New innovative tests have been developed by scientists at Queen’s University Belfast to identify the use of steroids in an illegal manner in the European beef industry, as per a study.

The new tests are not only economical but also more accurate and easier than the conventional drug tests for tracing the presence of illegal steroids in cattle.

The study appeared in the scientific journal Analytical Chemistry and was led by Professor Chris Elliot, the Director of the Institute of Agri-Food and Land Use at Queen’s.

From Sciencedaily.com:

Using a commercial blood analyser commonly found in hospitals, the researchers measured 20 different chemical markers, including proteins and cholesterol, in cattle treated with and without the commonly used steroids testosterone and oestrogen over a 42-day study period.

The new test detected the presence of the steroids with a high accuracy rate – between 91 and 96 per cent.

Professor Elliot said: “In recent years, a trend of administration of very low dose cocktails of naturally occurring hormones has made conventional forms of analysis even more problematic.

“Even if minute traces of steroids can be detected, proving definitive illegal administration under these circumstances is close to impossible.

“The ability to detect evidence of such administrations using metabolic markers would be a major scientific advance.

Professor Chris Elliot, the Director of the Institute of Agri-Food and Land Use at Queen’s said that single steroid administration means that a lowered metabolic response was generated as compared to what would have been achievable via cocktail hormone treatments that are presently abused in Europe.

Tags: doping tests, illegal drugs, oestrogen, steroids, testosterone

Posted in buy steroids, Steroid Cycles, steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids

Mark McGwire is a broken man these days, living with a conflicted soul. The name and recognition he received while playing baseball have suddenly started eluding him after he confessed using steroids during his illustratious career as a baseball slugger admired for hundreds of home runs.

McGwire insisted that his on-field performance was based on God-given talent and hand-eye coordination and not due to use of steroids.

From Sports.ESPN.Go.Com:

“It’s unfortunate I played in this era,” he said repeatedly, somehow failing to understand that he defined that era. In many ways, we’re still being played for fools.

He said his embarrassing, reputation-shrinking performance in front of Congress in 2005 was a result of his fear of putting his family, friends and teammates through the misery of the subpoena process. In the next breath, he says none of them ever knew — or even asked — whether he’d taken steroids. (Could be because they, like us, already knew.) He wanted to shield them from his “mistake.” A mistake is throwing the wrong kind of garbage in the recycling bin, not a decade-long, systematic program to use illegal drugs — undoubtedly under a doctor’s supervision — to help a baseball career.

(By the way, Costas killed. It was as though he’d been waiting for that interview for years. He knew his stuff. He brilliantly straddled the line between head-shaking disbelief and respect for his subject. He asked the right questions, struck the right tone and refrained from falling prey to McGwire’s displays of emotion.)

McGwire has always come across as conflicted, a private man in a public world. I found it telling that he said he kept nothing — presumably no ball, bat or uniform piece — as a memento of the record-breaking 1998 season. He considers it a testament to his selflessness, and maybe it is. It could also be a sign of guilt, reinforced by his decision to place a phone call to Pat Maris – Roger’s widow — Monday before his admission became public. More than anything, it is just plain sad.

Whatever may the future holds for this eminent baseball slugger, one thing that cannot be denied is that he has lost the respect that was once unique to him.

Tags: baseball, illegal drugs, Mark McGwire, steroids

Posted in buy steroids, Steroid Cycles, steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, Steroids in Baseball, Steroids in Sports

In September 2007, Richard Donoghue was caught possessing $60,000 worth of illegal drugs. During the search and investigation, police officials found various kinds of prohibited drugs including steroids. Donoghue pleaded guilty in Ontario Court of Justice to seven drug-related charges including possession and trafficking of ketamine, magic mushrooms and ecstasy.

According to federal prosecutor Mauro DiCarlo, the police was able to confiscate 150 grams of cocaine, 155 grams of ketamine, 329 ecstasy pills, 60 grams of magic mushrooms, 72 vials of liquid steroids and 100 steroid pills.

From The Peterborough Examiner:

The list of drugs and items seized during a 2007 Bruce Street drug raid was three pages long, the federal Crown said yesterday. Richard Donoghue, 36, pleaded guilty yesterday in Ontario Court of Justice to seven counts including possessing ketamine, magic mushrooms, ecstasy and steroids for the purpose of trafficking.

Mr. Justice Michael Block accepted a joint submission and sentenced Donoghue to 360 days in jail. The Sept. 5, 2007 drug raid netted almost $60,000 in drugs, police said.

Police seized 150 grams of cocaine, 155 grams of ketamine, 329 ecstasy pills, 60 grams of magic mushrooms, 72 vials of liquid steroids and 100 steroid pills, federal prosecutor Mauro DiCarlo said.

