Anabolic Steroids Experiences

Police Bust 'Steroid Guru' Bruce Kneller In Massachusetts on Steroid and Firearm Charges



CANTON -- A multi-agency investigation yielded the seizure of more than 100,000 suspected steroid pills from a man who is called the "Steroid Guru" for his numerous writings on the topic.

Bruce Kneller, 37, of 735 Randolph Street in Canton, was arraigned Tuesday morning in Stoughton District court on drug distribution and weapons charges. The investigation was a joint venture by the U.S. Postal Inspectors, Massachusetts state police, the FDA and the Canton police department.

Kneller pleaded not guilty in Stoughton District Court Tuesday morning. He was charged with possession with intent to distribute steroids, ten counts of unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, and violating a Drug Free School Zone.

Kneller is expected to make a $25,000 bail.

Kneller's writings on the benefits of performance-enhancing substances are widely available via the Internet. Investigators allege Kneller was making the pills himself and then distributing them.

The trial of a German track coach accused of supplying performance-enhancing drugs has uncovered evidence indicating that gene doping may already be a reality in sports.

E-mails seized in the investigation of Thomas Springstein contained references to Repoxygen, a substance normally used in gene therapy. Gene doping, which is banned in sports, involves transferring genes directly into human cells to blend into an athlete's own DNA in order to enhance muscle growth and increase strength or endurance.

Springstein, a 47-year-old who has worked with some of Germany's top runners, is on trial in the eastern city of Magdeburg on charges including the alleged doping of young athletes in 2003. The trial took an unexpected twist this week when the court was read e-mails found when police raided Springstein's home in search of evidence.

In one e-mail, Springstein complained that the "new Repoxygen is hard to get. Please give me new instructions soon so that I can order the product before Christmas." Repoxygen is designed for gene
therapy on patients with anemia. It can boost an athlete's performance by inducing the release of erythropoietin, or EPO, a substance that stimulates the production of red blood cells to carry more oxygen to the muscles.

The International Olympic Committee and World Anti-Doping Agency already test for synthetic EPO. But there is no known test for Repoxygen, which gives the body the gene to stimulate EPO production on its own. Until now, most experts have said they didn't believe gene doping was yet in practice, suggesting it could be a threat by the time of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Source: theglobeandmail.com (2nd February 2006)

PS: The use of drugs in many sports is widespread, and gene doping is the latest "trick" that athletes will use to give themselves an edge over their competition. When they fail a drugs test, many cheating athletes have falsely blamed contaminated supplements. In future they won't have to blame anything as gene doping is very hard to test for, if not impossible, and they're very unlikely to get caught! Have the drug testers lost the fight against the cheats?

According the NIDA Website Anabolic Steroids are dangerous. I won´t discuss this point; I only state that steroid abuse can be dangerous. Improper use of any substance can be risky. But many other pharmaceutical compounds as muscle relaxers, tranquilizers, anti-depressants are missused and abused everyday in the United States without any demonization or advice, at least.

NIDA says:

"The Congressional hearings on March 17th, 2005 about the reports of anabolic steroid abuse by professional athletes, many of whom are regarded as role models by young people, highlight the fact that we are now facing a very damaging message that is becoming pervasive in our society - that bigger is better, and being the best is more important than how you get there.

There is great risk that adolescents will be vulnerable to these messages about anabolic steroids and will be far less concerned about the long-term health risks to their bodies and their minds.

These drugs are Controlled Substances that can be prescribed to treat conditions such as body wasting in patients with AIDS, and other diseases that occur when the body produces abnormally low amounts of testosterone.

Abuse of anabolic steroids differs from the abuse of other illicit substances because the initial use of anabolic steroids is not driven by the immediate euphoria that accompanies most drugs of abuse, such as cocaine, heroin, and marijuana, but by the desire of the abuser to change their appearance and performance, characteristics of great importance to adolescents.

NIDA has supported and will continue to support research that increases our understanding of the impact of steroid abuse and improves our ability to prevent abuse of these drugs.

