paw.
The charges against Kusmack and Diprima were authorized May 12 by the Kalamazoo County Prosecutor’s Office, which was assigned as a special prosecutor by the Attorney General’s Office because of Kusmack’s previous working relationship as a police officer with the Van Buren County Prosecutor’s Office, Kalamazoo County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Carrie Klein said.
Klein declined to discuss specifics of the case but did confirm that investigators with the West Michigan Enforcement Team, a Michigan State Police drug unit, allege that Diprima supplied Fluoxymesterone to Kusmack.
Kusmack, who had been with the Paw Paw Police Department since 1998, was placed on unpaid leave March 29 after an internal investigation was launched by the agency of “violations of departmental rules and regulations stemming from the state police investigation,” Interim Police Chief Randy Pompey said
Van Buren County District Judge Robert T. Hentchel released Kusmack and Diprima on personal recognizance bonds.
A former Paw Paw police officer and the owner of several area gyms were arraigned Wednesday in Van Buren County District Court on felony drug charges.
Robert P. Kusmack, 33, who was terminated May 19 from the Paw Paw Police Department, is charged with possession of Fluoxymesterone, an anabolic steroid. The felony is punishable by up to two years in prison.
Kusmack’s co-defendant, Aaron J. Diprima, 33, is charged with delivery/manufacture of Fluoxymesterone, a seven-year felony. Diprima, according to his Facebook page, is the owner of Strength Beyond, a fitness center franchise with locations in Decatur, Kalamazoo and Paw Paw.
The charges against Kusmack and Diprima were authorized May 12 by the Kalamazoo County Prosecutor’s Office, which was assigned as a special prosecutor by the Attorney General’s Office because of Kusmack’s previous working relationship as a police officer with the Van Buren County Prosecutor’s Office, Kalamazoo County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Carrie Klein said.
Klein declined to discuss specifics of the case but did confirm that investigators with the West Michigan Enforcement Team, a Michigan State Police drug unit, allege that Diprima supplied Fluoxymesterone to Kusmack.
Kusmack, who had been with the Paw Paw Police Department since 1998, was placed on unpaid leave March 29 after an internal investigation was launched by the agency of “violations of departmental rules and regulations stemming from the state police investigation,” Interim Police Chief Randy Pompey said
Van Buren County District Judge Robert T. Hentchel released Kusmack and Diprima on personal recognizance bonds.
Terrible steroid domain name for sale.
"WESELL-TRENABOLDEPOT. COM" is for sale Only $1,795
I presume this domain name once belonged to a source and I doubt it will sell at $5 let alone $1795 !
Ironically the domain company who own it is called "hugedomains .com"
I presume this domain name once belonged to a source and I doubt it will sell at $5 let alone $1795 !
Ironically the domain company who own it is called "hugedomains .com"
New research suggests avoiding sugar rather than caffeine if you are worried about high blood pressure.
"We found no association for diet beverage consumption or caffeine intake and blood pressure," notes Dr. Chen, "suggesting that sugar may actually be the nutrient that is associated with blood pressure and not caffeine which many people would suspect."
The research, which was supported by a grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health, analyzed dietary intake and blood pressure of 810 adults measured at baseline, 6 and 18 months. After known risk factors of high blood pressure were controlled for, a reduction in sugar-sweetened beverage consumption of one serving per day was associated with a drop of 1.8 mm Hg in systolic pressure and 1.1 mm Hg in diastolic blood pressure over 18 months.
After additional adjustment for weight change over the same period, a reduction in the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages was still significantly associated with blood pressure reduction.
"By reducing the amount of sugar in your diet, you are also reducing the number of calories you consume and may lose weight," adds Dr. Chen. "But even among those whose weight was stable, we still found that people who drank fewer sugary sodas lowered their blood pressure."
The research, which was supported by a grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health, analyzed dietary intake and blood pressure of 810 adults measured at baseline, 6 and 18 months. After known risk factors of high blood pressure were controlled for, a reduction in sugar-sweetened beverage consumption of one serving per day was associated with a drop of 1.8 mm Hg in systolic pressure and 1.1 mm Hg in diastolic blood pressure over 18 months.
After additional adjustment for weight change over the same period, a reduction in the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages was still significantly associated with blood pressure reduction.
"By reducing the amount of sugar in your diet, you are also reducing the number of calories you consume and may lose weight," adds Dr. Chen. "But even among those whose weight was stable, we still found that people who drank fewer sugary sodas lowered their blood pressure."
Ex-wife accuses interim Police Chief of steroid smuggling.
The graffiti describes an adulterous husband and makes claims that he had extramarital affairs with a worker in his department, a woman named Marina.
She calls the woman a home wrecker and claims her husband even smuggled steroids from Mexico. The problem is, he happens to be interim chief of police in a department that's also seen it's share of problems.
We asked the chief about the more serious accusations.
"The bigger issue there is the accusations of drug smuggling," we asked.
He responded, denying them "yea, that's not true," Garcia said, "that's not true."
"Why is she making those accusations," we asked.
"You'll have to ask her," he said, "I don't know."
She calls the woman a home wrecker and claims her husband even smuggled steroids from Mexico. The problem is, he happens to be interim chief of police in a department that's also seen it's share of problems.
We asked the chief about the more serious accusations.
"The bigger issue there is the accusations of drug smuggling," we asked.
He responded, denying them "yea, that's not true," Garcia said, "that's not true."
"Why is she making those accusations," we asked.
"You'll have to ask her," he said, "I don't know."
Pitcock charged with distributing steroids.
( follow up to this steroid bust story )
The man police believe supplied steroids that were sold to a Calhoun High School student is in the Floyd County Jail on additional charges, reports stated.
According to Floyd County Jail records:
Justin Wood Pitcock, 21, of 103 Vernon Road, Armuchee, is charged with possession of a controlled substance (anabolic steroids) and possession of a controlled substance (anabolic steroids) with the intent to distribute. Police found 17 vials of steroids after searching Pitcock’s home on May 20, a warrant stated.
Pitcock and two other men were arrested in Gordon County last week after a two-month investigation that led to the seizure of more than $10,000 worth of anabolic steroids. Corey Biggers, 22, of 460 Rosedale Road, both of Floyd County, and Bradley Barto, 25 of 561 W. Cypress Ave., Springs, Fla., were charged along with Pitcock in Gordon County with distributing steroids.
The man police believe supplied steroids that were sold to a Calhoun High School student is in the Floyd County Jail on additional charges, reports stated.
According to Floyd County Jail records:
Justin Wood Pitcock, 21, of 103 Vernon Road, Armuchee, is charged with possession of a controlled substance (anabolic steroids) and possession of a controlled substance (anabolic steroids) with the intent to distribute. Police found 17 vials of steroids after searching Pitcock’s home on May 20, a warrant stated.
Pitcock and two other men were arrested in Gordon County last week after a two-month investigation that led to the seizure of more than $10,000 worth of anabolic steroids. Corey Biggers, 22, of 460 Rosedale Road, both of Floyd County, and Bradley Barto, 25 of 561 W. Cypress Ave., Springs, Fla., were charged along with Pitcock in Gordon County with distributing steroids.
Woman become less trusting when given the male hormone testosterone.
Scientists have discovered that the hormone testosterone, which makes men physically strong and aggressive, seems also to be connected to cynicism and a lack of trust in others.
They found that when it was given to women it appeared to "harden them up" and made them less open and more vigilant.
Historically for women it was important to be co-operative and sociable in order to survive whereas for men it was more important to be able to fight.
Men therefore evolved with more testosterone than women in order to make them bigger, stronger and more aggressive. It also seems to have made them more wary and to constantly "watch their back" for danger.
They found that when it was given to women it appeared to "harden them up" and made them less open and more vigilant.
Historically for women it was important to be co-operative and sociable in order to survive whereas for men it was more important to be able to fight.
Men therefore evolved with more testosterone than women in order to make them bigger, stronger and more aggressive. It also seems to have made them more wary and to constantly "watch their back" for danger.
Jesse Hagard sentenced to 366 days in a halfway house.
An alternative medicine practitioner from Arizona who once defiantly advocated the benefits of steroids tearfully pleaded for his freedom in Mobile last week.
U.S. District Judge Ginny Granade told Jesse S. Haggard that she appreciated his change of heart but added that she could not let him go free. She sentenced him to a year and a day in prison but recommended to federal corrections officials that he serve his time in a halfway house.
Haggard, 32, was one of 12 people indicted in 2008 as part of a long-running investigation into an online compounding pharmacy in Mobile, Applied Pharmacy Services.
But Haggard headed for Costa Rica, where he made radio appearances passionately defending the therapeutic benefits of steroids.
Reading from a prepared statement last week, Haggard renounced those views in a sob-filled apology.
"Although I feel my error was an error in knowledge more than an error in morality, I now tread more humbly," he told Granade.
Haggard admitted that he prescribed 4,880 dosage units of multiple anabolic steroids, human growth hormone and other drugs to patients who had no legitimate medical reason to take them.
U.S. District Judge Ginny Granade told Jesse S. Haggard that she appreciated his change of heart but added that she could not let him go free. She sentenced him to a year and a day in prison but recommended to federal corrections officials that he serve his time in a halfway house.
Haggard, 32, was one of 12 people indicted in 2008 as part of a long-running investigation into an online compounding pharmacy in Mobile, Applied Pharmacy Services.
But Haggard headed for Costa Rica, where he made radio appearances passionately defending the therapeutic benefits of steroids.
Reading from a prepared statement last week, Haggard renounced those views in a sob-filled apology.
"Although I feel my error was an error in knowledge more than an error in morality, I now tread more humbly," he told Granade.
Haggard admitted that he prescribed 4,880 dosage units of multiple anabolic steroids, human growth hormone and other drugs to patients who had no legitimate medical reason to take them.
Fort Worth police chief promotes Testosterone therapy for fellow officers.
( with news reports of cops getting fired or resigning due to steroid use every month this seems like a major PR mistake for LE )
Sex drive. Mental focus. Energy.
All were topics of discussion at a recent voluntary Wellness Seminar for Fort Worth police officers. Chief Jeffrey Halstead called the meeting to share his testimony about testosterone.
He said he didn't have enough, and hit rock bottom, until he was treated with hormone therapy.
Halstead said he believes some of his officers may be better officers with a hormone adjustment. But is the product he's sharing safe?
A police chief works long hours and has to make some tough decisions. Managing hundreds of police officers is a challenge.
But recently, Halstead noticed something in his life was off. "Stress of the job, long hours and work — everything was getting pulled from both ends," he said.
So the chief turned to SottoPelle Pellet Therapy to boost his testosterone levels.
The therapy starts with a small incision under the skin. A pellet containing testosterone is inserted to raise levels of the hormone.
Halstead said he now feels great again, and to share his success, he created a voluntary wellness program for the entire Fort Worth Police Department and invited the SottoPelle team.
"When your boss tells you to be there for the wellness seminar, a lot of people do show up," Halstead said. "But afterwards, it was amazing: Five of them texted me and told me that was a very important day to them."
News 8 checked with independent sources about the product Chief Halstead is sharing with officers. Five North Texas doctors with expertise in hormones — representing five different hospitals and clinics — all agreed, first and foremost, that the Chief's testosterone level is too high.
He went from 125, which experts said is too low, to nearly 1,000. On average, the doctors said levels should not exceed 400 to 500.
That means Halstead has twice the testosterone they would recommend.
But Dr. Gary Donovitz, who represents SottoPelle, says his team never overdoses hormones, and maintains there is extensive blood work for each patient.
"We weren't jacking with his hormones like you would anabolic steroids," Donovitz said. "We're simply trying to return him and other men to where they should be when they were 30 with normal testosterone."
UT Southwestern endocrinologist Dr. Richard Auchus says the Chief is encouraging a socially acceptable form of narcotics. "Any time you take a man and you increase his testosterone levels, he experiences a euphoria from that," Auchus said. It's a euphoria he worries could become addictive.
Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas called the SottoPelle treatment "mis-marketing and inappropriate."
Even a wellness clinic that supports hormone replacement acknowledges that "men can become angry."
A Texas Health Dallas doctor believes "there are red flags all over it."
The City of Fort Worth backs its police chief:
"...it was a voluntary presentation and similar to many of the wellness programs offered to employees. What was presented was one of many wellness options available, and in no way was an endorsement of any product."
Chief Halstead chief gets his testosterone pellets replaced every few months, but says he is not getting any kickbacks from SottoPelle.He says finding a hormonal balance can help keep his officers in shape to meet the new demands of their contract.
Officers are now subject to a physical fitness test. If they fail, they could lose their jobs.
Sex drive. Mental focus. Energy.
All were topics of discussion at a recent voluntary Wellness Seminar for Fort Worth police officers. Chief Jeffrey Halstead called the meeting to share his testimony about testosterone.
He said he didn't have enough, and hit rock bottom, until he was treated with hormone therapy.
Halstead said he believes some of his officers may be better officers with a hormone adjustment. But is the product he's sharing safe?
A police chief works long hours and has to make some tough decisions. Managing hundreds of police officers is a challenge.
But recently, Halstead noticed something in his life was off. "Stress of the job, long hours and work — everything was getting pulled from both ends," he said.
So the chief turned to SottoPelle Pellet Therapy to boost his testosterone levels.
The therapy starts with a small incision under the skin. A pellet containing testosterone is inserted to raise levels of the hormone.
Halstead said he now feels great again, and to share his success, he created a voluntary wellness program for the entire Fort Worth Police Department and invited the SottoPelle team.
"When your boss tells you to be there for the wellness seminar, a lot of people do show up," Halstead said. "But afterwards, it was amazing: Five of them texted me and told me that was a very important day to them."
News 8 checked with independent sources about the product Chief Halstead is sharing with officers. Five North Texas doctors with expertise in hormones — representing five different hospitals and clinics — all agreed, first and foremost, that the Chief's testosterone level is too high.
He went from 125, which experts said is too low, to nearly 1,000. On average, the doctors said levels should not exceed 400 to 500.
That means Halstead has twice the testosterone they would recommend.
But Dr. Gary Donovitz, who represents SottoPelle, says his team never overdoses hormones, and maintains there is extensive blood work for each patient.
"We weren't jacking with his hormones like you would anabolic steroids," Donovitz said. "We're simply trying to return him and other men to where they should be when they were 30 with normal testosterone."
UT Southwestern endocrinologist Dr. Richard Auchus says the Chief is encouraging a socially acceptable form of narcotics. "Any time you take a man and you increase his testosterone levels, he experiences a euphoria from that," Auchus said. It's a euphoria he worries could become addictive.
Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas called the SottoPelle treatment "mis-marketing and inappropriate."
Even a wellness clinic that supports hormone replacement acknowledges that "men can become angry."
A Texas Health Dallas doctor believes "there are red flags all over it."
The City of Fort Worth backs its police chief:
"...it was a voluntary presentation and similar to many of the wellness programs offered to employees. What was presented was one of many wellness options available, and in no way was an endorsement of any product."