Police also seized debt lists, cash and two prohibited knives, one that was spring loaded and one attached to brass knuckles. Drugs were also found in Donoghue’s Camaro, which was also seized.

Upon his release, Donoghue will be on probation for 18 months.

Addition to the confiscated drugs, the police also found debt lists, cash and two prohibited knives. Richard Donoghue, who is now 36, was sentenced to 360 days of imprisonment. Donoghue was recently released though he will still be under probation for 18 months.

Possession, use and trade of regulated drugs such as steroids and cocaine are unlawful. Hence, person who is found guilty of selling, possession and use these controlled drugs without prescription from his doctor and proper documentation will face legal sanctions.

Tags: drugs, illegal drugs, steroid

Posted in buy steroids, Steroid Cycles, steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids

In a country that takes pride in every single detail that they do, the assault to one of its most revered sports‘ reputation is cause for panic. Having just recently been accused of fixed games, tax evasions, sex scandals, illegal gambling and consorting with the Yakuza (among other things), the Japanese are frantic to salvage whatever they can in response to the latest threat to Sumo wrestlers.

Performance enhancing drugs or steroids. Such drugs are unacceptable to the Japanese, especially when there’s a game. Not fair at all. In light of recent events (and accusations) it’s no wonder that less and less Japanese boys are eager to live their lives Sumo wrestling. Only one kid applied the previous year to join the Sumo world. At this rate, 2000 years of tradition is well on its way to extinction. And the Japanese can’t have that.

From Daily Yomiuri Online:

The executive board of the Japan Sumo Association, reeling from a series of marijuana-related arrests of wrestlers, on Friday laid down the law, specifying strict rules and penalties against such behavior.

The board also decided to implement doping tests without advance notice. Wrestlers who refuse to take a doping test without an acceptable reason will be punished. The JSA will report positive results to police.

“I believe these [rules] are comprehensive and effective. We’ll enforce them as soon as possible,” said JSA chairman Musashigawa.

Money always fixes the problem. The lack of it will definitely set things straight. To explain, JSA has declared that Sumo wrestlers caught red-handed using any kind of performance enhancing drug will be stripped away of their retirement pay. Or a very large cut to their pay. And if they still don’t give a fig about their money or pension (which is really, very rare in Japan) then let’s hope the police will set them straight. The fun part is that they won’t even see it coming. Drug tests will be done announced so when you’re caught.

Hopefully just these two rules will be enough to fix this latest problem faced by the Sumo. It would be a shame to see this long-standing tradition fade away because of a couple of drugs. And shame is something that the Japanese doesn’t handle very well. Neither does the rest of the world, for that matter.

Tags: illegal drugs, JAPAN, JSA, marijuana, steroids, Sumo wrestling

Posted in bodybuilding, steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, Steroids in Sports

In the effort to extend the anti-steroid and anti-addictive drug abuse to the youth, different cities in California have developed various drug testing programs for their student athletes. In the city of Visalia, high schools will also be subjecting their cheerleaders to the same drug tests done on sports athletes. According to a coach, the main reason is that cheerleading is a dangerous activity and that parents wouldn’t want their girls being thrown high up by a drug user. The drug policy was approved last month and plans to test 10 students weekly at each high school. The school principal would be the one who would be holding the list of positive results and she would inform the parents of these students. While the athletes or the cheerleaders can still continue participating in activities, they will be put in a guidance counseling program that would determine if they need further therapy. Unfortunately, Visalia doesn’t have the budget to test for steroid use and the program all-in-all had to be temporarily stopped due to lack of funds.

From The Fresno Bee:

In Visalia, cheerleaders were added to the eight-year-old drug-test program because of their role as high-profile students, said Lucinda Awbrey, director of student services.

“Cheerleaders are part of the athletic program. They are role models, just as athletes are,” Awbrey said.

Plus, she added, “it’s a safety issue.” No incident involving cheerleaders and drugs occurred to prompt the change.

School districts may say safety is the goal, but drug testing of high schoolers presents “a privacy problem,” said Michael Risher, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney in San Francisco.

“As the price of being a cheerleader, you have to agree to being summoned down the hall to pee in a cup,” Risher said.

But privacy rights don’t apply to high school athletes engaged in interscholastic sports, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1995. Students are minors and competitive athletics can be dangerous, so safety concerns outweigh any minimal loss of privacy, the court ruled.

A 2002 Supreme Court decision extended that to extracurricular activities of all kinds.

