Steroids

It began last September as a raid of a nondescript supplements in Burlingame, California. From there is blossomed into a steroid scandal that has sent shock waves through sports world and all the way to the White House. The issues of stamping out performance-enhancing substances reached unprecedented heights Jan. 20th when President Bush attacked doping by sports figures in his State of the Union address. Those involved in the fight against drugs in sports hailed Bush's message. "It brings into focus that this is a pervasive and insidious problem," said Dr. Gary Wadler, an expert on other sports drugs. "It's an exclamation point to the news over the last six months." In early September, Balco and the condominium of Barry Bonds' personal trainer, Gary Anderson, were raided by law enforcement officials Ð'- including IRS agents. Balco President Victor Conte Jr. and Anderson are targets of a federal probe in which a who'sÐ'-who list of prominent athletes has been subpoenaed. Among those who have testified are Giants slugger Bond, New York Yankees first baseman Jason Giambi, swimmer Amy Van Dyken, Raiders linebacker Bill Romanowski and track starts Marion Jones and Tim Montgomey. Meanwhile, the US Anti-Doping Agency has alleged that Balco is the likely source of THG, a previously undetected steroid. Five track and field athletes and four Raiders have tested positive for THG. There has been a drumbeat of reports about athletes being caught using a performance-enhancing drugs in recent months. Underscoring the problem was the November announcement by Major League Baseball Ð'- which often has been criticized for its weak drug policy Ð'- that between 5 and 7 percent of its players tested positive for steroids. All of this apparently persuaded Bush, a former owner or baseball's Texas Rangers, to address the issue. He reminded sports figures that they are role models, and he called on athletes, owners, league administrators and union officials to enact more stringent drug policies. "The use of performance-enhancing drugs like steroids in baseball, football and other sports is dangerous, and it sends the wrong message: that there are shortcuts to accomplishment and that performance is more important then character," Bush said. Frank Uryasz, president of The National Center for Drug Free Sport, said it was impossible to underestimate the effect of Bush making prominent mention of the issue. "It would be wonderful if the president didn't have to speak about this," Uryasz said, "but in the long run, this is going to do a lot of good." Frank Shorter, USADA's founding chairman and the 1972