Disgraced British sprinter Dwain Chambers resorts to demonizing anabolic steroids in his autobiographical account of his use of performance-enhancing drugs to become a faster sprinter in ”Race Against Me: My Story” (”Chambers describes himself as ‘walking junkie’,” March 2).
“There were enough drugs in there to kill an elephant and I didn’t have a clue whether they were legal or not. I was a walking junkie,” Chambers writes. “I had tubes of stuff that were known only to me as ‘The Clear’ and ‘The Cream,’ along with a few bottles of EPO and HGH, which were in ice packs as they needed to be kept cool.”
Chambers also blames BALCO mastermind Victor Conte and the “devil” for convincingly encouraging him to use undetectable designer steroids. … Read the rest of this entry »
Scott Siegel, the actor who played a steroid dealer in “The Wrestler”, was arrested on steroid distribution charges. He was busted with 1,500 bottles of anabolic steroids and more than $100,000 in cash (”Steroids Arrest Leads To Assaulting Officers,” February 20).
Prosecutors say that when Scott Siegal, 33, was approached by law enforcement officers on Feb. 18, he fled in his car and intentionally hit several Eastchester Police Department cars and cars belonging to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
In addition, Siegel allegedly drove his car directly at an officer with the DEA’s Westchester County Drug Enforcement Task Force in an apparent attempt to run him over.
Scott Siegel was charged with one count of distributing and possessing with intent to distribute anabolic steroids and one count of assaulting, resisting, opposing, impeding, intimidating, and interfering with officers and employees of an agency of the U.S. Government while engaged in and on account of the performance of official duties. If convicted, Siegel faces up to 20 years in federal prison. … Read the rest of this entry »
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has admitted using anabolic steroids during his competitive years as a professional bodybuilder. But Schwarzenegger made an appearance this weekend on CNN’s “State of the Union with John King” and said that anabolic steroid use by athletes sends kids a bad message. Arnold said athletes, and presumably pro bodybuilders, have the obligation to avoid using steroids. He affirmed his current belief that sports should be free of steroids and athletes who use steroids are making a mistake and should come clean about steroid use (”Schwarzenegger: Steroid Use Sends Bad Message,” February 22).
“I think it’s important to get the message out that we should not use drugs. I think we have a certain obligation as athletes to inspire young people. When someone wins an Olympic championship or a boxing championship, whatever it may be, you’re not only a champion, but you’re also an inspirational vehicle for young kids and for people in general to stay fit, to lose weight and all of this.
“I think that the message of not using drugs, not using alcohol, all of those things, always out there and inspire young kids. So I think there are some athletes go in that direction because there’s so much competition. I think they need to come out, be clean, and say look, I used that, I made a mistake, or whatever it is and the sports ought to be without drugs. That’s the important thing.”
Gov. Schwarzenegger has promoted the Arnold Classic professional bodybuilding contest with business partner Jim Lorimer for 21 years. The media has attacked Schwarzenegger’s hypocrisy every spring because of his involvement in the steroid-plagued sport of professional bodybuilding with the promotion of the Arnold Classic.
Dan Clark’s autobiographical account of his years using anabolic steroids as the American Gladiator Nitro was released earlier this month. Reviewers have been surprised that “Gladiator: A True Story of ‘Roids, Rage, and Redemption” is actually “readable”. However, Clark pays an inordinate amount of attention to his “man-boobs” devoting an entire chapter to the discussion of his steroid-induced gynecomastia also known as “bitch tits” or “gyno” (”Nitro and steroids: an American Gladiator memoir,” February 18).
[H]e spends a whole chapter on breasts — his own. “Man boobs, breast-chesticles, is what they’re called on the street,” he writes. “Gynecomastia is the scientific name. No matter what you call it, I have it.” The “man boobs” were a pronounced enough symptom of his steriod use that he even had to have breast-reduction surgery, which he writes about in clear, even gross detail.
Of course, instead of reading the book, you can listen to an obscenity-laced summary of the book to TMZ provided by a seemingly intoxicated Dan Clark last month … Read the rest of this entry »
Alex Rodriguez answered media questions during a press conference scheduled after he admitted using prohibiting supplements during 2001-2003. A-Rod acknowledged using a “supplement” that was purchased over-the-counter in the Dominican Republic and imported into the United States by his cousin. Anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs can be legally purchased without a prescription at local pharmacies in the Dominican Republic. A-rod identified the “supplement” as “boli” or “boli” which he claimed to be the street name for the drug. But he denied knowing that is was a steroid or that he was doing anything wrong when his cousin injected the substances into his ass (”Transcript of Alex Rodriguez’s Press Conference,” February 17, 2009).
I didn’t think they were steroids. That’s again the part of being young and stupid. It was over the counter, it was pretty basic. And you know, it was really amateur hour. I mean, it was two guys, we couldn’t go outside, we couldn’t ask anyone, we didn’t want to ask anyone. We went outside team doctors, team trainers. It was two guys doing a very amateur and very immature thing. We probably didn’t even take it right; like I said in my statement, we used to do it about two times a month. I don’t even know if that’s proper. So when this gentleman asked about how it affected us, I’m not sure if we even did it right to affect us in the right way. So all these years, I never thought I did anything that was wrong. Perhaps. But not wrong. But come to figure out that boli triggered a positive test in ’03.
