My letter to a Congressman

[J DUB]

Mr. Duncan,

While watching both the MLB and NFL Congressional Steroid Hearings, I have been disturbed at the appalling amount of unscientific, totally unsubstantiated evidence presented at these hearings.

For example, in speaking to Mr. Tagliabue on April 27 you made reference to Lee Hazelton, a former boxer who claims that steroid use caused him to lose his legs. You also indirectly referred to the case of Taylor Hooten, a high school athlete who tragically committed suicide, supposedly as a consequence of steroid use.

While these are both unfortunate cases, there is absolutely no scientific data to support these claims. These are two anecdotal cases which serve no purpose in a hearing which should be guided by scientific evidence and solid logic. These emotive claims, while compelling, do nothing to help us as a nation to evaluate the efficacy of prohibiting steroid use. There is no more proof that steroids caused Lee Hazelton to lose his legs or Taylor Hooten to commit suicide than there is for Big Macs doing the same. The fact that Lee Hazelton lost his legs and that Taylor Hooten committed suicide after using anabolic steroids is by no means sufficient evidence for establishing causality, which is what yourself and others have basically done.

In fact, the scientific data linking steroid use to liver cancer, tumors, and aggression is also very deficient, and no competent researcher could even come close to saying that there is a cause-effect relationship between steroids and any of these side-effects. A simple review of the scientific literature will in fact show that in the last ten years, there have been a substantial amount of studies conducted to show that steroid use has little if any side effects in healthy subjects. I would be more than glad to provide such data if needed.

The inclusion of Dr. Linn Goldberg into these hearings is also disheartening. This is a researcher who has been criticized by fellow academics as being an unethical researcher, and his actions certainly meet these claims. He is only out to benefit himself, as all he wants is more funding for his ATLAS program, which is supposed to deter kids from steroid use. He derives statistics from who knows where in an effort to get people like yourself to give him more money for his program. If you really believe that nine year old girls are using steroids, then I have some swampland in Siberia to sell you. This is simply absurd, and I would like to examine his research methodology, which I am sure is not only deficient, but also extremely biased.

I also have a problem with professional sports dictating our nation's laws. The overwhelming majority of steroid users are 25-35 years old, and are only doing so to enhance their appearance and well-being. How many pro athletes have been arrested as a result of steroid prohibition? NONE. How many normal, hard-working men with a wife and kids have been arrested and had their lives ruined as a result of using steroids for personal enhancement? HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS. This is no different than a woman going to a plastic surgeon and getting a breast augmentation, or even a woman receiving testosterone injections to transform herself into a man. It is quite funny how a woman can legally receive testosterone to change her appearance, but a grown man cannot do the same.

I think the big question here is what exactly are you trying to legislate? If it is athletes, let the professional organizations deal with this issue with their own penalties. Why is there a need for steroids to be a controlled substance? Even the DEA did not support their inclusion into this act. Normal citizens should not be caught in a dragnet that was developed to protect the "integrity" of professional sports.

I must say I have lost a lot of confidence in America's politicians to effectively solve important issues. If this anecdotal, unscientific evidence is the norm in these hearings, then no wonder we ended up in Iraq on account of faulty intelligence data. You have to examine what people say very closely, and this has not happened with the steroid issue, and nor did it happen before the war in Iraq.

Well, if you made it this far I thank you very much for your time. While steroids should not be allowed in sports, to prosecute normal citizens for their use is unjustifiable and hypocritical. If you are interested in reading more about the legal history of steroids and also facts about their use, I would suggest reading "Legal Muscle" by Rick Collins, JD. He is a New York attorney who specializes in steroid law. I would be more than glad to overnight my copy to you if you are interested.

[Parasite]

Nice job.

[smoker]

I request permission to plagerize and send to my congressmen.

[J DUB]

Go ahead. I am going to write a few more congressmen, esp. those involved in these hearings, but this guy just really pissed me off. Tom Davis (VA) will certainly get one, as he is the baffoon behind all of this. Unless your congressman is involved in these hearings, however, I doubt it will do much good.

[tee]

Nice article.

[Deacon]

I also want to forward this to my reps - and I would love to hear their answers if there are any

[callmekido]

Can I send a copy to my girlfriend??


Awsome read, thank you for putting in the time. We all appreciate it.


Kido

[mxim]

great job. i would have added that Baseball stadiums all over the country inundate us with promotions for alcohol. if they are so worried about the children,i would think advertisements for alcolhol would be banned from baseball stadiums. should Mickey Mantle be removed from the hall of fame because he was an alcoholic? he used alcohol during the season.he even died as a result of his alcohol abuse,his liver failed> this is why laws are broke,fewllow citizens have absolutely no respect for those that write these hypocritical laws.

[panabolic]

Great Letter! I don't live in the States, but I would strongly advise that everyone forward a copy to their respective congressman. We need to be heard!

[MEATHEAD99]

Another thing that may be worth adding is that when they collect many of the statistics about young teens using steroids they don’t specify exactly what they took. They just give you the statistics of how many teens have said they actually used steroids. When actually asked what types of steroids young teens took they often reply with things like ephedrine or nitro-tech, or met-rx, or NOZ or various other pro-hormones or body building supplements. Most have no idea what a steroid is and think that when they are taking Eas Betagen HP they are on steroids. This totally distorts the statistics and makes the problem look much larger and news worthy for the press and people who want to write more strict laws.

[J DUB]

Exactly, a better approach would be to have the teenager name the compound that he or she took, like "deca", "winstrol", etc.

A buddy of mine got suspended in high school for 180 days for selling "The Beast", the worthless crap in muscle mags. At the time, it was assumed that this was "steroids."