They shoot horses, don't they? Anabolic steroids and their challenge to law enforcement - includes related article - Cover Story

FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin,The, August, 1994 by Gregory Stejskal

In August 1992, a player on the Quebec Nordiques hockey team died of heart failure following a disturbance in his hotel room in Canada. The autopsy revealed he had both anabolic steroids and cocaine in his system.

On the following day, by coincidence, Federal grand jury indictments of over 40 people from Canada, Mexico, and the United States were unsealed, charging the defendants with steroid distribution. These indictments culminated a 2 1/2-year, joint FBI-Food and Drug Administration (FDA) undercover operation targeting anabolic steroid dealers. The FDA estimated that the operation, codenamed Equine,(1) resulted in the purchase or seizure of 8-10 million dosage units of both real and counterfeit steroids. In 1993, additional indictments were returned, charging individuals with steroid distribution, and investigations continue in other cases generated from the undercover operation.

These events dramatically demonstrate the seriousness and the breadth of the steroid problem facing law enforcement today. This article reviews the history of steroid use and abuse, examines the black market operations targeted by Equine, and provides guidance to law enforcement agencies for prosecution of distributors of both real and counterfeit steroids.

HISTORY

Steroids are a synthetic version of the male hormone testosterone. Anabolic refers to a substance that promotes growth. (Although all steroids are not necessarily anabolic, for simplicity, the terms will be interchanged.) When taken internally, steroids will, in conjunction with weight training, promote extraordinary weight gain and muscular development.

The idea of using male hormones to enhance performance and virility originated in the 1890s, when experiments linked testosterone with certain masculine traits. Initially, some individuals used natural testosterone, with mixed results. One of the limiting factors in the use of natural testosterone was its availability--it had to be obtained from the testicles of animals--a rather unsavory process, especially for the animal.

In 1935, researchers developed the first synthetic testosterone, thereby making it readily available in large amounts. Following World War II, Eastern European weight-lifters began using steroids and, as a result, dominated international competitions. It did not take long for other competitors to realize why. Steroid use spread from weight-lifting to other athletic endeavors, and today, they are used in virtually any sport whose athletes perceive a benefit.

Steroids have become especially prevalent in football, professional wrestling, track and field, swimming, and bodybuilding, where abuse is perhaps most widespread.(2) One bodybuilder indicted in Equine admitted, "to appear in the Nationals [the National Bodybuilding Championships] without using steroids would be like competing in the Miss America Contest without makeup."

Unfortunately, by taking steroids, this bodybuilder destroyed his dream of competing in the Nationals. Due to joint pain and overall weakness, he can no longer lift weights. Like many steroid abusers, he also developed permanent liver damage.

STEROID SIDE EFFECTS

Taken over a period of time, steroids can have detrimental effects on the body. Men may suffer from hypertension, sterility, female breast development, premature hair loss, infections, cysts or other problems resulting from multiple injections, and irreversible heart and/or liver damage. Studies also indicate that steroid use increases the propensity of developing cancer.

Because women, by nature, have little testosterone in their bodies, steroids pose an even greater threat to them. In addition to most of the problems noted above, women develop many masculine traits, such as increased body and facial hair and a deepened voice.(3)

Beyond the physical effects, steroids also tend to increase aggressive tendencies, resulting in the so-called "roid rage." Though athletes may benefit from some aggression, aggressive behavior brought on by steroid use can be difficult to control and can manifest itself in situations where such behavior is socially unacceptable or even dangerous. In fact, a recent study indicates that steroid use may lead to criminal or violent behavior, especially in 12- to 17-year-olds.(4) And in some instances, police officers taking steroids have used excessive force in subduing subjects.(5)

Steroids also are psychologically habit-forming. Sometimes individuals become so enamored with the extraordinary strength and weight gains that steroids bring that they never seem satisfied with their size, which is referred to as "reverse anorexia." Furthermore, individuals who stop using steroids may become extremely depressed, to the point of committing suicide.(6)

Despite steroids' negative effects, the pursuit of physical strength and perfection continues to draw many young men and women to the world of black market anabolic steroid use. A 1988 Penn State University study concluded that about 262,000 U.S. teens were experimenting with steroids. Today, studies estimate more than a million users nationwide, including 500,000 teens.(7)