Alex Rodriguez’s answers during the press conference were characterized as vague and inconsistent. In addition, Rodriguez claimed he knew very little about steroids and wasn’t sure he used them correctly. He did not notice any positive or negative effects from the steroids stating that any benefits could have easily been the result of a placebo effect.
Jose Canseco wants to work with Major League Baseball to teach high school athletes about the dangers of anabolic steroids. Canseco is sending a proposal letter to the MLB describing the role he could play in the elimination of steroids from baseball (”Canseco offers assistance to baseball, union on steroid issue,” February 10).
“I think I have the ear of the nation now,” Canseco said Tuesday. “I think everyone realizes I have not in any way, shape or form tried to create smoke and mirrors like Major League Baseball has and the players have. I have been excruciatingly honest about what’s going on in baseball.”
Canseco’s attorney, Dennis Holahan, said he was sending a letter to Fehr and Gene Orza, the union’s chief operating officer, offering the former slugger’s assistance. Canseco, who has admitted using steroids, offered few specifics about what he planned to discuss in his proposed joint meeting, other than he was concerned about the “welfare of baseball.”
“The goal is to come up with a plan to rid baseball of steroids once and for all,” Holahan said.
Jose Canseco identified numerous MLB players as steroid users in his books “Juiced” and “Vindicated.” Initially, the allegations were dismissed. But in the years since the publication of Canseco’s books, practically all of the accused have either admitted to using steroids and/or been implicated by various steroid investigations.
Alex Rodriguez or A-Rod recently admitted using steroids earlier in his career further increasing Jose Canseco’s steroid-user-identification credibility. Nonetheless, few people believe Canseco would be an effective steroid education spokesperson in high schools. One reader compared it to hiring “Louis Farrakhan to help ease racial tensions,” “Ken Lay as a corporate ethics consultant” or “Keith Richards as a substance abuse counselor”.
Major League Baseball’s highest paid player allegedly tested positive for anabolic steroids during the 2003 baseball season. Alex Rodriguez, the American League’s Most Valuable Player in 2003 for the Texas Rangers, tested positive for testosterone and methenolone according to a report by Sports Illustrated (SI) reporters Selena Roberts and David Epstein. Sources citing the results from MLB’s anonymous and non-disciplinary steroid testing results have identified A-Rod as one of 104 players to fail the test (”Sources tell SI Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in 2003,” February 7).
Rodriguez’s name appears on a list of 104 players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball’s ‘03 survey testing, SI’s sources say. As part of a joint agreement with the MLB Players Association, the testing was conducted to determine if it was necessary to impose mandatory random drug testing across the major leagues in 2004.
The MLB list was seized by the federal agents during a raid of Comprehensive Drug Testing Incorporated (CDT) as part of the investigation into the distribution of performance-enhancing drugs by the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO) to MLB players.
The St. Joseph Medical Center’s Powered by Me! anti-steroid education program has started encouraging Maryland high school students to sign pledges promising they will abstain from using anabolic steroids. Parents are provided with refrigerator magnets that remind them of the warning signs of steroid use. The abstinence-type pledges have not been shown to be particular effective in other morally-based education programs (”Anti-steroid program launches second phase for parents,” January 30).
“Parents play a critical role in teaching their children to play their sport safe, fair and free of all drugs,” program director Mike Gimbel said in a statement.
The first phase of PASS, Physician Awareness of Steroids and Supplements, reached out to doctors to look out for the signs and symptoms of steroid use. They were provided with small cards listing the symptoms to make it easier to review during a checkup.
In the latest phase, Parents Awareness of Steroids and Supplements, Powered by Me! will be distributing 15,000 refrigerator magnets to 24 Baltimore County public high schools. The magnets are printed with information to help parents start a discussion about steroids and energy drinks.
The Parents Awareness of Steroids and Supplements program is the second phase of the anti-steroid education program administered by Powered by Me! was launched this week in Maryland with much fanfare. A Physician’s Awareness of Steroids and Supplements initiative was launched last year by Powered by Me!
Citizens of the United States can sleep well at night with the knowledge that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has promised to spend as much time and energy investigating anabolic steroids as they do with cocaine and heroin. DEA Special Agent Violet Szeleczky took the opportunity to explain that steroids are very evil drugs (”Pearland couple to be sentenced for operating major steroid pill mill,” January 27).
“It’s not just a drug that can be taken lightly,” explained DEA Special Agent Violet Szeleczky. “It’s something that we still consider extremely dangerous to the public and we’re going to investigate it to its fullest, just as if it were heroin, cocaine or marijuana.”
President Barrack Obama made a joke about steroids during an appearance with Senator George Mitchell to discuss a peacekeeping mission in the Middle East. Obama has previously stated that he thought the U.S. government had more important things to worry about than steroids in sports (”Obama Compares Mideast Peacekeeping To Steroids Work,” January 27).
At the very start of an appearance today with George Mitchell, his special Middle East envoy, President Obama was heard to joke that “compared to steroids, this is going to be a breeze,” CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller reports.
Senator Mitchell was asked in 2007 to lead an investigation in steroids in baseball. President Obama though Sen. Mitchell’s experience was more suited to being his special Middle East envoy.
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