Chief Halstead chief gets his testosterone pellets replaced every few months, but says he is not getting any kickbacks from SottoPelle.He says finding a hormonal balance can help keep his officers in shape to meet the new demands of their contract.
Officers are now subject to a physical fitness test. If they fail, they could lose their jobs.
Bleacher Report's Devil's Advocate "legalize steroids" story.
Legalize performance enhancing drugs.
It may not be a perfect fix. But, it would end the tiresome finger pointing, rumor generating, asterisk affixing, and 1940's style blacklisting that has been running rampant in professional sports today.
The argument to legalize, and regulate, these performance enhancing drugs is similar to the argument for the legalization of controlled substances, such as marijuana:
1) There is no stopping it completely. Sure, the War On ( Performance Enhancing ) Drugs has garnered a few victories, but those are few and far between compared to the holes in the system that allow PEDs to enter our prized athletes' bloodstreams.
Athletes, in general, are adored by their fans. They are idolized by young children. The truth, however, is that just because they are rich and talented, does not mean that these are inherently "good" people.
In fact, their fame and fortunes often lead many athletes to become drug and alcohol users, female and spousal abusers, adulterers, conceited, selfish, jaded, narcissistic, or all of the above.
Take your pick.
Reading the newspapers or watching ESPN, it seems that there are very few athletes who can even qualify as decent, much less heroic, figures.
Maybe the athletes are changing. Or maybe, like how the brightest of lights bring out flaws in even the smoothest skin, the media evolution allows us just too close of a look for us to retain the puppy-saving ideal citizen image we have of our favorite sports figures.
2) Regulating performance enhancing drugs would even the playing field. Teams already have their own nutritionists, weight trainers, medical staff, and high tech facilities that allow their players to achieve physical results far beyond the normal Joe six-pack is capable of. Performance Enhancing Drugs merely widen the gap between the mortal and the superhuman.
In the MLB's Mitchell Report, over 87 players were specifically named as relating to steroids, and steroid based offenses. Superstars like Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds and Rafael Palmeiro were mentioned on this list. No-names like Todd Pratt and Hal Morris also appeared in the report.
This is evidence that steroids alone cannot turn an average player into a star.
More recently, NFL players have been caught up in the PED storm.
Brian Cushing, the Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2009, was recently suspended four games for his involvement with PEDs. However, upon a re-vote, Cushing was still awarded Rookie of the Year honors.
This is a sign that not only are PEDs widespread in the NFL, but people know it. They are even beginning to accept it.
In one NFL player's opinion, PED use is as low as 15 percent amongst players. In another current players estimate, it is as high as 30 percent.
If this is the case, and who would know better than the athletes themselves, then why have only a few players been charged?
Major league organizations know they are selling a spectacle. They can't make the players donate to charity, give autographs, or even acknowledge a fan's presence.
But, they can provide an awe-inspiring show of athletic ability, strength, and power.
3) While it may be a cynical and jaded outlook on sports, sooner or later, this performance enhancing drug situation will be hit head-on. If PEDs were regulated, at least fans wouldn't have to wonder if their favorite players were secretly juicing.
Their wouldn't be a cloud of doubt over what the players were doing.
Then, more focus could be spent on keeping PEDs out of players' bodies at the collegiate and high school levels, where the love of the game and the purity of the sport, outweighs the love of money and marvel.
This may even heighten the popularity of amateur sports, as purists would still get a thrill out of watching games fueled solely by sweat and determination.
Regulating steroids would also make the players who voluntarily refuse to take PEDs look like heroes, as opposed to the media singling out a few villains.
Just my two cents. Hate away. I know you want to.
It may not be a perfect fix. But, it would end the tiresome finger pointing, rumor generating, asterisk affixing, and 1940's style blacklisting that has been running rampant in professional sports today.
The argument to legalize, and regulate, these performance enhancing drugs is similar to the argument for the legalization of controlled substances, such as marijuana:
1) There is no stopping it completely. Sure, the War On ( Performance Enhancing ) Drugs has garnered a few victories, but those are few and far between compared to the holes in the system that allow PEDs to enter our prized athletes' bloodstreams.
Athletes, in general, are adored by their fans. They are idolized by young children. The truth, however, is that just because they are rich and talented, does not mean that these are inherently "good" people.
In fact, their fame and fortunes often lead many athletes to become drug and alcohol users, female and spousal abusers, adulterers, conceited, selfish, jaded, narcissistic, or all of the above.
Take your pick.
Reading the newspapers or watching ESPN, it seems that there are very few athletes who can even qualify as decent, much less heroic, figures.
Maybe the athletes are changing. Or maybe, like how the brightest of lights bring out flaws in even the smoothest skin, the media evolution allows us just too close of a look for us to retain the puppy-saving ideal citizen image we have of our favorite sports figures.
2) Regulating performance enhancing drugs would even the playing field. Teams already have their own nutritionists, weight trainers, medical staff, and high tech facilities that allow their players to achieve physical results far beyond the normal Joe six-pack is capable of. Performance Enhancing Drugs merely widen the gap between the mortal and the superhuman.
In the MLB's Mitchell Report, over 87 players were specifically named as relating to steroids, and steroid based offenses. Superstars like Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds and Rafael Palmeiro were mentioned on this list. No-names like Todd Pratt and Hal Morris also appeared in the report.
This is evidence that steroids alone cannot turn an average player into a star.
More recently, NFL players have been caught up in the PED storm.
Brian Cushing, the Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2009, was recently suspended four games for his involvement with PEDs. However, upon a re-vote, Cushing was still awarded Rookie of the Year honors.
This is a sign that not only are PEDs widespread in the NFL, but people know it. They are even beginning to accept it.
In one NFL player's opinion, PED use is as low as 15 percent amongst players. In another current players estimate, it is as high as 30 percent.
If this is the case, and who would know better than the athletes themselves, then why have only a few players been charged?
Major league organizations know they are selling a spectacle. They can't make the players donate to charity, give autographs, or even acknowledge a fan's presence.
But, they can provide an awe-inspiring show of athletic ability, strength, and power.
3) While it may be a cynical and jaded outlook on sports, sooner or later, this performance enhancing drug situation will be hit head-on. If PEDs were regulated, at least fans wouldn't have to wonder if their favorite players were secretly juicing.
Their wouldn't be a cloud of doubt over what the players were doing.
Then, more focus could be spent on keeping PEDs out of players' bodies at the collegiate and high school levels, where the love of the game and the purity of the sport, outweighs the love of money and marvel.
This may even heighten the popularity of amateur sports, as purists would still get a thrill out of watching games fueled solely by sweat and determination.
Regulating steroids would also make the players who voluntarily refuse to take PEDs look like heroes, as opposed to the media singling out a few villains.
Just my two cents. Hate away. I know you want to.
BALCO's Victor Conte claims beating drug tests as easy as stealing candy from a baby.
He was the BALCO Bad Boy, a sort of Dr. Frankenstein who developed athletic monsters in baseball, track and field and, in the case of Sugar Shane Mosley, in boxing.
Despite his checkered past, Conte hasn't gone underground, instead he's out in the open advising fighters about strrength, conditioning, nutrition and, of course, drugs. This time around, though, Conte claims he's on the right side of the law. He's one of those I did the crime, then I did the time guys.
Consulting with fighters is just a small sideline to his SNAC, Scientific Nutrition and Advanced Conditioning business which he told me has steadily provided him a million dollar annual income flow....the better to pay his huge legal bills, including his continuing defamation battle with Mosley.
And, to hear Conte tell it, he will be around boxing longer than sanctimonious Travis Tygart and his USADA will.
Conte makes it plain that he has little regard for Tygart's public posturing and the tactics used by the anti drug cheating agency.
"I think the time will come when boxing will separate itself from him and the USADA," Conte said. "I think Floyd Mayweather will get away from Tygart and his group as well.
"Tygart puts out all sorts of information which is false and inaccurate. Make no mistake, Tygart has his own agenda.
"Tygart uses scare tactics, for example, storing athletes' blood for eight years," Conte said. "Every other word out of his mouth is random, random, random as in random resting.
"So let's look at what they did on Mosley-Mayweather. They took the first blood and urine tests from the fighters on March 22 and 23, about five weeks out from the night of the bout. It turns out there was no testing on the fighters then for 18-19 days before the fight.
"What is random about that? Random, to me, is 24/7/365. I have real issues with Tygart and with the USADA. He talks about their testing being foolproof and that is simply nonsense.
"Starting to test fighters five weeks out is a joke. Under their system, to get caught using, let's say, HGH or EPO , you would have to really be a moron. Tygart acts like he is the biggest sherriff in town and he talks about full disclosure and transparency.
"There isn't any of that in their program. With the Olympics, they don't tell you that in an 18 month moving time frame, you can miss two tests and no one will know except. You would have to miss three tests before the world finds out and, even then, it's like getting one speeding ticket marked on your driver's license.
"Beating the so called 'gold standard' testing system is like taking candy from a baby. The HGH, the EPO and many other banned substances...you can get them out of your system on the same day you take them or one day later. How hard do you think it is to dodge their testing for one day?
"Even if they come back the next day, you can dodge them again and all you get is a notice of your right to a hearing to explain the circumstances," Conte said.
Despite his checkered past, Conte hasn't gone underground, instead he's out in the open advising fighters about strrength, conditioning, nutrition and, of course, drugs. This time around, though, Conte claims he's on the right side of the law. He's one of those I did the crime, then I did the time guys.
Consulting with fighters is just a small sideline to his SNAC, Scientific Nutrition and Advanced Conditioning business which he told me has steadily provided him a million dollar annual income flow....the better to pay his huge legal bills, including his continuing defamation battle with Mosley.
And, to hear Conte tell it, he will be around boxing longer than sanctimonious Travis Tygart and his USADA will.
Conte makes it plain that he has little regard for Tygart's public posturing and the tactics used by the anti drug cheating agency.
"I think the time will come when boxing will separate itself from him and the USADA," Conte said. "I think Floyd Mayweather will get away from Tygart and his group as well.
"Tygart puts out all sorts of information which is false and inaccurate. Make no mistake, Tygart has his own agenda.
"Tygart uses scare tactics, for example, storing athletes' blood for eight years," Conte said. "Every other word out of his mouth is random, random, random as in random resting.
"So let's look at what they did on Mosley-Mayweather. They took the first blood and urine tests from the fighters on March 22 and 23, about five weeks out from the night of the bout. It turns out there was no testing on the fighters then for 18-19 days before the fight.
"What is random about that? Random, to me, is 24/7/365. I have real issues with Tygart and with the USADA. He talks about their testing being foolproof and that is simply nonsense.
"Starting to test fighters five weeks out is a joke. Under their system, to get caught using, let's say, HGH or EPO , you would have to really be a moron. Tygart acts like he is the biggest sherriff in town and he talks about full disclosure and transparency.
"There isn't any of that in their program. With the Olympics, they don't tell you that in an 18 month moving time frame, you can miss two tests and no one will know except. You would have to miss three tests before the world finds out and, even then, it's like getting one speeding ticket marked on your driver's license.
"Beating the so called 'gold standard' testing system is like taking candy from a baby. The HGH, the EPO and many other banned substances...you can get them out of your system on the same day you take them or one day later. How hard do you think it is to dodge their testing for one day?
"Even if they come back the next day, you can dodge them again and all you get is a notice of your right to a hearing to explain the circumstances," Conte said.
"Confessions of a female bodybuilder" article highlights from New Zealand's press.
“What do you eat!?”
Donnelle Petelo says she’s been asked this so often by men at her gym, she now just laughs at the question.
You see Donnelle has guns. Not the kind a military enthusiast collects but the kind a 32-year-old woman gets from pumping weights nearly every day for the last two years.
The West Auckland mother of three is among the best female amateur bodybuilders in the country and has just placed fourth at the Natural Classic Auckland Champs on Sunday.
In the weeks leading up to the event Donnelle reduced her food intake to a mere 1225 calories per day, while at the same time increasing her already strenuous cardio and weights routine.
Donnelle drastically reduced her water intake too. At the start of last week she was drinking up to four litres per day. On Saturday she was down to 250ml with not a drop on Sunday – the day of the big competition.
In 2007 Donnelle weighed 92kg and had never stepped foot inside a gym, let alone harboured life ambitions to become a top female bodybuilder.
A friend suggested a bodybuilding fitness trainer and in less than a year Donnelle had lost 37kg, and gained an obsession with the training and strict diet of bodybuilding.
“For you to get mass muscle you have to eat a shit load but for you to go on stage you have to eat bugger all – so they are quite polar opposites.”
Donnelle is down to an almost unbelievable 3kgs of body fat. The extreme weight loss has caused her to temporarily lose her period. She says it will probably be up to two to three months before it returns.
“When you get to about that 15 percent (body fat) there are a couple of weeks there where it is really hard, because as a female your body just doesn’t want to go under there,” she says.
The physical dangers of bodybuilding are amplified in the days leading up to competitions – with athletes sticking to “pre-comp diets”. But it is “post-comp” where the mental dangers arise.
Dramatic weight gain is common as athletes return fluid to their bodies causing them to puff out. Donnelle says she has known people to put on as much as 7kg in the day following a competition.
She says the weeks following competitions are full of mind games as your body adjusts to its larger size.
“It does [mess with your mind] as you get leaner and leaner, because it happens quite gradual too. So you begin to like looking like that. So then when you get your butt back and don’t fit your clothes it can be tough,” she says.
Female bodybuilding would however take a dark turn into the 90s with rampant drug use breeding masculine female physiques.
“To counter that, because [drug use] virtually killed the whole sport, they brought in the figure class which is more shape orientated and glamorous. But internationally that is almost getting to where women’s bodybuilding was,” he says.
It sounds like a tired joke. Female bodybuilders hepped up on steroids, growing facial hair and male pecs, but Peter says drugs have nearly taken over professional bodybuilding. He’s seen many athletes push themselves to the edge.
“I’ve seen guys just about die on stage,” he says.
“…because their electrolyte system is so out of wack.”
“Not to veer them away because I don’t think you’re ever gonna change it. But to give people a choice, because without it they have no choice,” he says.
Anabolic steroids are bodybuilding’s elephant in the room – be it an elephant that can bench 400kg. Donnelle says no one talks about them but if you turn professional (“get your pro card”) you basically have to take drugs to be competitive.
Donnelle is drug-free and in her own words “healthy”. She placed fourth at the Natural Classic Auckland Champs, taking the stage with around 30 other women. Even for first place there were no medals, limited prize money and barely any coverage in the press.
Donnelle Petelo says she’s been asked this so often by men at her gym, she now just laughs at the question.
You see Donnelle has guns. Not the kind a military enthusiast collects but the kind a 32-year-old woman gets from pumping weights nearly every day for the last two years.
The West Auckland mother of three is among the best female amateur bodybuilders in the country and has just placed fourth at the Natural Classic Auckland Champs on Sunday.
In the weeks leading up to the event Donnelle reduced her food intake to a mere 1225 calories per day, while at the same time increasing her already strenuous cardio and weights routine.
