Steroid abuse among law enforcement a problem nationwide
The badge and steroids?
It's a less common association than athletes and the drug, but it's a problem nationwide, according to recent media reports.
A growing number of police officers have been caught using steroids illegally, AOL News reported.
Photo courtesy of Flickr user banspy
According to the Office of National Drug Policy, anabolic steroid use can cause increased irritability and aggression. Withdrawal symptoms include severe depression and mood swings.
Lawrence Payne, a spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration, told AOL the DEA is in the midst of an active investigation into steroids, and numerous cases they've investigated have links to police officers.
"It's a big problem, and from the number of cases, it's something we shouldn't ignore. It's not that we set out to target cops, but when we're in the middle of an active investigation into steroids, there have been quite a few cases that have led back to police officers."
According to a September story in the Kalamazoo Gazette, a 38-year old Vicksburg man admitted to illegally supplying steroids to two police officers. One of the officers resigned in May and could face a criminal charge, while the other has been charged with a felony, the story stated.
The Orlando Sentinel tells the story of an 84-year-old man who suffered a broken neck after an officer threw the man to the ground. The confrontation occurred after the man became upset when his car was towed from a grocery story parking lot. The man’s lawyer asked for the officer to submit to a drug test. The department refused, saying a test would violate the officer’s rights.
Comments
Nephilim
Sat, Jan 1, 2011 : 7:04 p.m.
http://www.prescription-drug-abuse.org/ http://www.alcoholism-statistics.com/deaths.php http://www.alcoholism-statistics.com/facts.php I'm glad the alleged abuse of steroids is more disconcerting to you than the rest of the sobering facts and I didn't even get to illegal drugs such as cocaine, meth and heroin. Keep your vigilance though alpha, maybe someday you won't have to worry about the.5 percent of the population
Nephilim
Thu, Dec 30, 2010 : 8:54 a.m.
How the world would be such a better place if only the police could live up to your expectations.
AlphaAlpha
Thu, Dec 30, 2010 : 8:24 a.m.
0.5%? The DEA site says 0.5% is an estimate from all of one study. Police are only 0.25% of the population. The very website you cite also says this: "Law Enforcement Despite the illegality of steroids without a prescription and the known dangers of steroid abuse the problem continues to grow in the law enforcement community. In Minneapolis, a police sergeant was charged for possession of steroids. He admitted to being a user of steroids. In Miami, a police officer was arrested for the purchase of human growth hormone kits (HGH) from a dealer. The dealer had also informed Federal officials that the police officer had purchased anabolic steroids from him on four other occasions. In Tampa, a police officer was sentenced to 70 months in jail for exchanging 1,000 ecstasy tablets from police custody for steroids." Police work is a privilege, not a right. Officers need to be held to a higher standard. Those found using drugs should be provided medical help.
Nephilim
Thu, Dec 30, 2010 : 1:20 a.m.
They do alpha......just not when it is a concocted witch hunt by someone with an axe to grind.
AlphaAlpha
Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 11:39 p.m.
Many people get drug tests. Why not the police as well?
Nephilim
Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 11:33 p.m.
http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/pubs/brochures/steroids/professionals/ Yea Deborah it's a HUGE problem. According to a study, approximately.5% of the population has used steroids. HUGE PROBLEM!!!!!!! Literally, huge.
Nephilim
Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 11:28 p.m.
Yea ok alpha, like to see you have to routinely give up your rights every time someone like you comes up with an irrational belief that they might be using a substance such s steroids. So easy to throw one group of people under the bus until it comes to you. You would be the first to scream I know my rights!!!!! funny how the police dont get to enjoy the same amenities. Especially the ones that try to keep themselves in shape so they can affectively save your ass so you can in turn ridicule them later. Drake, you are right on........
AlphaAlpha
Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 1:16 p.m.
So, Drake, do our police get tested for drugs? Sounds like they don't... Routine testing would, as they say, help prove their innocence, right?
Drake
Tue, Dec 28, 2010 : 9:41 a.m.
Very poor reporting.THIS is how ignorance travels and is replicated through the media.Reporting "some" facts and "Not" re reporting others.The old man was drunk and fighting the police and trying to choke the cop.That's already three strikes;plus they were toeing his vehicle legally.The cops subdued the old man and did not beat him or do anything out of the normal police procedure to place the violent offender under arrest.Why should the cop or anyone else have to submit to anything because an obvious offender says he "believes" the cop "may" be using something-where is the evidence.There is none. NO,the problem is definitely NOT with cops and steroids-that's an out right lie and the DEA Agent knows it.IF-cops handle steroids it's to resell them to the meat heads in the gyms and on the street-as any real productive DEA Agent would know.Cops don't need steroids to make them aggressive,the public does that sufficiently all by themselves.The general public better start wising up fast and start realizing that all cops aren't bad, and even a small percentage aren't bad; and that to continue to hunt for reasons to hate and destroy those sworn to protect you and your families is complete stupidity.Try learning a little something about your subject(cops,old drunk men and incompetent DEA Agents) before you try to write what you obviously don't know about -next time-before passing on more incorrect information to the public.
AlphaAlpha
Mon, Dec 27, 2010 : 7:39 p.m.
"The department refused, saying a test would violate the officers rights." What the? Is no drug testing of police officers common? And locally? They, of all people, should all be tested, and regularly.
Deborah
Mon, Dec 27, 2010 : 3:40 p.m.
"It's a big problem, and from the number of cases, it's something we shouldn't ignore. So is there some number of officers who could engage in this heinous conduct that would be ignored? Perchance could there be a dual standard of conduct for you and I and those on the thin blue line? What is the value of a militaristic approach to "community" policing. Are they an occupation force or a force for positive outcomes? I am surprised the elderly gentleman did not have more of his rights violated. Peeing in a cup is something you and assent to just by showing up at work or driving a car. Why do we not drug test ALL officers involved in ANY violence? Just as we drug test anyone who reports so much as a scratch at work we should drug test all officers involved in any violent confrontation. How many would lose their jobs in the first wave of such testing?
Bear
Mon, Dec 27, 2010 : 2:22 p.m.
police have a free pass on a lot of things. It takes a LOT to hold them accountable for their actions. They are paid to control the populace. We are the one's being controlled, we have the right to shut up and sit down or be thrown to the ground, tased, smothered or even shot. I had a friend from high school die in his late 20's from the health effects of his abuse of steroids when he was a wrestler. The price you pay isn't worth what you get out of these drugs. That's for sure.
Ron Granger
Mon, Dec 27, 2010 : 1:52 p.m.
It is amazing and bewildering that police officers are not subject to routine drug testing. They regularly confiscate narcotics without oversight, they are involved in violent confrontations, motor accidents, lethal shootings... And they are almost never drug tested. Meanwhile, a Kroger employee who knocks over some boxes with a forklift is promptly tested.