The city of Clovis, on the other hand, makes sure that the privacy issue is addressed by sending the results directly to the parents of those who had tested positive for drugs. Unlike Visalia, Clovis high schools also test for the use of performance enhancing drugs such as anabolic steroids.

Tags: California, cheerleaders, Clovis, high school athletes, high schools, illegal drugs, Performance enhancing drugs, steroids, substance abuse, Visalia

Posted in buy steroids, steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, Steroids in Sports

A local of Sayreville, New Jersey has been sentenced for manufacturing more than a thousand doses of anabolic steroids right in his own residences. Alfred Scarpa was found as a result of an investigation known as “Operation Raw Deal“. Federal agents were able to arrest and charge over a hundred drug dealers across the country. Last September 20, 2007, Scarpa’s house was raided and federal agents managed to seize 40,000 doses of steroids, 2 guns, and cash worth $56,000. They also found that part of his house was turned into a steroid factory and was used to produce his own stocks.

From MyCentralJersey.com:

According to a criminal complaint, they also found the hardware for a steroid lab. A centrifuge, liquid testosterone and 1.5 kilograms of raw steroid powders were among the material seized.

Those raw steroid products were converted into ingestible steroids by using oils and chemicals, Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Kirsch said.

Credit card records showed Scarpa bought items from companies that sell laboratory supplies such as filtration systems, steroid-conversion kits and other devices used to make steroid pills, Kirsch said.

Scarpa was charged with illegal possession and manufacturing of steroids with the intent to distribute them, and possession of firearms. The man pleaded guilty to everything and has now been sentenced to 33 months in prison. The authorities are waiting and expecting Scarpa to surrender himself voluntarily by March 23 to face his sentence.

Scarpa has been part of several drug distribution schemes. In 2000, he was convicted for illegal distribution of cocaine in Monmouth County. In 2003, he was arrested in Union County for distributing ketamine

Tags: Alfred Scarpa, home based steroid production, illegal drugs, New Jersey, Operation Raw Deal, Sayreville, steroid distribution, steroids

Posted in steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids

The high school athletes of Palm Beach County now don’t have to wonder how it would be like to be in the Major Leagues or in the Olympics. The school board is highly considering having their athletes tested for use of alcohol and of illegal drugs. All that is needed is the board’s final approval for the tests (similar to those district employees receive) to be randomly used on the baseball and softball teams of six high schools.

From Palm Beach Post:

The nearly $198,000 three-year pilot program, funded by a U.S. Department of Education grant, eventually would expand to more sports and all high schools. That would make it one of Florida’s largest athletic drug testing ventures.

Testing would ensure that students are safe on and off the fields and that they get treatment if needed, said Kim Williams, assistant director of the prevention center in the department of Safe Schools.

Tests to detect anabolic steroid use will be added to the program later on and had already gotten the support of Elaine Taulé, the writer of the grant and also the president of to company who would do the tests.

Students who test positive for alcohol, steroids or any illegal drugs will not be removed from the team at first. They will not be able to play for 10 days, although they would be allowed to practice. They will only be booted out of their teams when tested positive for the second time. Coaches and other officials believe that the tests would teach the students discipline and hopefully, help them in guiding these students to the right path. This seems to be working since only one athlete was found positive for steroids among the 600 samples tested last year.

Tags: alcohol, baseball, drug testing, florida, high school, illegal drugs, Palm Beach, softball, steroids

Posted in steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids

While Shane Mosley is waiting to battle it out with WBA welterweight champion Antonio Margarito on January 24, his legal team has been publicly battling it out with BALCO founder and owner Victor Conte.

Back in 2003, Mosley was one of the athletes involved with the BALCO Labs steroid scandal. Investigators reported that Mosley had received designer steroids (“the clear” and “the cream”) and was doping before his fight with Oscar De La Hoya the same year. Mosley was firm on his defense that he thought BALCO was selling him legal vitamins. Conte, on the other hand, claimed that the boxer knew he was taking steroids. Darryl Hudson, Mosley’s then-strength and conditioning coach, sided with Conte.

From Maxboxing:

But in 2007, as he prepared for a bout with Miguel Cotto, an SI.com report was published that detailed his use of two separate designer steroids and EPO prior to his bout with De La Hoya in 2003. When asked about this by Tim Smith of the New York Daily News in a story that came out on September 29, 2007 (‘Shane Mosley admits to using BALCO steroids’) he would state, “We were misled by (Conte). I guess I got the clear and the cream.”

To which Conte would respond via email, “I’ve never misled or deceived any athlete. I’ve always been a man of full disclosure.”

