The war on steroids is rapidly shifting into its next phase. After almost a decade targeting steroids in sports, the media has recognized that steroid fatigue has created considerable apathy towards doping by athletes. The witch-hunt against athletes on steroids is winding down with the highly celebrated government investigations targeting Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Lance Armstrong reaching their conclusions this year. The media has sensed the steroid fatigue among the general public and has started a new witch-hunt targeting cops on steroids. When the media starts creating hysteria about steroids, politicians and government investigators inevitably sense an opportunity to grandstand and possibly advance their careers.
The “investigative reporters” at the Star-Ledger did an exposé on cops that “blew the lid off the hidden world of steroid use and fraud among law enforcement officers across New Jersey.” Who were the cops that were recklessly using these performance-enhancing drugs? They were adults, primarily in their 30s and 40s, who were prescribed testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) by their doctor(s).
Everyone knows that purchasing anabolic steroids on the black market for bodybuilding is illegal. However, it appears that going to your doctor and being prescribed testosterone therapeutically for TRT is sometimes treated as a criminal activity (at least if you are a first responder). It’s not only the media that is treating TRT patients as criminals, it seems that the federal government is joining in on the act too.
Federal prosecutors have issued a subpoena seeking the names of hundreds of law enforcement officers and firefighters who obtained anabolic steroids through an unscrupulous Jersey City doctor, part of a wider criminal probe targeting physicians who improperly prescribe the drugs.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark served the subpoena on the New York State Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, which collects data from pharmacies on every prescription they fill for steroids and other controlled dangerous substances, according to two law enforcement officials with knowledge of the investigation.
The drugs were shipped to the officers and firefighters in New Jersey from a pharmacy in Brooklyn.
It is unlikely that any law enforcement personnel will be prosecuted by the feds but the fact that the government feels it necessary to investigation TRT prescriptions should raise some eyebrows.
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