Donnelle drastically reduced her water intake too. At the start of last week she was drinking up to four litres per day. On Saturday she was down to 250ml with not a drop on Sunday – the day of the big competition.
In 2007 Donnelle weighed 92kg and had never stepped foot inside a gym, let alone harboured life ambitions to become a top female bodybuilder.
A friend suggested a bodybuilding fitness trainer and in less than a year Donnelle had lost 37kg, and gained an obsession with the training and strict diet of bodybuilding.
“For you to get mass muscle you have to eat a shit load but for you to go on stage you have to eat bugger all – so they are quite polar opposites.”
Donnelle is down to an almost unbelievable 3kgs of body fat. The extreme weight loss has caused her to temporarily lose her period. She says it will probably be up to two to three months before it returns.
“When you get to about that 15 percent (body fat) there are a couple of weeks there where it is really hard, because as a female your body just doesn’t want to go under there,” she says.
The physical dangers of bodybuilding are amplified in the days leading up to competitions – with athletes sticking to “pre-comp diets”. But it is “post-comp” where the mental dangers arise.
Dramatic weight gain is common as athletes return fluid to their bodies causing them to puff out. Donnelle says she has known people to put on as much as 7kg in the day following a competition.
She says the weeks following competitions are full of mind games as your body adjusts to its larger size.
“It does [mess with your mind] as you get leaner and leaner, because it happens quite gradual too. So you begin to like looking like that. So then when you get your butt back and don’t fit your clothes it can be tough,” she says.
Female bodybuilding would however take a dark turn into the 90s with rampant drug use breeding masculine female physiques.
“To counter that, because [drug use] virtually killed the whole sport, they brought in the figure class which is more shape orientated and glamorous. But internationally that is almost getting to where women’s bodybuilding was,” he says.
It sounds like a tired joke. Female bodybuilders hepped up on steroids, growing facial hair and male pecs, but Peter says drugs have nearly taken over professional bodybuilding. He’s seen many athletes push themselves to the edge.
“I’ve seen guys just about die on stage,” he says.
“…because their electrolyte system is so out of wack.”
“Not to veer them away because I don’t think you’re ever gonna change it. But to give people a choice, because without it they have no choice,” he says.
Anabolic steroids are bodybuilding’s elephant in the room – be it an elephant that can bench 400kg. Donnelle says no one talks about them but if you turn professional (“get your pro card”) you basically have to take drugs to be competitive.
Donnelle is drug-free and in her own words “healthy”. She placed fourth at the Natural Classic Auckland Champs, taking the stage with around 30 other women. Even for first place there were no medals, limited prize money and barely any coverage in the press.
First positive doping test in USA for Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator acetamidoxolutamide aka Andarine aka S4.
The Minnesota Twins offered no further comment Friday about Fort Myers Miracle outfielder Michael Harrington's 50-game suspension for violating the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment policy.
The Miracle said their parent club would likely not comment until the suspension is over, and Twins Senior Director of the Minor Leagues Jim Rantz did not return a message left on Friday.
The 24-year-old Harrington is eligible to return from his suspension on July 14 when the Miracle take on Daytona on the road. His first game back at Hammond Stadium would be July 18 against Lakeland.
The 6-foot, 200-pound left-handed hitter tested positive for Andarine, a Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator (SARM) that is believed to provide the results of traditional steroids with fewer side effects.
The Miracle said their parent club would likely not comment until the suspension is over, and Twins Senior Director of the Minor Leagues Jim Rantz did not return a message left on Friday.
The 24-year-old Harrington is eligible to return from his suspension on July 14 when the Miracle take on Daytona on the road. His first game back at Hammond Stadium would be July 18 against Lakeland.
The 6-foot, 200-pound left-handed hitter tested positive for Andarine, a Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator (SARM) that is believed to provide the results of traditional steroids with fewer side effects.
Gym employees arrested following investigation into steroid dealing at Georgia High School.
( The steroids found were capsules in unlabeled brown vitamin jars and injectables in unlabeled vials, they claim the source was an overseas one but I think it's more likely they were home brewing from Chinese steroid powders )
Two Floyd County residents and a Florida man are in the Gordon County jail after a two-month investigation that led to the seizure of more than $5,000 worth of anabolic steroids.
The Calhoun Special Operations Division and the Calhoun Police, assisted by the Conasauga Safe Streets Task Force, arrested on Wednesday Justin Pitcock, 21, of 103 Vernon Road in Rome, and Bradley Barto, 25 of 561 West Cypress Ave Springs, Fla. Another suspect, Corey Biggers, 22, of 460 Rosedale Road in Rome, was arrested the following day.
According to Calhoun Police Chief Garry Moss, the arrests came after a two-month long investigation connected to the March arrest of a Calhoun High School student allegedly caught selling steroids on campus.
Moss said an undercover agent was able to negotiate the delivery of the anabolic steroids to a location within the city of Calhoun. When the delivery was made, officers converged on the suspects’ vehicles, resulting in the arrests of Pitcock and Barto.
When officers attempted to arrest Biggers, he fled into the woods, but was apprehended the next day.
Moss said investigators believe that Biggers had been selling steroids to the Calhoun student, and Pitcock had been his supplier.
Biggers is employed by Riviera Gym in Creekview, Fla., where he is a personal trainer, Moss said. Biggers had previously been employed at a gym in Calhoun. The name of that facility has not been released.
All suspects were charged with possession with intent to distribute anabolic steroids, along with numerous other charges.
The investigation indicated there is an overseas narcotics connection. The investigation continues.
“These men were intending to bring steroids into Calhoun with the intent to sell,” Moss said. “We were stopping the sale of steroid at the original source.”
An additional $5,500 worth of anabolic steroids was seized at Pitcock's home by the Rome-Floyd Metro Task Force, according to Cmdr. Joey Jacobs.
Additional news report :
A Channel 2 Action News camera was rolling as a Calhoun police officer showed off illegal steroids his department confiscated after a two-month-long undercover investigation.
"This is Winstrol and I believe this is called Deca-Durabolin," the officer explained as he pulled 19 unmarked vials and three large bottles of capsules out of a box."
"These are the ... testosterone, estrogen. They have a street value of $5,000," he told Channel 2 Action News reporter Tom Jones.
Police said the men who sold the undercover officer the performance enhancing drugs also sold them to high school students on campuses in three counties: Gordon, Floyd and Bartow. Those students would in turn sell the steroids to other students, who used them to quickly build muscle mass.
Police arrested Corey Biggers, Bradley Barto and Justin Pitcock and charged them with possession with the intent to distribute narcotics.
Officers said the undercover operation began after a Calhoun High School student was arrested on suspicion of selling steroids on campus in March. The undercover officer became friends with the man who supplied the student with the steroids. The officer then arranged to buy steroids from the supplier and police said when Biggers, Bradley and Pitcock showed up with the illegal drugs, Biggers and Pitcock were arrested. Officers said Barto ran away but was arrested the next day when his father brought him in.
Calhoun Police Chief Garry Moss called the arrests significant. But he doesn't believe the fight to keep illegal steroids away from young people is over. "I think we have put a major dent in it. But I don't think we've eradicated it," Moss said.
Students at Calhoun High School applaud the officers' efforts at keeping steroids off their campus. That's a good thing because steroids are illegal and students aren't supposed to use those things," senior class member Antonio Martinez said.
The Drug Enforcement Agency is also investigating and an investigation is getting under way in Florida after authorities said they found out Biggers works at a gym there. Police also said the charges against the men could be enhanced because selling drugs to minors is a federal crime.
Two Floyd County residents and a Florida man are in the Gordon County jail after a two-month investigation that led to the seizure of more than $5,000 worth of anabolic steroids.
The Calhoun Special Operations Division and the Calhoun Police, assisted by the Conasauga Safe Streets Task Force, arrested on Wednesday Justin Pitcock, 21, of 103 Vernon Road in Rome, and Bradley Barto, 25 of 561 West Cypress Ave Springs, Fla. Another suspect, Corey Biggers, 22, of 460 Rosedale Road in Rome, was arrested the following day.
According to Calhoun Police Chief Garry Moss, the arrests came after a two-month long investigation connected to the March arrest of a Calhoun High School student allegedly caught selling steroids on campus.
Moss said an undercover agent was able to negotiate the delivery of the anabolic steroids to a location within the city of Calhoun. When the delivery was made, officers converged on the suspects’ vehicles, resulting in the arrests of Pitcock and Barto.
When officers attempted to arrest Biggers, he fled into the woods, but was apprehended the next day.
Moss said investigators believe that Biggers had been selling steroids to the Calhoun student, and Pitcock had been his supplier.
Biggers is employed by Riviera Gym in Creekview, Fla., where he is a personal trainer, Moss said. Biggers had previously been employed at a gym in Calhoun. The name of that facility has not been released.
All suspects were charged with possession with intent to distribute anabolic steroids, along with numerous other charges.
The investigation indicated there is an overseas narcotics connection. The investigation continues.
“These men were intending to bring steroids into Calhoun with the intent to sell,” Moss said. “We were stopping the sale of steroid at the original source.”
An additional $5,500 worth of anabolic steroids was seized at Pitcock's home by the Rome-Floyd Metro Task Force, according to Cmdr. Joey Jacobs.
Additional news report :
A Channel 2 Action News camera was rolling as a Calhoun police officer showed off illegal steroids his department confiscated after a two-month-long undercover investigation.
"This is Winstrol and I believe this is called Deca-Durabolin," the officer explained as he pulled 19 unmarked vials and three large bottles of capsules out of a box."
"These are the ... testosterone, estrogen. They have a street value of $5,000," he told Channel 2 Action News reporter Tom Jones.
Police said the men who sold the undercover officer the performance enhancing drugs also sold them to high school students on campuses in three counties: Gordon, Floyd and Bartow. Those students would in turn sell the steroids to other students, who used them to quickly build muscle mass.
Police arrested Corey Biggers, Bradley Barto and Justin Pitcock and charged them with possession with the intent to distribute narcotics.
Officers said the undercover operation began after a Calhoun High School student was arrested on suspicion of selling steroids on campus in March. The undercover officer became friends with the man who supplied the student with the steroids. The officer then arranged to buy steroids from the supplier and police said when Biggers, Bradley and Pitcock showed up with the illegal drugs, Biggers and Pitcock were arrested. Officers said Barto ran away but was arrested the next day when his father brought him in.
Calhoun Police Chief Garry Moss called the arrests significant. But he doesn't believe the fight to keep illegal steroids away from young people is over. "I think we have put a major dent in it. But I don't think we've eradicated it," Moss said.
Students at Calhoun High School applaud the officers' efforts at keeping steroids off their campus. That's a good thing because steroids are illegal and students aren't supposed to use those things," senior class member Antonio Martinez said.
The Drug Enforcement Agency is also investigating and an investigation is getting under way in Florida after authorities said they found out Biggers works at a gym there. Police also said the charges against the men could be enhanced because selling drugs to minors is a federal crime.
Interesting parts of the Landis doping confession emails.
( Landis promises there's far more info to come )
"Mr Armstrong was not witness to the extraction but he and I had lengthy discussions about it on our training rides during which time he also explained to me the evolution of EPO testing and how transfusions were now necessary due to the inconvenience of the new test. He also divulged to me at that time that in the first year that the EPO test was used he had been told by Mr. Ferrari, who had access to the new test, that he should not use EPO anymore but he did not believe Mr. Farrari and continued to use it. He later, while winning the Tour de Swiss, the month before the Tour de France, tested positive for EPO at which point he and Mr. [Johan] Bruyneel flew to the UCI headquarters and made a financial agreement with Mr. [Hein] Vrubrugen to keep the positive test hidden."
"It was kept in a small refrigerator in the closet allong with the blood of Mr Armstrong and George Hincapie and since Mr. Armstrong was planning on being gone for a few weeks to train he asked me to stay in his place and make sure the electricity didn't turn off or something go wrong with the referigerator. "
"The first EPO I ever used was then handed to me in the entry way to [Armstrong's] building in full view of his then wife. It was Eprex by brand and it came in six pre measured syringes. I used it intravenously for several weeks before the next blood draw and had no problems with the tests during the Vuelta. Also during this time it was explained to me how to use Human Growth Hormone by Johan Bruyneel and I bought what I needed from Pepe the team 'trainer' who lived in Valencia along with the team doctor at that time."
"This was the only time that I ever saw the entire team being transfused in plain view of all the other riders and bus driver. That team included Lance Armstrong, George Hincapie and I as the only Americans."
"I had learned at this point how to do most of the transfusion technicals and other things on my own so I hired Allen Lim as my assistant to help with details and logistics. He helped Levi Leipheimer and I prepare the transfusions for Levi and I and made sure they were kept at the proper temperature. We both did two seperate transfusions that Tour however my hematocrit was too low at the start so I did my first one a few days before the start so as to not start with a deficit."
"Mr Armstrong was not witness to the extraction but he and I had lengthy discussions about it on our training rides during which time he also explained to me the evolution of EPO testing and how transfusions were now necessary due to the inconvenience of the new test. He also divulged to me at that time that in the first year that the EPO test was used he had been told by Mr. Ferrari, who had access to the new test, that he should not use EPO anymore but he did not believe Mr. Farrari and continued to use it. He later, while winning the Tour de Swiss, the month before the Tour de France, tested positive for EPO at which point he and Mr. [Johan] Bruyneel flew to the UCI headquarters and made a financial agreement with Mr. [Hein] Vrubrugen to keep the positive test hidden."
"It was kept in a small refrigerator in the closet allong with the blood of Mr Armstrong and George Hincapie and since Mr. Armstrong was planning on being gone for a few weeks to train he asked me to stay in his place and make sure the electricity didn't turn off or something go wrong with the referigerator. "
"The first EPO I ever used was then handed to me in the entry way to [Armstrong's] building in full view of his then wife. It was Eprex by brand and it came in six pre measured syringes. I used it intravenously for several weeks before the next blood draw and had no problems with the tests during the Vuelta. Also during this time it was explained to me how to use Human Growth Hormone by Johan Bruyneel and I bought what I needed from Pepe the team 'trainer' who lived in Valencia along with the team doctor at that time."
"This was the only time that I ever saw the entire team being transfused in plain view of all the other riders and bus driver. That team included Lance Armstrong, George Hincapie and I as the only Americans."
"I had learned at this point how to do most of the transfusion technicals and other things on my own so I hired Allen Lim as my assistant to help with details and logistics. He helped Levi Leipheimer and I prepare the transfusions for Levi and I and made sure they were kept at the proper temperature. We both did two seperate transfusions that Tour however my hematocrit was too low at the start so I did my first one a few days before the start so as to not start with a deficit."
New kind of acne cream will degrade androgen receptors in the skin.