Then Mosley would tell Lance Pugmire of the LA Times in November of that year that his then-strength and conditioning coach Darryl Hudson had influenced him to take the BALCO products, saying to him that they would be, “icing on the cake.” It wasn’t soon after that Hudson would file a defamation suit versus Mosley.

There have been many discrepancies with Mosley’s stories, and Conte is prepared to address each and every detail that had been turned around. After all, Conte is not a novice in legal suits. He had been involved in a similar case with Marion Jones, a multi-gold medalist track and field athlete. Conte had come clean and eventually, Jones admitted to have used anabolic steroids amidst initially filing a defamation suit against Conte. Apparently, Jones’ first statement also claimed that she thought Conte had been selling her vitamins.

Mosley will be facing the court this January 15th in San Francisco, just a few days before his match.

Tags: BALCO, boxing, GNC, illegal drugs, Performance enhancing drugs, Shane Mosely, steroids, Victor Conte

Posted in steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, Steroids in Boxing

Manuel Manchado was arrested for illegal trafficking of anabolic steroids. He and six other companions were sentenced to two years imprisonment. The local magistrates have offered Manchado and 4 others the possibility of freedom if they can post a bail of 5,760 Euros.

Manchado, Mr. Universe 2003, is a Spanish body builder who runs a local gym in the Leganes area of Madrid, Spain, an internet shopping site that sells performance-enhancing drugs, and a local store that sells sporting supplements. His products were being provided by a local company called Steromax Spain. Police found an average of half a million doses of illegal products in several of Manchado’s warehouses. Manchado claims that he had a contract with Steromax and was working as a distributor of the company’s products. Among these products are three types of drugs whose sales are unauthorized in Spain. Other than unauthorized distribution of drugs, Steromax was subsequently charged for counterfeiting prescriptions and for selling supplements with no medical or pharmaceutical value, contradictory to what the company claims. The court maintains that the company poses serious health risks to their buyers.

The court has considered the possibility that Manchado and the others that were arrested are members of an organized group whose activity is to import illegal substances, and to store these products in the country for future commercialization and distribution. Manchado’s arrest, as well as the arrest of several other traders of illegal drugs, was a result of the opening two parcels containing illegal substances such as steroids and cocaine back in 2003. This operation led to the discovery of many illegal activities within the country.

Tags: illegal drugs, Mr. Universe, Performance enhancing drugs, sporting supplements, steroids, Steromax Spain

Posted in steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids

According to AP report, NASCAR is likely to start testing drivers by the third week of January under anti-doping policy.

NASCAR is implementing tougher policy for use of anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. Said policy also applies to illegal drugs and abuse of prescription medications.

Crew members, meanwhile, are required to submit results from an approved lab by Jan.16. A memo was sent to teams enumerating the prohibited compounds for which crew members must be tested. No specific guidelines were provided for drivers as NASCAR reserves the right to screen drivers for any compounds. However, according to a NASCAR’s spokesman, drivers will definitely be screened for performance-enhancing drugs.

The tougher policy was adopted partly because of former Truck Series driver Aaron Fike’s public admission that he had used heroin even on days he raced. Veteran drivers like Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick urged the association to strengthen its policy regarding the use of banned compounds.

In September this year, Ron Hornaday Jr admitted he used a testosterone cream during the 2004 and 2005 to treat a medical condition. Hornaday is suffering from Graves’ disease, a thyroid disorder characterized by goiter and exophthalmos (bulging of the eyes).

The memo, dated Dec. 8, is the first time the new policy has been laid out in writing and specifies who falls under the guidelines. Those who must be tested before Jan. 16 include: pit crew members, including “over-the-wall” crew members, the crew chief, car chief, team members responsible for tires, fuel and pit crew operation, spotters and race-day support personnel that includes engineers, engine tuners, shock specialists, chassis specialists and tire specialists.

Among the substances those participants must be tested for are:

_ Seven different amphetamines, including methamphetamine and PMA, a synthetic psychostimulant and hallucinogen.

_ Three drugs classified under ephedrine.

_ 13 different narcotics, including codeine and morphine.

_ Ten different benzodiazepines and barbituates.

_ Marijuana, cocaine, zolpidem, nitrites, chromates and drugs that can increase specific gravity.

Under the old policy, NASCAR only implemented random test based on suspicion of abuse. Under the new guidelines everyone will be tested before the season begins, and random testing will continue throughout the year. NASCAR expects to randomly test 12 to 14 individuals per series each weekend in 2009.

Tags: Aaron Fike, anabolic steroids, heroin, illegal drugs, NASCAR, Performance enhancing drugs, racing, Ron Hornaday Jr, testosterone cream

Posted in steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, Steroids in Sports