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Report: Internet provides easy access to steroids
Nov. 3, 2005
CBS SportsLine.com wire reports




WASHINGTON -- Any teen with a computer and an e-mail address can obtain anabolic steroids and distributors face little chance of being caught, congressional investigators said in a report issued Thursday.

The Government Accountability Office study found the Internet makes it easy for mainly overseas distributors to avoid detection. And for those who are caught, the penalties are much lighter than for many other illegal drugs.

The report was released as the Zero Tolerance Roundtable, which brings together professional, college and high school athletic representatives, advocacy groups and parents of steroid victims, held its second meeting to address the growing problem of steroid use by young people.

The roundtable was formed by the House Government Reform Committee, chaired by Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va. He and ranking Democrat Henry Waxman of California requested the GAO study.

"Dangerous and illegal steroids are just a mouse click away," Waxman said. "Parents, teachers, and coaches are on the front lines in the fight against steroid abuse, and they need to know that young athletes and other youth have such easy access to these harmful substances."

Steroids build muscle but also can lead to heart attacks, strokes, cancer, sterility and mood swings. The use of most steroids without a doctor's prescription has been illegal since 1991.

Accusations of steroid use among major league baseball players spurred congressional interest this year. Davis, Waxman and other lawmakers say stringent testing is needed in pro sports leagues to ensure a level playing field and to show teens that performance-enhancing drugs aren't a way to a pro sports career.

Sens. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., and John McCain, R-Ariz., are sponsoring legislation calling for a two-year suspension of an athlete who fails a steroids test for the first time and a lifetime ban for a second offense. Athletes would be tested at least five times a year.

House bills with similar testing minimums and punishments have been proposed, including the Clean Sports Act of 2005 authored by Davis, whose panel held a March hearing with baseball stars Rafael Palmeiro and Mark McGwire and baseball officials including Commissioner Bud Selig.

The GAO report found there are hundreds of Web sites offering anabolic steroids. The anonymity of the Internet makes dealers difficult to find.

"Internet sites can be installed, moved, or removed easily and quickly, making it difficult for law enforcement agencies to identify, track, monitor, or shut them down," the report said.

Investigators looking into steroid sales placed and paid for 22 online orders using fictitious personal information. They received 10 shipments of steroids, all from outside the United States.

Law enforcement officials interviewed for the report said the foreign origin of the steroids makes them hard to track and noted that the Internet also makes it easy to market the drugs to young people.

Federal sentencing guidelines provide lighter penalties for steroid dealers. For example, someone convicted of selling 40,000 pills of an anabolic steroid faces only up to six months in jail while someone selling 40,000 pills of certain other controlled substances could get up to 41 months.

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