Acne represents the most common skin disease, affecting 85% of teenagers, 42.5% of men and 50.9% of women between the ages of 20 and 30 years. Androgen (male hormone) associated with increased of acne development, and the role of hormones as a trigger of sebum production, sebaceous growth and differentiation are well known. However, despite the establishment of androgen activation pathways as an attractive therapeutic target, a topical anti-androgen based therapeutic has never been successfully developed. ASC has discovered and developed a series of active compounds referred as androgen receptor (AR) degradation enhancers (ARD enhancers). ARD enhancer exerts its function through reduction of AR and androgen function in sebaceous glands, which leads to the reduction of sebum secretion and the manifestation of acne.
Developed as a cream formulation for use in both men and women, ASC-J9 represents the first topical agent directed at modulating the effect of androgens through the AR. In a previous phase IIa clinical trial, ASC-J9 in cream formulation lowered lesion counts in moderate to severe acne, with the highest dose group demonstrating the largest percent reductions from baseline at week 12 in inflammatory lesion count and total lesion count. No side effects have been noted in either phase I or phase IIa clinical trials.
Developed as a cream formulation for use in both men and women, ASC-J9 represents the first topical agent directed at modulating the effect of androgens through the AR. In a previous phase IIa clinical trial, ASC-J9 in cream formulation lowered lesion counts in moderate to severe acne, with the highest dose group demonstrating the largest percent reductions from baseline at week 12 in inflammatory lesion count and total lesion count. No side effects have been noted in either phase I or phase IIa clinical trials.
Signature Compounding Pharmacy involved in pending grand jury investigation.
An Orlando pharmacy once accused of providing performance-enhancing drugs to professional athletes across the country remains under federal investigation in Central Florida.
Federal prosecutors in Orlando are asking to review evidence seized as part of a 2007 New York case against Signature Compounding Pharmacy.
Charges against company officials later were tossed, but prosecutors recently filed documents in Orlando federal court that state the evidence is related to a "pending grand jury investigation."
Signature's attorneys long have fought allegations against the pharmacy and have denied the company was a distribution channel for pro athletes who sought performance-enhancing drugs.
Signature made national headlines in 2007 when New York prosecutors painted the company as the hub of a steroid network.
In an investigation dubbed "Operation Which Doctor," authorities raided Signature's two Central Florida offices and arrested its top officers. Eventually, nearly two dozen doctors and clinic operators across the country were indicted.
But in 2008, a judge threw out the New York charges against the Signature's officers and barred prosecutors from seeking further charges.
Federal prosecutors in Orlando are asking to review evidence seized as part of a 2007 New York case against Signature Compounding Pharmacy.
Charges against company officials later were tossed, but prosecutors recently filed documents in Orlando federal court that state the evidence is related to a "pending grand jury investigation."
Signature's attorneys long have fought allegations against the pharmacy and have denied the company was a distribution channel for pro athletes who sought performance-enhancing drugs.
Signature made national headlines in 2007 when New York prosecutors painted the company as the hub of a steroid network.
In an investigation dubbed "Operation Which Doctor," authorities raided Signature's two Central Florida offices and arrested its top officers. Eventually, nearly two dozen doctors and clinic operators across the country were indicted.
But in 2008, a judge threw out the New York charges against the Signature's officers and barred prosecutors from seeking further charges.
Top cyclist Floyd Landis admits doping and fingers teammates and fellow competitors.
After four years of maintaining his innocence about doping charges that ruined his reputation and caused him to be stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title, the American cyclist Floyd Landis has sent e-mail messages to several cycling officials in the United States and in Europe in which he admits using performance-enhancing drugs for most of his career.
Two of those officials said that Landis’s messages provided a detailed description of doping that began in 2002, Landis’s first year alongside then-teammate Lance Armstrong. Both were riding for the successful but now-defunct United States Postal Service team. The two officials who received the e-mail did not want their names published, citing ongoing investigations, including by federal authorities, into the content of the e-mail.
In the messages, which were first reported by The Wall Street Journal, Landis accused other top American cyclists on the Postal Service team, including Armstrong, of using performance-enhancing drugs and methods. Other cyclists named were current United States road racing national champion George Hincapie, three-time Tour of California champion Levi Leipheimer and five-time United States time trial champion David Zabriskie.
None of those riders, who are all competing at this week’s Tour of California, were available for comment Wednesday.
Jonathan Vaughters, team manager of Zabriskie’s Garmin-Transitions team, said that Zabriskie was upset after learning of Landis’s accusations late Wednesday.
“I don’t know what is in the head of Floyd Landis, what his motivations are, but I think Dave just wants to get on with this race,” Vaughters said of Zabriskie, who is in the overall lead of the Tour of California, with four stages to go. “Dave can win this race. He can win this race clean, under any level of scrutiny.”
Steve Johnson, chief executive of USA Cycling and the main recipient of Landis’s e-mail messages, did not return several calls for this article on Wednesday. Landis also did not return phone calls, but told ESPN.com that he had no documentation to prove most of his claims against his former teammates.
“I want to clear my conscience,” said Landis, who races with the lower level OUCH-Bahati Foundation Pro Cycling team. “I don’t want to be part of the problem anymore.”
Landis provided detailed information about his own doping practices, saying he consistently used the blood-booster EPO to increase his endurance, testosterone, human growth hormone and blood transfusions.
He said he took female hormones and tried insulin once during the years he rode for the Postal Service and Swiss-based Phonak teams, according to ESPN.com. He spent $90,000 a year on his doping regimen, he said.
Landis said that some of his teammates on the Postal Service team were well aware of the doping regimen in the sport. In at least one of his messages to cycling officials, according to a person who received it, Landis said that he and Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France champion, had discussed the need to use blood transfusions to boost endurance. A new test for the synthetic blood-booster, EPO, had made doping more difficult.
Armstrong, who has been dogged by doping allegations throughout his career, has denied doping and has never officially tested positive. At the 1999 Tour, he failed a test for a corticosteroid, but produced a doctor’s note for it.
For Pat McQuaid, president of the International Cycling Union, Landis’s accusations do not taint Armstrong’s reputation one bit.
“I think Landis is in a very sad situation and I feel sorry for the guy because I don’t accept anything he says as true,” McQuaid said in a telephone interview on Thursday. “This is a guy who has been condemned in court, who has stood up in court and stated that he never saw any doping in cycling. He’s written a book saying he won the Tour de France clean. Where does that leave his credibility? He has an agenda and is obviously out to seek revenge.”
McQuaid said he received Landis’s e-mail messages several weeks ago, but immediately discounted the accusations in them because they were “purely allegations and no proof of anything.” He has since sent the messages to the cycling union’s legal department.
Federal authorities have spoken with Landis in recent weeks about the information in the e-mail, according to two people briefed on the matter.
Landis, who spent nearly two years and reportedly more than $2 million fighting the charges against him, has agreed to cooperate with the authorities and provide them with the same information he has provided anti-doping and cycling officials. The authorities are interested in whatever information Landis has about distributors of banned substances and new methods of doping being used by athletes.
Over the past month, Landis also has been cooperating with officials from the United States Anti-Doping Agency, providing them with details about the other cyclists and Armstrong, the people briefed on the matter said.
Jeff Novitzky, federal agent who spearheaded the investigation into the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative steroids case, is involved in the investigation. It is not clear whether Landis has contacted him via e-mail or telephone.
Two of those officials said that Landis’s messages provided a detailed description of doping that began in 2002, Landis’s first year alongside then-teammate Lance Armstrong. Both were riding for the successful but now-defunct United States Postal Service team. The two officials who received the e-mail did not want their names published, citing ongoing investigations, including by federal authorities, into the content of the e-mail.
In the messages, which were first reported by The Wall Street Journal, Landis accused other top American cyclists on the Postal Service team, including Armstrong, of using performance-enhancing drugs and methods. Other cyclists named were current United States road racing national champion George Hincapie, three-time Tour of California champion Levi Leipheimer and five-time United States time trial champion David Zabriskie.
None of those riders, who are all competing at this week’s Tour of California, were available for comment Wednesday.
Jonathan Vaughters, team manager of Zabriskie’s Garmin-Transitions team, said that Zabriskie was upset after learning of Landis’s accusations late Wednesday.
“I don’t know what is in the head of Floyd Landis, what his motivations are, but I think Dave just wants to get on with this race,” Vaughters said of Zabriskie, who is in the overall lead of the Tour of California, with four stages to go. “Dave can win this race. He can win this race clean, under any level of scrutiny.”
Steve Johnson, chief executive of USA Cycling and the main recipient of Landis’s e-mail messages, did not return several calls for this article on Wednesday. Landis also did not return phone calls, but told ESPN.com that he had no documentation to prove most of his claims against his former teammates.
“I want to clear my conscience,” said Landis, who races with the lower level OUCH-Bahati Foundation Pro Cycling team. “I don’t want to be part of the problem anymore.”
Landis provided detailed information about his own doping practices, saying he consistently used the blood-booster EPO to increase his endurance, testosterone, human growth hormone and blood transfusions.
He said he took female hormones and tried insulin once during the years he rode for the Postal Service and Swiss-based Phonak teams, according to ESPN.com. He spent $90,000 a year on his doping regimen, he said.
Landis said that some of his teammates on the Postal Service team were well aware of the doping regimen in the sport. In at least one of his messages to cycling officials, according to a person who received it, Landis said that he and Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France champion, had discussed the need to use blood transfusions to boost endurance. A new test for the synthetic blood-booster, EPO, had made doping more difficult.
Armstrong, who has been dogged by doping allegations throughout his career, has denied doping and has never officially tested positive. At the 1999 Tour, he failed a test for a corticosteroid, but produced a doctor’s note for it.
For Pat McQuaid, president of the International Cycling Union, Landis’s accusations do not taint Armstrong’s reputation one bit.
“I think Landis is in a very sad situation and I feel sorry for the guy because I don’t accept anything he says as true,” McQuaid said in a telephone interview on Thursday. “This is a guy who has been condemned in court, who has stood up in court and stated that he never saw any doping in cycling. He’s written a book saying he won the Tour de France clean. Where does that leave his credibility? He has an agenda and is obviously out to seek revenge.”
McQuaid said he received Landis’s e-mail messages several weeks ago, but immediately discounted the accusations in them because they were “purely allegations and no proof of anything.” He has since sent the messages to the cycling union’s legal department.
Federal authorities have spoken with Landis in recent weeks about the information in the e-mail, according to two people briefed on the matter.
Landis, who spent nearly two years and reportedly more than $2 million fighting the charges against him, has agreed to cooperate with the authorities and provide them with the same information he has provided anti-doping and cycling officials. The authorities are interested in whatever information Landis has about distributors of banned substances and new methods of doping being used by athletes.
Over the past month, Landis also has been cooperating with officials from the United States Anti-Doping Agency, providing them with details about the other cyclists and Armstrong, the people briefed on the matter said.
Jeff Novitzky, federal agent who spearheaded the investigation into the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative steroids case, is involved in the investigation. It is not clear whether Landis has contacted him via e-mail or telephone.
Mystery NFL players help build case against Canadian HGH doctor.
Canadian doctor Anthony Galea was charged Tuesday with illegally treating current and former NFL players with unapproved drugs including human growth hormone (HGH).
Three NFL players, two active and one retired, are cited in the criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Buffalo. The affidavit includes testimony from a cooperating witness who was arrested entering the country from Canada and later told authorities about a future meeting with a professional athlete from the Washington area for a treatment session. Galea would go to U.S. cities to meet athletes in hotel rooms or their homes. Galea's assistant, Mary Anne Catalano, was stopped entering Buffalo with HGH and vials of "foreign homeopathic drugs."
The affidavit identifies the players as Witness No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3.
Witness No. 1 is identified as a current NFL player and a patient of Galea. The player told investigators that Galea treated him weekly during the NFL season. He admitted receiving actovegin injections from Galea on numerous occasions, but denies knowingly receiving HGH. Actovegin is a derivative of calf's blood and not approved for use in the U.S., but is not specifically prohibited by the NFL.
Witness No. 2 is identified as a retired NFL player whose playing career had ended before he became a patient of Galea. The former player, described as having played several years in the league and being "well above average size in height and weight" told investigators he asked Galea about HGH in connection with life issues. He said he received two "kits" of HGH at his home in late August 2009.
Witness No. 3 is identified as a current NFL player and a patient of Galea. He admits receiving numerous treatments from Galea, but denies that he knowingly received HGH.
Two NFL players, Tennessee Titans quarterback Chris Simms and wide receiver Javon Walker, who was released by the Oakland Raiders on March 8, have said they are patients of Galea.
"If they want to talk to me, feel free," Simms told The Associated Press in Nashville on Tuesday. "Listen. I'm a big fan of Dr. Galea. I think he's a great guy. He's helped thousands of people out, not just athletes."
Simms said he has not violated any league policies.
"I didn't do anything," he said. "If I'm on HGH, I'm getting ripped off because I don't really look the way I should with my shirt off."
In a Dec. 14 story in the New York Times, Walker describes Galea as "a person who just wants to help and heal."
Criminal defense attorney Chris Leibig said the unnamed NFL players in the complaint potentially could face misdemeanor charges of knowingly taking or possessing an illegal substance without a prescription. But he said their cooperation as witnesses boded well for them.
"If someone cooperated with the government, that person can hope to receive more benefits, like not even being charged at all," he said.
Leibig also said it was difficult to assess how much jail time Galea might be facing, given the variety of charges.
"If you're found to be the leader of a conspiracy," he said, "that can enhance (the penalty) even more."
Galea's attorneys didn't respond to telephone calls seeking comment.
Further details from the federal criminal complaint released today by the U.S. Attorney's Office :
Galea was arrested in September 2009 on his way to meet with a player in Washington who was receiving treatments in the "home city in which he played."
The player was receiving a "medical procedure" from Galea and was later interviewed by federal agents.
The player told authorities he never knowingly received HGH. He got IV drips, injections to his knees, and B-12 shots to his arm.
This player paid for the treatments and the travel expenses of both Galea and an assistant.
The player reserved two Washington-area hotel rooms for the Sept. 2009 treatments, but those treatments were not delivered because the doctor was arrested.
At the time of the arrest, among the supplies the assistant carried for these treatments was "nutropin" -- a kind of HGH -- and Actovegin, an unapproved drug in the U.S. that anti-doping people look at skeptically.
The player did receive vitamin drip and HGH treatment from Galea on Aug. 12 in Washington.
The player was treated "on a weekly basis during the season" between Oct. 2007-09. If the player was injured, the visits sometimes occured more often. It wasn't clear whether these earlier visits took place in Washington and whether he was injured prior to the September 2009 appointment in Washington.
There are over 50 invoices from the player to Galea.
A second athlete -- called Athlete T in the criminal complaint and not necessarily a football player -- was visited by Galea on Sept. 3, 2009 and received an Actovegin and vitamin drip treatment.
Three NFL players, two active and one retired, are cited in the criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Buffalo. The affidavit includes testimony from a cooperating witness who was arrested entering the country from Canada and later told authorities about a future meeting with a professional athlete from the Washington area for a treatment session. Galea would go to U.S. cities to meet athletes in hotel rooms or their homes. Galea's assistant, Mary Anne Catalano, was stopped entering Buffalo with HGH and vials of "foreign homeopathic drugs."