For example, NIDA funding led to the development of two highly effective programs that not only prevent anabolic steroid abuse among male and female high school athletes, but also promote other healthy behaviors and attitudes."

According The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Hypocrisy is the practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness. Do you know that the most common actual causes of death in the United States were tobacco (435,000), poor diet and physical inactivity (400,000), alcohol consumption (85,000), microbial agents (e.g., influenza and pneumonia, 75,000), toxic agents (e.g., pollutants and asbestos, 55,000), motor vehicle accidents (43,000), firearms (29,000), sexual behavior (20,000) and illicit use of drugs (17,000). (data extracted from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=6971 Can´t you see hypocrisy here?

As Turin Olympics approach, Pointe Claire lab detects 'designer' drug in half-dozen samples, some of which originated at competition out West.

Canadian athletes have tested positive for a new designer steroid discovered in a half- dozen urine samples sent to a lab in Pointe Claire.

"Definitely, Canada will have to answer questions," said Dr. Christiane Ayotte, director of the World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited lab.

"I detected it in some athletes in routine testing. I found it in a total of five (or) six samples."

The samples are numbered and not named, but Ayotte knows some of the positives came from a batch originating at a competition in Western Canada involving only Canadian athletes.

Is the country that was rocked by the Ben Johnson stanozolol scandal at the 1988 Olympics on the verge of another steroid disgrace?

"I don't know," said WADA president Richard Pound, a former Olympian based in Montreal. "I hope not."

The substance Ayotte discovered, but has yet to fully identify, is only the latest in a line of so-called "designer" steroids that are all the rage in doping. Pound said anti-doping officials have identified other designer steroids and chosen not to go public. In March, for example, the Washington Post contracted the WADA-accredited lab in Los Angeles to examine six dietary supplements available on the Internet. The lab revealed they were actually steroids.

Ayotte is certain the raw materials in designer steroids come from China and are manufactured into pill form in the U.S. by people with skill in organic chemistry.

Slight chemical alterations to existing steroids can create a new generation that is virtually undetectable.

"And there are thousands of ways to do that," said Dr. Don Catlin, who heads the lab in Los Angeles.

Still, every time someone like Ayotte or Catlin finds a new steroid and it's added to the

WADA banned list, the anti-doping side gains a little ground. It is a serious cat-and-mouse game with no end in sight.

"We know about a lot of designer steroids," Pound said. "We have tests for it. We're not going to say which ones, because we have to strike a balance. Do you put the word out so the smart guys stop taking it and go on to designer steroid 'x' instead of 'w,' or do you catch somebody with a big splash like we did in Salt Lake?"

Just before the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, Catlin's lab developed a test for darbepoietin, a new generation of erythropoietin, a substance that boosts red blood cell production and therefore increases endurance. One Spanish male and two Russian female cross-country skiers tested positive for it near the end of the Games and were forced to return the medals they won. Canadian Beckie Scott was eventually upgraded from bronze to gold after finishing behind the two Russians in the 15-kilometre pursuit.

With word getting around that the anti-doping police are getting smarter, how will the cheaters respond? Will 1,200 tests at the Turin Olympics next month turn up more or fewer than the seven positives that came out of 825 tests conducted at Salt Lake City?

"We won't know until we test, but clearly, people have to know we're getting better and better at testing and the chances of getting caught are better," Pound said.

"We know people try to beat the tests by stuffing a balloon with other people's urine up their ass. We know about that and we're able to find it. So the room to maneuver is quite a lot less. We've got a test for EPO. We'll get better at (human growth hormone)."

Ayotte wasn't even looking for the specific steroid she found, but an odd peak showed up in a profile during analysis of urine samples with a gas spectrometer. Working backward from such a discovery can take months. Ayotte is finally close to announcing the chemical composition of the new designer steroid and confirming the positive tests, which is good news for anti-doping crusaders.

It's a bit of a hollow victory, however, because Ayotte is certain the new steroid has already been "burned" or pulled out of circulation because the dopers know a test for it is already in place or close at hand.

"It has been burned. But it has been used," Ayotte said.