Earlier this week we at SteroidTimes.com witnessed the largest steroid bust, in terms of people, since Operation Raw Deal, the 2007 bust that netted 143 arrests. This time, it was called Operation Farmacia de Juicy Phruit, and there were 73 arrest warrants issued, with the majority of them being served, and those people placed into custody. We also saw the truth firmly locked away during various statements made by the agents involved with the case.
Zoran Yankovich, an agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, compared the suspects to drug dealers who distribute cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine, saying: “Those arrested today are no different than traditional drug dealers, peddling their poison on the street corner.”
Right, except you can’t overdose on testosterone like you can overdose – and die – from those other drugs. Also, the analogy breaks down when you look at the statistics on anabolic steroid users, from a study conducted in 2007: “The typical user was a Caucasian, highly-educated, gainfully employed professional approximately 30 years of age, who was earning an above-average income…” I can only assume that this is not the profile we’d see for a methamphetamine user, a herion addict, or habitual cocaine user. And it should be noted that Texas is the primary entry point for cocaine & heroin to enter the United States through vehicles. Statistically, if we were to look at any of these three drugs – heroin, cocaine, or methamphetamine – and compare them with anabolic steroids, a decade of steroid statistics (deaths, emergency room visits, etc…) wouldn’t add up to a single day of any of the other drugs. Abuse statistics are also very low compared to other drugs – between 1% and 6% of athletes are thought to use anabolic steroids, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. In 1994, 0.5 percent of the adult population, said that they had used anabolic steroids, as reported by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. Compare those statistic with the statistics on other drugs:
Furthermore, this position, taken up by this DEA agent is confusing, since, in the late ’80s, the DEA testified before Congress, in opposition to making these drugs scheduled substances, during the anabolic steroid control hearings.
Ironically, this two year investigation into steroids, was conducted in a county in Texas notorious for its cocaine problem.
US Attorney Tim Johnson told us that “The bottom line is, Richmond, Rosenberg, Sugar Land and all of Fort Bend County is a safer place today,” but this too breaks down when you examine the details. One of the men taken off the street was a medal of valor winning firefighter – are the streets safer with him in jail? I’m forced to wonder if the people he saved from burning buildings would have any moral objection to his using anabolic steroids when he saved them? Given the choice between a company of steroid using firefighters coming to save me and my family from a burning building, or a totally clean company, I know which one I’d choose.
Among others taken off the streets in this drug bust, ostensibly under the guise of making them safer, was Chase Bank Manager Jeremy “Cop killer” Canton and St. Catherine’s Hospital radiology supervisor Victor “nun raper” Broussard. Think I’m kidding? The official statements made by law enforcement officials aren’t much better.
“Today, this clandestined service has been completely dismantled,” Fort Bend County Sheriff Milton WrightWright said. He then saw fit to add that “while steroids don’t have a reputation as being terribly harmful, there are a lot of broken homes and people who have been hurt” because of their side effects. Broken homes? Again, checking the statistics of the average steroid user, this doesn’t seem accurate. Divorce rates for steorid users hover around 9% – far lower than the nation’s average. If anything, the reality is that using steroids is more highly correlated with working marriages, not broken homes.
“The steroids in some cases cause pain and other problems which the vicodin and Viagra is necessary to counteract,” alleged Wright. Of course, he’s wrong. Steroids don’t cause pain, in and of themselves, and they have been widely studied as treatment for sexual impotence – so again, these two statements are indicative of a lack of understanding about the drugs in question.
Zoran Yankovich, also said the investigation began with a complaint of steroid use in local gyms. Again, this is completely false. This investigation started with Operation Raw Deal, and that much is revealed in numerous official documents. It’s amazing that Agent Yankovich would try to represent this bust as a case of good old fashioned detective work, when the reality is that every single court document indicates that it stemmed out of the GeneScience/Jintropin bust(s) that happened during Operation Raw Deal.
The misrepresented facts about anabolic steroids given directly from law enforcement officials to the media are blatent enough to make this writer question whether they are out of ignorance, stupidity, or malice – luckily I’m jaded enough to realize it’s all three.
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Anthony Roberts is the author of numerous books and articles, both online and off, dealing with all areas of performance enhancing drugs. Additionally he has worked as a coach, trainer, consultant, and nutritional supplement designer. His forthcoming book is Generation S, and slated for release in the Fall of 2009. 