The affidavit identifies the players as Witness No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3.
Witness No. 1 is identified as a current NFL player and a patient of Galea. The player told investigators that Galea treated him weekly during the NFL season. He admitted receiving actovegin injections from Galea on numerous occasions, but denies knowingly receiving HGH. Actovegin is a derivative of calf's blood and not approved for use in the U.S., but is not specifically prohibited by the NFL.
Witness No. 2 is identified as a retired NFL player whose playing career had ended before he became a patient of Galea. The former player, described as having played several years in the league and being "well above average size in height and weight" told investigators he asked Galea about HGH in connection with life issues. He said he received two "kits" of HGH at his home in late August 2009.
Witness No. 3 is identified as a current NFL player and a patient of Galea. He admits receiving numerous treatments from Galea, but denies that he knowingly received HGH.
Two NFL players, Tennessee Titans quarterback Chris Simms and wide receiver Javon Walker, who was released by the Oakland Raiders on March 8, have said they are patients of Galea.
"If they want to talk to me, feel free," Simms told The Associated Press in Nashville on Tuesday. "Listen. I'm a big fan of Dr. Galea. I think he's a great guy. He's helped thousands of people out, not just athletes."
Simms said he has not violated any league policies.
"I didn't do anything," he said. "If I'm on HGH, I'm getting ripped off because I don't really look the way I should with my shirt off."
In a Dec. 14 story in the New York Times, Walker describes Galea as "a person who just wants to help and heal."
Criminal defense attorney Chris Leibig said the unnamed NFL players in the complaint potentially could face misdemeanor charges of knowingly taking or possessing an illegal substance without a prescription. But he said their cooperation as witnesses boded well for them.
"If someone cooperated with the government, that person can hope to receive more benefits, like not even being charged at all," he said.
Leibig also said it was difficult to assess how much jail time Galea might be facing, given the variety of charges.
"If you're found to be the leader of a conspiracy," he said, "that can enhance (the penalty) even more."
Galea's attorneys didn't respond to telephone calls seeking comment.
Further details from the federal criminal complaint released today by the U.S. Attorney's Office :
Galea was arrested in September 2009 on his way to meet with a player in Washington who was receiving treatments in the "home city in which he played."
The player was receiving a "medical procedure" from Galea and was later interviewed by federal agents.
The player told authorities he never knowingly received HGH. He got IV drips, injections to his knees, and B-12 shots to his arm.
This player paid for the treatments and the travel expenses of both Galea and an assistant.
The player reserved two Washington-area hotel rooms for the Sept. 2009 treatments, but those treatments were not delivered because the doctor was arrested.
At the time of the arrest, among the supplies the assistant carried for these treatments was "nutropin" -- a kind of HGH -- and Actovegin, an unapproved drug in the U.S. that anti-doping people look at skeptically.
The player did receive vitamin drip and HGH treatment from Galea on Aug. 12 in Washington.
The player was treated "on a weekly basis during the season" between Oct. 2007-09. If the player was injured, the visits sometimes occured more often. It wasn't clear whether these earlier visits took place in Washington and whether he was injured prior to the September 2009 appointment in Washington.
There are over 50 invoices from the player to Galea.
A second athlete -- called Athlete T in the criminal complaint and not necessarily a football player -- was visited by Galea on Sept. 3, 2009 and received an Actovegin and vitamin drip treatment.
Some steroid users at Bristol's Cribbs Causeway Fitness First branch behaving badly.
( it's selfish steroid users like these guys who may well end up getting them criminalized in the UK. )
The use of body building drugs is so widespread at one Bristol gym that staff have installed special bins to dispose of syringes.
Staff at Fitness First in Cribbs Causeway put the box – known as a sharps box – in the male toilets at the popular gym after complaints that syringes were being left in the changing room.
Fitness First said it does not tolerate the use of needles but installed the box to protect other members and is closely monitoring the situation.
It said any member found to be engaging in behaviour likely to tarnish the company's reputation would have their contract terminated immediately.
After members complained to the Evening Post a reporter attended the site.
They discovered a sharps box for disposing syringes in one of the cubicles in the gentlemen's toilet.
Within the box was at least one syringe and an empty box of Kigtropin – an illegal human growth hormone manufactured in China and used in the development of muscle mass.
Kigtropin is a brand name for somatropin which is listed as a class C drug by the Home Office.
Possession of a class C drug can be punished by up to two years in prison or an unlimited fine or both. Dealing a class C drug can result in up to 14 years in prison or an unlimited fine or both.
Two members of the gym, who wished to remain anonymous, had contacted the Post to register their anger and concern at the situation.
One said: "I see a lot of syringes around the gym but nobody seems to do anything about it.
"I have seen people injecting in the changing rooms, it's quite a common thing and is an ongoing problem.
"The gym seem to have dealt with it by putting a sharps box in the toilet but to me that is just condoning it rather than condemning it, which is what they should be doing. It's a terrible example to be setting and unacceptable whichever way you look at it.
"I have seen syringes on the floor, in the toilet and piled high in the sharps box provided – something needs to be done."
The other member added: "It has been going for about a year and is just getting worse. I have even seen syringes on the gym floor upstairs.
"I think people are very worried about it but too frightened to complain. I am very concerned that someone could catch something off one of these needles.
"It's a lovely club and I wouldn't want it to close but something has to be done."
A spokeswoman for Fitness First said: "At Fitness First we do not tolerate any behaviour of this nature in any of our clubs, and the protection of our members while on our premises is of paramount importance.
"If, in our reasonable opinion, a member's continued membership is likely to be injurious to the character and interests of any particular club, we terminate that membership without notice. This is clearly laid out in the terms and conditions of every membership.
"At our Cribbs Causeway club, we are aware of member concerns and as such have installed sharps boxes for the protection of other members, while increasing our club monitoring procedures to identify any unacceptable or illegal behaviour."
( the only place you should risk injecting yourself is in the privacy of your own home. Injecting in a gym's locker room is offensive to other gym users and a health risk. )
The use of body building drugs is so widespread at one Bristol gym that staff have installed special bins to dispose of syringes.
Staff at Fitness First in Cribbs Causeway put the box – known as a sharps box – in the male toilets at the popular gym after complaints that syringes were being left in the changing room.
Fitness First said it does not tolerate the use of needles but installed the box to protect other members and is closely monitoring the situation.
It said any member found to be engaging in behaviour likely to tarnish the company's reputation would have their contract terminated immediately.
After members complained to the Evening Post a reporter attended the site.
They discovered a sharps box for disposing syringes in one of the cubicles in the gentlemen's toilet.
Within the box was at least one syringe and an empty box of Kigtropin – an illegal human growth hormone manufactured in China and used in the development of muscle mass.
Kigtropin is a brand name for somatropin which is listed as a class C drug by the Home Office.
Possession of a class C drug can be punished by up to two years in prison or an unlimited fine or both. Dealing a class C drug can result in up to 14 years in prison or an unlimited fine or both.
Two members of the gym, who wished to remain anonymous, had contacted the Post to register their anger and concern at the situation.
One said: "I see a lot of syringes around the gym but nobody seems to do anything about it.
"I have seen people injecting in the changing rooms, it's quite a common thing and is an ongoing problem.
"The gym seem to have dealt with it by putting a sharps box in the toilet but to me that is just condoning it rather than condemning it, which is what they should be doing. It's a terrible example to be setting and unacceptable whichever way you look at it.
"I have seen syringes on the floor, in the toilet and piled high in the sharps box provided – something needs to be done."
The other member added: "It has been going for about a year and is just getting worse. I have even seen syringes on the gym floor upstairs.
"I think people are very worried about it but too frightened to complain. I am very concerned that someone could catch something off one of these needles.
"It's a lovely club and I wouldn't want it to close but something has to be done."
A spokeswoman for Fitness First said: "At Fitness First we do not tolerate any behaviour of this nature in any of our clubs, and the protection of our members while on our premises is of paramount importance.
"If, in our reasonable opinion, a member's continued membership is likely to be injurious to the character and interests of any particular club, we terminate that membership without notice. This is clearly laid out in the terms and conditions of every membership.
"At our Cribbs Causeway club, we are aware of member concerns and as such have installed sharps boxes for the protection of other members, while increasing our club monitoring procedures to identify any unacceptable or illegal behaviour."
( the only place you should risk injecting yourself is in the privacy of your own home. Injecting in a gym's locker room is offensive to other gym users and a health risk. )
2 On Your Side TV show claims professionals athletes being interviewed in connection with the Candian doctor's HGH smuggling case.
Several professional athletes have been tied to a performance-enhancing drug smuggling investigation that originated in Western New York, according to multiple sources.
Multiple sources with knowledge of the investigation tell 2 On Your Side around a dozen NFL and MLB players have been interviewed by Federal authorities investigating HGH smuggling from Canada into the U.S.
Our sources were not certain if any of the NFL players currently play, or have ever played, for the Buffalo Bills. The players are witnesses in the case, not suspects, according to our sources.
The local probe stems from a September 2009 border-crossing incident at the Peace Bridge in Buffalo, where customs agents stopped and arrested Mary Anne Catalano. Catalano had been working for Toronto-based physician Dr. Anthony Galea, who reportedly has treated famous athletes including golfer Tiger Woods and Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez.
In court records, prosecutors said Catalano admitted to bringing Human Growth Hormone and other performance-enhancing substances into the United States on behalf of Dr. Galea. Authorities charged Catalano with smuggling. Her court case is pending.
Canadian authorities later searched Dr. Galea's office and charged him with smuggling.
According to multiple sources, Catalano's arrest also sparked an investigation in the United States. As part of that investigation, sources say federal investigators have interviewed approximately eight or nine current National Football League Players, as well as three or four current Major League Baseball Players. Our sources said the players are witnesses in the probe, not suspects. Each has some sort of connection to Dr. Galea. Our sources also said the case appears to be headed to a federal grand jury, or may have been heard by a grand jury already.
If the case goes to trial, it's possible public court records will reveal the names of those professionals athletes.
Federal Prosecutor Paul Campana, of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Buffalo, said he could not discuss the case. U.S. Attorney William Hochul also has said he would not comment on the investigation. The Major League Baseball Players Association said it was aware of the investigation, but declined to comment. We're awaiting a response from the NFL Players association.
Multiple sources with knowledge of the investigation tell 2 On Your Side around a dozen NFL and MLB players have been interviewed by Federal authorities investigating HGH smuggling from Canada into the U.S.
Our sources were not certain if any of the NFL players currently play, or have ever played, for the Buffalo Bills. The players are witnesses in the case, not suspects, according to our sources.
The local probe stems from a September 2009 border-crossing incident at the Peace Bridge in Buffalo, where customs agents stopped and arrested Mary Anne Catalano. Catalano had been working for Toronto-based physician Dr. Anthony Galea, who reportedly has treated famous athletes including golfer Tiger Woods and Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez.
In court records, prosecutors said Catalano admitted to bringing Human Growth Hormone and other performance-enhancing substances into the United States on behalf of Dr. Galea. Authorities charged Catalano with smuggling. Her court case is pending.
Canadian authorities later searched Dr. Galea's office and charged him with smuggling.
According to multiple sources, Catalano's arrest also sparked an investigation in the United States. As part of that investigation, sources say federal investigators have interviewed approximately eight or nine current National Football League Players, as well as three or four current Major League Baseball Players. Our sources said the players are witnesses in the probe, not suspects. Each has some sort of connection to Dr. Galea. Our sources also said the case appears to be headed to a federal grand jury, or may have been heard by a grand jury already.
If the case goes to trial, it's possible public court records will reveal the names of those professionals athletes.
Federal Prosecutor Paul Campana, of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Buffalo, said he could not discuss the case. U.S. Attorney William Hochul also has said he would not comment on the investigation. The Major League Baseball Players Association said it was aware of the investigation, but declined to comment. We're awaiting a response from the NFL Players association.
Nurse gets 3 years probation for role in Mobile steroids case.
A former Arizona nurse who played a role in a massive Mobile-based steroids conspiracy will not have to go to prison, a federal judge ruled last week.
Candace V. Toler, 56, admitted to writing steroids prescriptions in her ill fiancé's name. Advisory sentencing guidelines called for a one-year prison sentence, but Assistant U.S. Attorney Donna Dobbins asked U.S. District Judge Ginny Granade for six months' home confinement as a reward for Toler's cooperation.
The judge said she believed even home confinement would serve no purpose. She sentenced Toler to three years' probation.
David A. Wilbirt, who later married Toler, also pleaded guilty in the case. He admitted that he wrote bogus prescriptions to healthy people who were looking to build muscle mass. Applied Pharmacy Services in Mobile filled those prescriptions, according testimony at a trial earlier this year.
After Wilbirt suffered a stroke in February 2005, Toler acknowledged, she bought a signature stamp and continued to write prescriptions in his name at his request.
"It's important to note that she did not instigate this conspiracy ... but she did take steps to end it," said Toler's lawyer, Candace Kent. "I think it's fair to say she stands in front of you embarrassed, humiliated -- if not mortified."
Kent said Toler told Wilbirt's lawyer about his stroke, which led to a suspension of his medical license.
Dobbins praised Toler's cooperation during the investigation and later at the trial of the Applied Pharmacy owners and pharmacists.
"Mrs. Toler was an important witness for the government, especially in light of the fact that the government did not call Dr. Wilbirt to the stand as a result of his illness," she said.
Candace V. Toler, 56, admitted to writing steroids prescriptions in her ill fiancé's name. Advisory sentencing guidelines called for a one-year prison sentence, but Assistant U.S. Attorney Donna Dobbins asked U.S. District Judge Ginny Granade for six months' home confinement as a reward for Toler's cooperation.
The judge said she believed even home confinement would serve no purpose. She sentenced Toler to three years' probation.
David A. Wilbirt, who later married Toler, also pleaded guilty in the case. He admitted that he wrote bogus prescriptions to healthy people who were looking to build muscle mass. Applied Pharmacy Services in Mobile filled those prescriptions, according testimony at a trial earlier this year.
After Wilbirt suffered a stroke in February 2005, Toler acknowledged, she bought a signature stamp and continued to write prescriptions in his name at his request.
"It's important to note that she did not instigate this conspiracy ... but she did take steps to end it," said Toler's lawyer, Candace Kent. "I think it's fair to say she stands in front of you embarrassed, humiliated -- if not mortified."
Kent said Toler told Wilbirt's lawyer about his stroke, which led to a suspension of his medical license.
Dobbins praised Toler's cooperation during the investigation and later at the trial of the Applied Pharmacy owners and pharmacists.
"Mrs. Toler was an important witness for the government, especially in light of the fact that the government did not call Dr. Wilbirt to the stand as a result of his illness," she said.
Bayer releases early results from ongoing three year Nebido ( Testosterone Undecanoate ) study in Europe.
Depot testosterone injections in men with metabolic syndrome and hypogonadism led to improvements in several important components of their disease, including significant weight loss and reduced glucose dysregulation, a researcher said here.
Interim results from a randomized, placebo-controlled trial showed that men receiving the hormone injections lost more than 4 kg (9 lb) in the first 30 weeks of a planned three-year study versus almost no change with placebo (P<0.001), reported Farid Saad, PhD, of Bayer Schering in Berlin.
Although fasting plasma glucose levels did not change, insulin levels dropped significantly among participants in the active treatment group, mainly among those with abnormally high levels at baseline, Saad told attendees here at the World Congress on Controversies to Consensus in Diabetes, Obesity, and Hypertension.
There were also trends toward normalized levels of certain blood lipids, serum leptin, and inflammation markers.
Interim results from a randomized, placebo-controlled trial showed that men receiving the hormone injections lost more than 4 kg (9 lb) in the first 30 weeks of a planned three-year study versus almost no change with placebo (P<0.001), reported Farid Saad, PhD, of Bayer Schering in Berlin.
Although fasting plasma glucose levels did not change, insulin levels dropped significantly among participants in the active treatment group, mainly among those with abnormally high levels at baseline, Saad told attendees here at the World Congress on Controversies to Consensus in Diabetes, Obesity, and Hypertension.
There were also trends toward normalized levels of certain blood lipids, serum leptin, and inflammation markers.
Dad of three sold steroids to friends ( rare UK steroid dealing conviction )
A father-of-three who dealt steroids from his Hampshire home has avoided an immediate jail term.
Police found about £300 of class C drugs and £1,170 in cash when they raided unemployed Darryl Sims’ home in Penarth Close, Southampton, in January this year.
The 27-year-old admitted to police he bought steroids for himself but also made some cash by selling them to friends, typically earning £500 profit from every £1,000 he purchased.
He admitted two counts of possession with intent to supply, and a third charge of attempting to supply drugs, after police analysis revealed one of the substances they found wasn’t the steroid Sims thought it was.
At Southampton Crown Court, Judge Peter Ralls QC sentenced Sims, whose wife is expecting their fourth child, to 40 weeks behind bars, but suspended the term for two years.
He also imposed a 12-month supervision order, and told him to complete a thinking skills programme and 100 hours of unpaid work. The drugs and all of the money, bar £190 which was child benefit cash, was forfeited.
Police found about £300 of class C drugs and £1,170 in cash when they raided unemployed Darryl Sims’ home in Penarth Close, Southampton, in January this year.
The 27-year-old admitted to police he bought steroids for himself but also made some cash by selling them to friends, typically earning £500 profit from every £1,000 he purchased.
He admitted two counts of possession with intent to supply, and a third charge of attempting to supply drugs, after police analysis revealed one of the substances they found wasn’t the steroid Sims thought it was.
At Southampton Crown Court, Judge Peter Ralls QC sentenced Sims, whose wife is expecting their fourth child, to 40 weeks behind bars, but suspended the term for two years.
He also imposed a 12-month supervision order, and told him to complete a thinking skills programme and 100 hours of unpaid work. The drugs and all of the money, bar £190 which was child benefit cash, was forfeited.
'Fountain of youth' steroids could protect against heart disease.
A natural defence mechanism against heart disease could be switched on by steroids sold as health supplements, according to researchers at the University of Leeds.
The University of Leeds biologists have identified a previously-unknown ion channel in human blood vessels that can limit the production of inflammatory cytokines - proteins that drive the early stages of heart disease.
They found that this protective effect can be triggered by pregnenolone sulphate - a molecule that is part of a family of 'fountain-of-youth' steroids. These steroids are so-called because of their apparent ability to improve energy, vision and memory.
Importantly, collaborative studies with surgeons at Leeds General infirmary have shown that this defence mechanism can be switched on in diseased blood vessels as well as in healthy vessels.
So-called 'fountain of youth' steroids are made naturally in the body, but levels decline rapidly with age. This has led to a market in synthetically made steroids that are promoted for their health benefits, such as pregnenolone and DHEA. Pregnenolone sulphate is in the same family of steroids but it is not sold as a health supplement.
"The effect that we have seen is really quite exciting and also unexpected," said Professor David Beech, who led the study. "However, we are absolutely not endorsing any claims made by manufacturers of any health supplements. Evidence from human trials is needed first."
A chemical profiling study indicated that the protective effect was not as strong when cholesterol was present too. This suggests that the expected benefits of 'fountain of youth' steroids will be much greater if they are used in combination with cholesterol-lowering drugs and/or other healthy lifestyle strategies such as diet and exercise.
"These 'fountain of youth' steroids are relatively cheap to make and some of them are already available as commercial products. So if we can show that this effect works in people as well as in lab-based studies, then it could be a cost-effective approach to addressing cardiovascular health problems that are becoming epidemic in our society and world-wide," Professor Beech added.
The University of Leeds biologists have identified a previously-unknown ion channel in human blood vessels that can limit the production of inflammatory cytokines - proteins that drive the early stages of heart disease.
They found that this protective effect can be triggered by pregnenolone sulphate - a molecule that is part of a family of 'fountain-of-youth' steroids. These steroids are so-called because of their apparent ability to improve energy, vision and memory.
Importantly, collaborative studies with surgeons at Leeds General infirmary have shown that this defence mechanism can be switched on in diseased blood vessels as well as in healthy vessels.
So-called 'fountain of youth' steroids are made naturally in the body, but levels decline rapidly with age. This has led to a market in synthetically made steroids that are promoted for their health benefits, such as pregnenolone and DHEA. Pregnenolone sulphate is in the same family of steroids but it is not sold as a health supplement.
"The effect that we have seen is really quite exciting and also unexpected," said Professor David Beech, who led the study. "However, we are absolutely not endorsing any claims made by manufacturers of any health supplements. Evidence from human trials is needed first."
A chemical profiling study indicated that the protective effect was not as strong when cholesterol was present too. This suggests that the expected benefits of 'fountain of youth' steroids will be much greater if they are used in combination with cholesterol-lowering drugs and/or other healthy lifestyle strategies such as diet and exercise.
"These 'fountain of youth' steroids are relatively cheap to make and some of them are already available as commercial products. So if we can show that this effect works in people as well as in lab-based studies, then it could be a cost-effective approach to addressing cardiovascular health problems that are becoming epidemic in our society and world-wide," Professor Beech added.
Inspiring comeback story by Stephen Sinton Scottish Mr Universe 2006.
( depressing intro that talks about his attempted suicide using paracetamol removed )
That man is one who, in 2006, was crowned Mr Universe. Although in the darkest days his weight shrank to 11st, Sinton in his prime was 17st of bulging muscle and posing pouch on a mission to fulfil a 30-year dream by emulating his uncle Ian Lawrence. Growing up in Kelso, Sinton used to visit the winner of the 1974 contest and was beguiled by row upon row of glinting trophies in his house.
“I was in awe of him because to me he was a superstar,” Sinton says. “But I knew when I was six years old that I was going to be Mr Universe just like him. While other kids were reading the Beano and Dandy I was reading bodybuilding magazines.”
Those other kids, though, were unwilling to tolerate such eccentricity. Indeed, the level of abuse he received was such that Sinton’s grandfather asked a reluctant Lawrence to induct the then 13-year-old into bodybuilding. “It gave me a focus,” he admits. “I was brought up by a single parent and I felt like a second-class kid because I was getting bullied at school. I always felt a need to prove myself and bodybuilding gave me a way of dealing with that.”
That thirst for justification has been a constant companion in Sinton’s life. Bodybuilding has, in more ways than one, acted as a crutch for his insecurities and gave him the kind of path through his adolescence that he has latterly attempted to instil in daughters Chelsea and Jade and would wish for his younger children Mirren, Stephen and Ethan.
But not everyone subscribes to the idea of sport as a vehicle for good, particularly when the sport in question is bodybuilding. Clive James’s line about competitors looking like condoms stuffed with walnuts is a wearying, if harmless, quip but more damaging are the prosaic generalisations about drug-taking. Sinton has long been an advocate of natural muscle development – based on 80% nutrition, 10% training and 10% quality relaxation – and, although he accepts that chemical assistance is common, he insists that should not be allowed to detract from the efforts of principled performers.
“You get a lot of guys who, because they’ve maybe not been able to get off their arses and do something with their own lives, will try to put you down,” he explains. “With just one stupid comment about steroids they’ll wipe out 30 years of hard work and cut you down to their level to justify it to themselves.”
The opinions of others have stalked Sinton for some time but the most persistent whispers have not involved drugs. Instead, his ongoing health battles have, given his prominence, become the topic de jour in the bodybuilding village.
“It’s a very fickle sport; people only want to know you when you’re winning things,” he says ruefully. “Everybody has seen me at my worst now and I want to compete again and be better than I’ve ever been, then leave the sport the way I want to leave; not the way other folk want it left. It’s not just proving a point to everyone else; it’s proving a point to myself that I can actually do it.”
Having regained a staggering 3½ stones in the two months since he returned to regular workouts, the journey has already begun and will continue later this month when Sinton leaves Berwickshire for a fresh start in Kirkcaldy. There, he will live and train alongside Lawrence, who is preparing for next year’s over-60s Mr World competition, but he has set strict criteria for a comeback that he believes can culminate in another Mr Universe title.
“I’ll not go on stage unless I’m as good as, or better than, before,” he insists. “But now that I’ve got the mindset back I can get right back to the top and win the title. Every true champion has always got one big fight left in them and I’ve got two or three years yet.”
That man is one who, in 2006, was crowned Mr Universe. Although in the darkest days his weight shrank to 11st, Sinton in his prime was 17st of bulging muscle and posing pouch on a mission to fulfil a 30-year dream by emulating his uncle Ian Lawrence. Growing up in Kelso, Sinton used to visit the winner of the 1974 contest and was beguiled by row upon row of glinting trophies in his house.
“I was in awe of him because to me he was a superstar,” Sinton says. “But I knew when I was six years old that I was going to be Mr Universe just like him. While other kids were reading the Beano and Dandy I was reading bodybuilding magazines.”
Those other kids, though, were unwilling to tolerate such eccentricity. Indeed, the level of abuse he received was such that Sinton’s grandfather asked a reluctant Lawrence to induct the then 13-year-old into bodybuilding. “It gave me a focus,” he admits. “I was brought up by a single parent and I felt like a second-class kid because I was getting bullied at school. I always felt a need to prove myself and bodybuilding gave me a way of dealing with that.”
That thirst for justification has been a constant companion in Sinton’s life. Bodybuilding has, in more ways than one, acted as a crutch for his insecurities and gave him the kind of path through his adolescence that he has latterly attempted to instil in daughters Chelsea and Jade and would wish for his younger children Mirren, Stephen and Ethan.
But not everyone subscribes to the idea of sport as a vehicle for good, particularly when the sport in question is bodybuilding. Clive James’s line about competitors looking like condoms stuffed with walnuts is a wearying, if harmless, quip but more damaging are the prosaic generalisations about drug-taking. Sinton has long been an advocate of natural muscle development – based on 80% nutrition, 10% training and 10% quality relaxation – and, although he accepts that chemical assistance is common, he insists that should not be allowed to detract from the efforts of principled performers.
“You get a lot of guys who, because they’ve maybe not been able to get off their arses and do something with their own lives, will try to put you down,” he explains. “With just one stupid comment about steroids they’ll wipe out 30 years of hard work and cut you down to their level to justify it to themselves.”
The opinions of others have stalked Sinton for some time but the most persistent whispers have not involved drugs. Instead, his ongoing health battles have, given his prominence, become the topic de jour in the bodybuilding village.
“It’s a very fickle sport; people only want to know you when you’re winning things,” he says ruefully. “Everybody has seen me at my worst now and I want to compete again and be better than I’ve ever been, then leave the sport the way I want to leave; not the way other folk want it left. It’s not just proving a point to everyone else; it’s proving a point to myself that I can actually do it.”
Having regained a staggering 3½ stones in the two months since he returned to regular workouts, the journey has already begun and will continue later this month when Sinton leaves Berwickshire for a fresh start in Kirkcaldy. There, he will live and train alongside Lawrence, who is preparing for next year’s over-60s Mr World competition, but he has set strict criteria for a comeback that he believes can culminate in another Mr Universe title.
“I’ll not go on stage unless I’m as good as, or better than, before,” he insists. “But now that I’ve got the mindset back I can get right back to the top and win the title. Every true champion has always got one big fight left in them and I’ve got two or three years yet.”
More info on the Cushing positive test.
( looks to me like my pregnant girl urine drinking fetish excuse might have worked another possibility is that the 'clean' sample he gave was not really his and was in fact that of a woman who he didn't realise was pregnant, her urine could have been inserted into his bladder just prior to the piss test via a catheter and syringe setup. )
Cushing was randomly tested by the NFL in September. He was informed of the positive test in October and appealed. His suspension was announced May 7.
“When everything first came out, I was completely unfamiliar with hCG,” he said. “I was told that the only way it can get into your body, and, obviously, everyone having their different opinions, was that it was either through injection or through a tumor.
“I know that I didn’t ingest or inject anything. I played the whole season thinking I had tumors (that), this could not only be my last season but my last year.”
After getting the letter in October from the independent doctor in Ohio that he had tested positive, Cushing had five days to file his appeal. Cushing, his family and agent Tom Condon were the only ones who knew he had tested positive and had appealed.
Condon said Thursday that Cushing underwent his first “battery of tests” in November. Condon said Cushing has subsequently undergone more tests in Houston, San Diego and Denver.
“He was tested for a variety of things that were recommended by his (personal) doctor,” Condon said. “My understanding is they’re going to do it again. They’re going to take him from head to toe and repeat everything.”
A person close to Cushing said he underwent tests that turned up negative for testicular cancer.
“Right now, I’m concerned about my health,” Cushing said. “I have to take care of my situation and find out why this is happening from a health standpoint and also from a prevention standpoint.”
Dr. Christopher Wood, a professor of urology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, confirmed that two types of tumors associated with testicular cancer — one very common, one less common — secrete levels of hCG that would show up in drug testing.
Asked if that meant Cushing’s claim was plausible, Wood said, “yes and no.”
“It would be surprising for someone who tested positive in October not to have felt some sort of abnormal mass in his testicles,” said Wood.
Wood also noted that the more common type of testicular tumor that secretes hCG can be very aggressive. He said when it is advanced, it can secrete very high levels of hCG.
Cushing was randomly tested by the NFL in September. He was informed of the positive test in October and appealed. His suspension was announced May 7.
“When everything first came out, I was completely unfamiliar with hCG,” he said. “I was told that the only way it can get into your body, and, obviously, everyone having their different opinions, was that it was either through injection or through a tumor.
“I know that I didn’t ingest or inject anything. I played the whole season thinking I had tumors (that), this could not only be my last season but my last year.”
After getting the letter in October from the independent doctor in Ohio that he had tested positive, Cushing had five days to file his appeal. Cushing, his family and agent Tom Condon were the only ones who knew he had tested positive and had appealed.
Condon said Thursday that Cushing underwent his first “battery of tests” in November. Condon said Cushing has subsequently undergone more tests in Houston, San Diego and Denver.
“He was tested for a variety of things that were recommended by his (personal) doctor,” Condon said. “My understanding is they’re going to do it again. They’re going to take him from head to toe and repeat everything.”
A person close to Cushing said he underwent tests that turned up negative for testicular cancer.
“Right now, I’m concerned about my health,” Cushing said. “I have to take care of my situation and find out why this is happening from a health standpoint and also from a prevention standpoint.”
Dr. Christopher Wood, a professor of urology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, confirmed that two types of tumors associated with testicular cancer — one very common, one less common — secrete levels of hCG that would show up in drug testing.
Asked if that meant Cushing’s claim was plausible, Wood said, “yes and no.”
“It would be surprising for someone who tested positive in October not to have felt some sort of abnormal mass in his testicles,” said Wood.
Wood also noted that the more common type of testicular tumor that secretes hCG can be very aggressive. He said when it is advanced, it can secrete very high levels of hCG.
Kentucky man indicted for steroid distribution after two year wait.
( we ran the original steroid bust story back in 2009 )
Warning : If you google Adam Parker steroids you'll see there appears to be an Adam Parker running a steroid retail site that was opened in 2007 and still going today. It could be a coincidence but in light of this indictment I would suggest playing safe and avoiding the site ( anabolics-steroid. net )
A federal grand jury in Bowling Green returned an indictment against Adam Wayne Parker, age 36, of Dawson Springs, on charges of distributing anabolic steroids, United States Attorney David J. Hale of the Western District of Kentucky announced Wednesday.
The Indictment alleges that between January 2007 and July 2008, Parker distributed anabolic steroids, which are Schedule III controlled substances. The indictment also charges Parker with misbranding anabolic steroids and failing to register an establishment used to process, package, and change labels on anabolic steroids.
In the event of a conviction, the maximum potential penalties are 11 years' imprisonment, a $750,000 fine, and supervised release for a period of not less than 2 years.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Weiser, and it was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations.
Parker is scheduled to appear for arraignment before the United States Magistrate Judge on May 27 at 10:00 a.m., in Owensboro.
Warning : If you google Adam Parker steroids you'll see there appears to be an Adam Parker running a steroid retail site that was opened in 2007 and still going today. It could be a coincidence but in light of this indictment I would suggest playing safe and avoiding the site ( anabolics-steroid. net )
A federal grand jury in Bowling Green returned an indictment against Adam Wayne Parker, age 36, of Dawson Springs, on charges of distributing anabolic steroids, United States Attorney David J. Hale of the Western District of Kentucky announced Wednesday.
The Indictment alleges that between January 2007 and July 2008, Parker distributed anabolic steroids, which are Schedule III controlled substances. The indictment also charges Parker with misbranding anabolic steroids and failing to register an establishment used to process, package, and change labels on anabolic steroids.
In the event of a conviction, the maximum potential penalties are 11 years' imprisonment, a $750,000 fine, and supervised release for a period of not less than 2 years.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Weiser, and it was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations.
Parker is scheduled to appear for arraignment before the United States Magistrate Judge on May 27 at 10:00 a.m., in Owensboro.
Steroid doctor Richard Lucente sentenced to probation and community service.
A Staten Island doctor accused of writing hundreds of prescriptions for illegal steroids was sentenced to a relatively light five years’ probation yesterday, the result of a plea deal cut mid-trial.
"I’m glad it’s over," said Richard Lucente, 38. "I just want to get on with my life."
Lucente was facing 30 years in prison on charges that he took cash payments from men — including some city cops — looking to illegally beef up.
But in the middle of trial in March, prosecutors agreed to the no-jail plea to the single charge of conspiracy, which calls for 200 hours of community service and the surrender of his medical licenses.
Lawyer John Meringolo said he turned down a 10-year offer right before trial began.
"The DA wanted, I believe, 10 years, and after three weeks of trial, they didn’t get 10 minutes," he said.
As part of the deal, Lucente was required to admit only that he accepted $27,000 from Lowen’s, a Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, pharmacy, to refer patients.
"I’m glad it’s over," said Richard Lucente, 38. "I just want to get on with my life."
Lucente was facing 30 years in prison on charges that he took cash payments from men — including some city cops — looking to illegally beef up.
But in the middle of trial in March, prosecutors agreed to the no-jail plea to the single charge of conspiracy, which calls for 200 hours of community service and the surrender of his medical licenses.
Lawyer John Meringolo said he turned down a 10-year offer right before trial began.
"The DA wanted, I believe, 10 years, and after three weeks of trial, they didn’t get 10 minutes," he said.
As part of the deal, Lucente was required to admit only that he accepted $27,000 from Lowen’s, a Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, pharmacy, to refer patients.
The ex-coach who outed designer steroid "The Clear" trying to sue U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for $30 million.
Former track coach Trevor Graham is suing the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for $30 million, saying the agency ruined his name when he was accused of providing performance-enhancing drugs to athletes.
Graham filed the federal lawsuit Tuesday in the eastern district of North Carolina. According to court documents, Graham says USADA "slandered my name for the whole world to see."
He received a lifetime coaching ban from the agency in July 2008 for his role in helping his athletes obtain performance-enhancing drugs. Graham has always denied providing performance-enhancers to his athletes — a roster that once included Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery and Justin Gatlin.
In a telephone interview with the AP, Graham said USADA "pretty much banned me without ever granting me a hearing and refuse to.
"That's why I filed the suit," said Graham, who is representing himself in his lawsuit. "(USADA) continues to slander my name to the public as if I had been found guilty by the USADA, and I have not been found guilty. I've never been tried."
In 2008, Graham was sentenced to a year of home confinement for lying to federal investigators during a doping investigation.
It was Graham who provided the government with its first evidence in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative steroids probe, mailing a vial of a designer drug called "the clear" to USADA in 2003. Graham initially was granted immunity for his cooperation, but the agreement did not protect him from prosecution for making false statements.
Graham says USADA violated his First Amendment and due process rights by not granting him a hearing before the American Arbitration Association.
"Mr. Graham was afforded a full legal process established under federal law prior to being sanctioned by USADA," agency spokeswoman Erin Hannan said. "This is obviously just another attempt by Mr. Graham to rob clean athletes of USADA's limited resources by forcing us to defend this meritless suit, which we have not even been served."
According to the lawsuit, Graham wants a hearing before USADA and the arbitration association and that "my good name be reinstated with all sport agencies and the media as well as the ability to once again coach."
Linebacker Cushing's positive test result was for HCG.
( how about claiming he has a fetish for drinking the urine of pregnant girls, more original than the tainted nutritional supplement defense )
Houston Texans linebacker Brian Cushing tested positive for HCG, a fertility drug that is on the NFL's banned substance list.
A person familiar with Cushing's case told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Cushing had one positive test in September, then subsequently tested negative several times. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the test results were supposed to remain confidential.
"He had one low-level positive test for HCG in September, and then every test after that was negative," the source said. "He has said he has no idea where the positive test came from."
The NFL has suspended Cushing, of Park Ridge, for the first four games of the season and there's a new vote being taken for the AP's NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honor, which Cushing won after the season.
Houston Texans linebacker Brian Cushing tested positive for HCG, a fertility drug that is on the NFL's banned substance list.
A person familiar with Cushing's case told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Cushing had one positive test in September, then subsequently tested negative several times. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the test results were supposed to remain confidential.
"He had one low-level positive test for HCG in September, and then every test after that was negative," the source said. "He has said he has no idea where the positive test came from."
The NFL has suspended Cushing, of Park Ridge, for the first four games of the season and there's a new vote being taken for the AP's NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honor, which Cushing won after the season.
Defendant in Canada's Operation Jellybean case changes plea to guilty for his role in conspiracy to traffic steroids.
A man charged in connection with an investigation into illegal drugs and steroids in the region has changed his pleas on three charges.
Spencer Gordon Court wasn't in the court Monday, but his lawyer, William Stephenson, entered guilty pleas on his behalf on the counts of conspiracy to traffic steroids.
The Crown dropped two other conspiracy counts.
Court is due to be sentenced on these matters Sept. 9.
He faces 31 other charges in connection with the investigation and is due to return to court in August for trial in the Court of Queen's Bench for conspiracy to traffic in a controlled substance.
Court is also scheduled to stand trial on charges in related cases in September, October and November. The four trials involve different co-accused.
The charges against Court arose as a result of Operation Jellybean, a major joint-forces investigation conducted by RCMP J Division's Fredericton and Saint John drug unit and the Fredericton Police Force.
The operation, which ran for two years, targeted a group alleged to be involved in trafficking cocaine, marijuana, prescription drugs and anabolic steroids in New Brunswick, Ontario and Nova Scotia, but the focus of the investigation was in the Fredericton area.
Police arrested suspects in January 2007. More than 20 people were charged as a result of the investigation.
Spencer Gordon Court wasn't in the court Monday, but his lawyer, William Stephenson, entered guilty pleas on his behalf on the counts of conspiracy to traffic steroids.
The Crown dropped two other conspiracy counts.
Court is due to be sentenced on these matters Sept. 9.
He faces 31 other charges in connection with the investigation and is due to return to court in August for trial in the Court of Queen's Bench for conspiracy to traffic in a controlled substance.
Court is also scheduled to stand trial on charges in related cases in September, October and November. The four trials involve different co-accused.
The charges against Court arose as a result of Operation Jellybean, a major joint-forces investigation conducted by RCMP J Division's Fredericton and Saint John drug unit and the Fredericton Police Force.
The operation, which ran for two years, targeted a group alleged to be involved in trafficking cocaine, marijuana, prescription drugs and anabolic steroids in New Brunswick, Ontario and Nova Scotia, but the focus of the investigation was in the Fredericton area.
Police arrested suspects in January 2007. More than 20 people were charged as a result of the investigation.
Barbellfish : the adjustable / easy to change weight barbell system coming soon.
I think it's safe to bet that one of the existing adjustable dumbell companies will launch something similar to this before the Chinese designer of the Barbellfish can get his into production. ( then again as nearly all weight lifting equipment is already Chinese made he may have a big advantage ).The Barbellfish looks pretty slick I just hope it will be able to handle the abuse most bodybuilders will give it ( drops, sweat, chalk, Gatorade spills etc ).
Drug tested athletes should avoid pork :-)
Chinese Female Judo star Tong Wen who won the 78 kilogram women's title at the last Beijing Olympic games has tested positive for Clenbuterol and been banned for two years and also lost her title.
Tong and her coach are convinced it was due to the large amount of contaminated barbeque pork chops that she had eaten with friends prior to the test.
Tong and her coach are convinced it was due to the large amount of contaminated barbeque pork chops that she had eaten with friends prior to the test.
More signs of a possible international underground steroid lab crackdown.
( we somehow missed reporting on the "Working group meeting of experts in Doping" that took place in November last year, we googled the report and oddly could find no mention of it on any bodybuilding blogs or steroid forums )
A key outcome of the meeting was an agreement to establish a global network of specialists in order to carry out future international operations to combat the illegal production and sale of PIEDs by criminal gangs via the Internet.
“In recent years we have seen a massive increase in sales of anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing drugs via the Internet,” said Mr Leclaire.
“This working group meeting has demonstrated the willingness of member countries to share information and expertise in combating doping trafficking and will provide a sound platform for future operations to target this type of criminality.”
( the current news story below is we think a follow up to it )World Anti-Doping Agency head John Fahey said a recent report from the international police agency on the supply and trafficking of performance enhancing drugs was a "reality check."
"There is ample evidence that has come through from Interpol to suggest that there is almost as much money if not more money to coming out of performance enhancing drugs as there is out of the illegal drug trade throughout the world," he said.
Fahey made the comments Sunday at the conclusion of weekend meetings in Montreal of WADA's executive committee and foundation board, during which the agency reviewed its first report from a new partnership with Interpol.
"There's a problem of mammoth proportions out there," he said. "If we were of the view that the problem is going away, that is certainly not the advice we were given by Interpol."
He said strong laws were needed to beat the trafficking of these types of drugs across borders.
"After I read that report that we're going to have to still be around for a long time yet," he said. "There's a hell of a lot out there."
WADA director general David Howman noted the vast amount of these drugs — from steroids to human growth hormone — were being used by the segments outside the elite athlete community.
"You start to realize how big an issue this is in society," he said.
Scott Siegel gives interview to the NY Daily News from jail.
Scott Sigel may well be the most famous steroid dealer in history thanks to his role in the movie The Wrestler and subsequent arrest in real life.
The story has been heavily discussed on every bodybuilding blog and steroid forum in the world.
Here are the best bits from his most recent interview with New York's Daily News paper made while he is still behind bars.
( you can click on the pics to make them bigger and easier to read )
If you're a fan of Scott Siegel you can find another interesting jail interview done by the RxMuscle.com team which includes plenty of information on the guy Scott claims set him up.
The story has been heavily discussed on every bodybuilding blog and steroid forum in the world.
Here are the best bits from his most recent interview with New York's Daily News paper made while he is still behind bars.
( you can click on the pics to make them bigger and easier to read )
If you're a fan of Scott Siegel you can find another interesting jail interview done by the RxMuscle.com team which includes plenty of information on the guy Scott claims set him up.
Former Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety officer claims steroid and hgh purchases were a 'medical necessity'.
( story edited to remove the junk )
A hormone imbalance and the high cost of several prescriptions to treat it prompted a former Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety sergeant to obtain one of the medicines from an acquaintance earlier this year, his attorney said Friday.
A hormone imbalance and the high cost of several prescriptions to treat it prompted a former Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety sergeant to obtain one of the medicines from an acquaintance earlier this year, his attorney said Friday.
Attorney Michael D. Hills would not say if his client, Fred Milton Jr., obtained any other substances from the acquaintance, whom Hills declined to identify, but he did contend that Milton and his supplier were not involved in “an ongoing relationship.”
“Mr. Milton had a medical need for this medicine. He obtained it because it was medically necessary and he couldn’t afford all of his prescriptions,” Hills said Friday.
Hills said Milton was approached in February by an acquaintance who informed Milton that he could get Milton’s human-growth hormone medication “for an amount Mr. Milton could afford.”
Milton obtained the medicine — what he believed to be human chorionic gonadotrophin hormone powder — March 11 and shortly after getting the substance was stopped by agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the West Michigan Enforcement Team, a Michigan State Police drug unit.
Hills said the authorities removed Milton from his vehicle at gunpoint and interrogated him and “wanted information regarding several specific police officers who investigators suspected were using steroids to gain muscle mass for body building.”
“Since the prescribed medication for Mr. Milton was related to health requirements, and not a body building hobby, Mr. Milton could not further the police investigation as he was not involved in any underlying steroid ring and/or conspiracy,” Hills said in his prepared statement.
“We just want it out there that Mr. Milton had a prescription and the prescriptions were medically necessary for him,” Hills said.
HCG gaining popularity as an alternative to male TRT.
John Bellizzi's routine is like a lot of ours, but the 51- year-old is willing to go a lot further than most of us to keep fit. Twice a week he gives himself a shot.
"The one that I take is made from urine from pregnant women," said John Bellizzi.
John is part of a growing group of men who are using human chorionic gonadotropin or HCG, an injection of testosterone.
"I've had people come up to me and say, 'What? Are you nuts?' With the added testosterone in my body, I build muscle mass quicker. I have more vigor. I'm thinking faster," said Bellizzi.
His stats prove something is working. In two years he's dropped and kept off 16 pounds, lowered his body fat by 13% and dropped 50 points off his cholesterol. It's the latest trend at the cenegenics medical institute in Las Vegas.
"We can manage the way we age, so at the age of 68 I can do the same things I did when I was 20," said Robert Willix, M.D.
Patients go through a seven-hour physical and then have a nutrition, exercise and supplement plan designed for them. But some worry what's being practiced here is taking us down a dangerous road medicine has traveled before.
"We used to think that by replacing estrogen, we would rejuvenate women, and low and behold, we found the opposite. We actually created more heart disease, blood clots and cognitive impairment than we prevented," said Lewis Lipsitz, M.D., Director at the Institute for Aging Research Hebrew SeniorLife.
When it comes to HCG, there's still uncertainty.
"I think that they are advertising a toxic soup for you, and it's really something to avoid at all costs. It's really modern-day quackery and hucksterism in my opinion," said Tom Perls, Ph.D., Director of the New England Centenarian Study Boston Medical Center.
But these men say they're living proof it works.
"The one that I take is made from urine from pregnant women," said John Bellizzi.
John is part of a growing group of men who are using human chorionic gonadotropin or HCG, an injection of testosterone.
"I've had people come up to me and say, 'What? Are you nuts?' With the added testosterone in my body, I build muscle mass quicker. I have more vigor. I'm thinking faster," said Bellizzi.
His stats prove something is working. In two years he's dropped and kept off 16 pounds, lowered his body fat by 13% and dropped 50 points off his cholesterol. It's the latest trend at the cenegenics medical institute in Las Vegas.
"We can manage the way we age, so at the age of 68 I can do the same things I did when I was 20," said Robert Willix, M.D.
Patients go through a seven-hour physical and then have a nutrition, exercise and supplement plan designed for them. But some worry what's being practiced here is taking us down a dangerous road medicine has traveled before.
"We used to think that by replacing estrogen, we would rejuvenate women, and low and behold, we found the opposite. We actually created more heart disease, blood clots and cognitive impairment than we prevented," said Lewis Lipsitz, M.D., Director at the Institute for Aging Research Hebrew SeniorLife.
When it comes to HCG, there's still uncertainty.
"I think that they are advertising a toxic soup for you, and it's really something to avoid at all costs. It's really modern-day quackery and hucksterism in my opinion," said Tom Perls, Ph.D., Director of the New England Centenarian Study Boston Medical Center.
But these men say they're living proof it works.
Texas linebacker Brian Cushing suspended for PEDs.
( big surprise ? )
Texans outside linebacker Brian Cushing's four-game suspension for violating the National Football League's performance-enhancing drug policy means he will miss the first four games of the 2010 regular season.
Cushing, the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year last season when the Texans finished with a franchise-best 9-7 record, can practice with his teammates and play in preseason games, but he can't be at their training facility once his suspension begins Sept. 4. He will miss games against Indianapolis, Washington, Dallas and Oakland.
“We're very disappointed, and he's disappointed, too,” Texans owner Bob McNair said Friday. “It was a surprise to us.
“Unfortunately, these things happen in the NFL. They're like injuries in that you can never predict them.”
The league doesn't disclose what a player tests positive for. Cushing could have tested positive for steroids, other performance-enhancing drugs, a diuretic or nutritional supplements that are banned by the NFL.
Cushing tested positive last year. Under league rules, players can appeal the laboratory finding or the penalty. Cushing appealed the laboratory finding and lost.
Cushing spent most of the offseason working out in Los Angeles while he completed his degree in sociology last month at USC. He has been participating in a mixed martial arts training program.
Texans outside linebacker Brian Cushing's four-game suspension for violating the National Football League's performance-enhancing drug policy means he will miss the first four games of the 2010 regular season.
Cushing, the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year last season when the Texans finished with a franchise-best 9-7 record, can practice with his teammates and play in preseason games, but he can't be at their training facility once his suspension begins Sept. 4. He will miss games against Indianapolis, Washington, Dallas and Oakland.
“We're very disappointed, and he's disappointed, too,” Texans owner Bob McNair said Friday. “It was a surprise to us.
“Unfortunately, these things happen in the NFL. They're like injuries in that you can never predict them.”
The league doesn't disclose what a player tests positive for. Cushing could have tested positive for steroids, other performance-enhancing drugs, a diuretic or nutritional supplements that are banned by the NFL.
Cushing tested positive last year. Under league rules, players can appeal the laboratory finding or the penalty. Cushing appealed the laboratory finding and lost.
Cushing spent most of the offseason working out in Los Angeles while he completed his degree in sociology last month at USC. He has been participating in a mixed martial arts training program.
More bodybuilding cops are victims of steroids witch hunt.
An investigation triggered by a tip has cost a Public Safety Sgt. his job. Frederick Milton Jr. was a highly decorated 11 year veteran of the force and a body builder.
Chief Jeff Hadley brought in the WEMET drug team to investigate claims that some officers were using illegally obtained steroids and Human growth hormones. Milton was given a chance to resign before the Department’s internal investigation reached a conclusion on sanctions. They say it didn’t affect his job performance and they had no citizen complaints.
A Paw Paw Police officer and body builder, Robert Kusmack, has reportedly been suspended without pay as a result of the investigation. Chief Jeff Hadley says in a press release that they view such actions as a betrayal of the public trust, and not reflective of the 300 people who work in the department. Hadley says any criminal charges would be up to the WEMET Drug team to decide.
Chief Jeff Hadley brought in the WEMET drug team to investigate claims that some officers were using illegally obtained steroids and Human growth hormones. Milton was given a chance to resign before the Department’s internal investigation reached a conclusion on sanctions. They say it didn’t affect his job performance and they had no citizen complaints.
A Paw Paw Police officer and body builder, Robert Kusmack, has reportedly been suspended without pay as a result of the investigation. Chief Jeff Hadley says in a press release that they view such actions as a betrayal of the public trust, and not reflective of the 300 people who work in the department. Hadley says any criminal charges would be up to the WEMET Drug team to decide.
"Steroids on Long Island: Inside Our Juicehead Culture" news story.
( first page is quite amusing see below after that it's pure BS anti-steroid propaganda from an author who confuses anabolic steroids with corticosteroids )Xavier was 20 when he knew he had to quit using steroids.
He was sitting in his Dodge Durango outside a Gold’s Gym in Suffolk County. A needle and syringe sat on the passenger seat next to him, along with a gym bag and water bottle. Looking to get what he describes as “that pump,” that bottomless well of energy to press, curl and lift weights, Xavier injected a needle full of steroids into his leg before going inside to work out.
“I stuck it in, injected the stuff, took it out, and as the needle came out—blood,” says Xavier today, 24, with pierced ears, a crew cut, thin beard and a massive tribal tattoo on his right arm. “It wasn’t squirting blood, it was kind of pouring down my leg. I flipped out, I freaked out.”
Xavier is but one of countless LI weightlifters who has used steroids in his quest for arms so big they can barely fit into shirt sleeves, legs the size of tree trunks, a puffed chest feared by collar buttons and a back the shape of a capital letter “V.”
Steroids are what everyone and no one wants to talk about. They spark a wide range of opinions, and those vary depending on who you ask: Are they safe or dangerous? Common or uncommon? Easily available or nearly impossible to find? What the doctor ordered or exactly what he said to stay away from? The shortest path to a sculpted physique, weightlifting records and the attention of anyone within a 50-foot radius? Or one riddled with alarming side-effects, trips to the emergency room and 3 a.m. Google searches for “How do I stop my fingernails from falling off?”
Headlines tell us steroids are what gave Major League Baseball’s Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds the oomph to hit 70 and 73 home runs in 1998 and 2001, respectively, helped cyclist Floyd Landis win the 2006 Tour de France and drove WWE superstar Chris Benoit to murder his wife and 7-year-old son and hang himself over a three-day period in 2007. The Web gives us plenty of photographic evidence, some altered, some not—though it’s difficult to discern which images have been on the receiving end of a Photoshop distortion. Pop culture informs us they’re quickly becoming de rigueur in many walks of life: “Almost all my friends are into it—girls and guys,” said Franklin Square’s Jenni Farley, aka J-WOWW from the MTV hit show Jersey Shore, in an interview with the Press last year, when asked about the show’s casual use of the word “juiceheads” and its relation to steroids culture.
Click here to view photos of A-list anabolic steroid users Nassau County police say in 2007 there were 10 steroids-related arrests, eight in 2008, two in 2009 and four year-to-date in 2010.
“I have to say, we don’t see [criminal steroids activity] a lot here,” says Teresa Corrigan, chief of the Street Narcotics and Gang Bureau for the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office. “In my 21 years of practice, I have never known steroids to be at a level similar to drugs and alcohol for arrests and incidents.”
Corrigan points to a large 2007 steroids bust, where two East Meadow residents, Thomas Butler and Carlos Cuevas, were arrested for ordering steroid ingredients off the Internet, turning them into various forms and distributing them throughout both counties, as the main blip on the radar.
There’s a similar climate on the other side of the Island, according to Detective Lt. William Burke, head of the Narcotics Section for Suffolk County police.
“In the grand scheme of things it certainly is not at the top of our priorities,” he says. “We’re not seeing people dying of steroids. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, but it’s not our focus like with heroin and the opiates.”
But just because police radio airwaves aren’t full of steroids chatter doesn’t mean the Island isn’t using them.
“You’re Bigger”
You’ve probably seen an anabolic steroids user before, not just on TV playing in nearly any professional sporting event, but in real life: at the gym, Jones Beach, the club. They want to get bigger than big; they want to get BIG.
The juiceheads, guidos, gym rats and whomever else dream of size and strength above all else take anabolic steroids. “It’s called an anabolic steroid because it helps synthesize, in particular, muscle,” says Dr. Gerald Bernstein, vice president of medical affairs at Generex Biotechnology and director of the diabetes management program at the Friedman Diabetes Institute at Beth Israel Medical Center. “And therefore, it’s a well-known opportunity for abuse.”
Drew* was a frequent gym user for years, and one day learned his workout partner started taking anabolic steroids. Admitting they had always intrigued him, he bought some from his gym’s owner (“He said he would just walk across the border from Mexico with armloads of them”) and started using.
“I went from 195 pounds to 250 pounds in about 18 months,” he says. “It was strictly, ‘Let’s see how big we can get.’ If I can get an 18-inch arm, maybe I can get a 19-inch arm.”
Drew is quick to point out the steroids weren’t addictive, but they were seductive. “If a little bit’s good, a lot’s better,” he says. He went through three cycles—alternating between using the steroids for a number of months and going off them for a short period of time, before starting up again—each time aiming for a greater gain. If he was able to gain 10 pounds in one cycle, he’d aim for 20 the next cycle.
“I think what people are taking it for, they may not achieve the goals that they want, because the amounts that they’re taking aren’t sufficient to give them the anabolic benefit,” says Bernstein. “And so the drive is always to take more.”
After spending the first few weeks convinced the gym owner sold him water, things clicked. And in his third week using a combination of testosterone and “deca” (deca-durabolin, a popular steroid administered via needle and syringe), his appearance caught up to what was being injected.
“I remember that day because I noticed it. My workout partner, I left him in the corner of the gym to walk across to get a drink, and when I turned around, he was staring at me and he watched me walk. He was just staring at me and I got up to him and he said, ‘You’re bigger,’ and I said, ‘I know.’ And we both noticed it wasn’t just muscle growth, it was—it’s hard to explain, but the body shape, the ‘V’ shape, the broad shoulders, the narrow waist—all the masculine traits were accented.”
Football player files suit against supplement maker.
St. Louis Rams linebacker David Vobora, who was suspended for four games in 2009 after testing positive for a banned steriod now says that he inadvertently used a contaminated supplement, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday against the supplement maker.
In a federal civil suit filed in St. Louis, Vobora said that he began using S.W.A.T.S. "The Ultimate Spray" in 2009, after a SWATS athlete recommended it.
The Web site for SWATS, or Sports with Alternatives to Steroids, touts the company’s anti-steroid stance and Christianity-based opposition to all recreational drugs.
Vobora’s lawsuit says that he researched the spray, talked to colleagues and SWATS endorsers and satisfied himself that the spray did not contain any banned substances.
After testing positive for a banned substance that June and being banned for four games, Vobora’s suit says that someone sent the spray to a Tennessee lab, which detected methyltestosterone.
The suit says that in addition to having his image "permanently tarnished," Vobora lost endorsement income and performance incentives.
The suit seeks compensation for Vobora’s loss of income and other damages.
"There is no banned substance in the spray," SWATS owner Mitch Ross said Tuesday evening, before rattling off a list of professional athletes in a variety of sports that use it and have never tested positive for a banned substance.
Ross questioned Vobora’s testing results, saying that other athletes had the same batch of spray tested without problems.
Ross also said that Vobora did not buy the spray, which contains deer antler velvet, from him, something confirmed by the lawsuit, which says that the spray was given to Vobora by an endorser.
Ross also suggested that Vobora may have used other supplements, saying he had a picture of Vobora and his locker that proved it.
SWATS also trains athletes and sells "Athletic Performance Chips," "multi-layered holographic images that are adhesively bonded with . . . sound vibrations . . . for the purpose of influencing the human vitality field."
In a federal civil suit filed in St. Louis, Vobora said that he began using S.W.A.T.S. "The Ultimate Spray" in 2009, after a SWATS athlete recommended it.
The Web site for SWATS, or Sports with Alternatives to Steroids, touts the company’s anti-steroid stance and Christianity-based opposition to all recreational drugs.
Vobora’s lawsuit says that he researched the spray, talked to colleagues and SWATS endorsers and satisfied himself that the spray did not contain any banned substances.
After testing positive for a banned substance that June and being banned for four games, Vobora’s suit says that someone sent the spray to a Tennessee lab, which detected methyltestosterone.
The suit says that in addition to having his image "permanently tarnished," Vobora lost endorsement income and performance incentives.
The suit seeks compensation for Vobora’s loss of income and other damages.
"There is no banned substance in the spray," SWATS owner Mitch Ross said Tuesday evening, before rattling off a list of professional athletes in a variety of sports that use it and have never tested positive for a banned substance.
Ross questioned Vobora’s testing results, saying that other athletes had the same batch of spray tested without problems.
Ross also said that Vobora did not buy the spray, which contains deer antler velvet, from him, something confirmed by the lawsuit, which says that the spray was given to Vobora by an endorser.
Ross also suggested that Vobora may have used other supplements, saying he had a picture of Vobora and his locker that proved it.
SWATS also trains athletes and sells "Athletic Performance Chips," "multi-layered holographic images that are adhesively bonded with . . . sound vibrations . . . for the purpose of influencing the human vitality field."
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