Link to the petition.
The classic term for the U.S. government has always been “big brother”, but perhaps it’s time to call them “Mom and Dad” amidst another dictating bill introduced by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Senator Orin Hatch (R-UT). Senate Bill (SB) 3431 “the Designer Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 2012” is a bill designed to halt the manufacture and sale of supplements known as prohormones (PH) and also gives the Attorney General “Mom and Dad authority” over your right to purchase certain supplements he/she deems Prohormones – some that may not even exist yet.
Before I tear apart the wrongs of the Senators Whitehouse and Hatch’s introduced bill, I would like to share the statements made by Senator Whitehouse on the bill.
“… I am pleased to join Senator Hatch in introducing the bipartisan Designer Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 2012. This measure will help keep American children and families safe from dangerous designer drugs that masquerade as healthy dietary supplements. This legislation is based on Senator Specter’s work in the previous Congress, and I thank him for his leadership on this issue.
Doctors and scientists have long recognized the health hazards of non-medical use of anabolic steroids. For that reason, Congress has previously acted to ensure that these drugs are listed as controlled substances. Nonetheless, according to investigative reporting and Congressional testimony, a loophole in current law allows for designer anabolic steroids to easily be found on the Internet, in gyms, and even in retail stores.
Designer steroids are produced by reverse engineering existing illegal steroids and then slightly modifying the chemical composition, so that the resulting product is not on the Drug Enforcement Administration’s, DEA, list of controlled substances. When taken by consumers, designer steroids can cause serious medical consequences, including liver injury and increased risk of heart attack and stroke. They may also lead to psychological effects such as aggression, hostility, and addiction.
These designer products can be even more dangerous than traditional steroids because they are often untested, produced from overseas raw materials, and manufactured without quality controls. As one witness testified at a Crime Subcommittee hearing in the last Congress, ‘all it takes to cash in on the storefront steroid craze is a credit card to import raw products from China or India where most of the raw ingredients come from, the ability to pour powders into a bottle or pill and a printer to create shiny, glossy labels.’
The unscrupulous actors responsible for manufacturing and selling these products often market them with misleading and inaccurate labels. That can cause consumers who are looking for a healthy supplement-not just elite athletes, but also high school students, law enforcement personnel, and mainstream Americans-to be deceived into taking these dangerous products.
Loopholes in existing law allow these dangerous designer steroids to evade regulation. Under current law, in order to classify new substances as steroids, the DEA must complete a burdensome and time-consuming series of chemical and pharmacological testing. As a DEA official testified before Congress: ‘in the time that it takes DEA to administratively schedule an anabolic steroid used in a dietary supplement product, several new products can enter the market to take the place of those products.”
The Designer Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 2012 would quickly protect consumers from these dangerous products. First, it would immediately place 27 known designer anabolic steroids on the list of controlled substances. Second, it would grant the DEA authority to temporarily schedule new designer steroids on the controlled substances list, so that if bad actors develop new variations, these products can be removed from the market. Third, it would create new penalties for importing, manufacturing, or distributing anabolic steroids [sic] under false labels.
Senator Hatch and I have worked closely with a range of consumer and industry organizations to ensure that this legislation would not interfere with consumers’ access to legitimate dietary supplements. I am pleased that the measure has been endorsed by the United States Anti-Doping Agency, the Alliance for Natural Health, the Council for Responsible Nutrition, the American Herbal Products Association, the Natural Products Association, the Consumer Health Products Association, and the United Natural Products Alliance.
I thank these organizations for their support, and look forward to working with them, with Senator Hatch, and with colleagues from both sides of the aisle to enact this common sense measure into law.”
Effective products – 4-chloro products such as Halodrol, Promagnon and their clones, 11 OXO and clones, Epitest and its clones, etc… These are just a few of the compounds that will be added to the schedule III. These compounds are known for adding muscle mass, reducing body fat and helping increase strength. It is also known that these compounds may have side effects such as hypertension, elevated Cholesterol and depending on the product, may have liver toxicity. Most manufactures of Prohormones list on the label and websites to consult a Physician before using the product. These same manufactures also list on labels and their web site the possible side effects and interactions with other medications.
First off, Senator Whitehouse remarks “this measure will help keep American children and families safe from dangerous designer drugs that masquerade as healthy dietary supplements.” If this is your true concern, then regulate it through enforcement that all prohormone manufactures, distributers and sales inform of the products side effects (most already do!). No need to take the option away from healthy “free will” adults. Second, given that most manufactures and storefronts do inform of this, how in the world is it that prohormones “masquerade as healthy dietary supplements”? Most seem pretty upfront to me! Furthermore, the ingredients are listed on the bottle. A simple keyword of the ingredients will bring up an enormous number of websites and blogs explaining exactly what the ingredients are. This also nullifies Senator Whitehouse’s statement (paragraph 5 of his statement above) “The unscrupulous actors responsible for manufacturing and selling these products often market them with misleading and inaccurate labels. That can cause consumers who are looking for a healthy supplement-not just elite athletes, but also high school students, law enforcement personnel, and mainstream Americans-to be deceived into taking these dangerous products.” Again, how can this be when most manufactures are labeling and warning… Go after only those that do not warn of side effects or list ingredients.
Now let’s look at the side effects of prohormones. For this, I ask you to compare prohormones to alcohol. Senator Whitehouse lists the side effects as “liver injury and increased risk of heart attack and stroke. They may also lead to psychological effects such as aggression, hostility, and addiction.” Now let’s compare to the side effects of alcohol addiction as the first and most obvious, aggression and hostility, weight gain, high blood pressure, depressed immune system, cancer, liver disease or damage, alcohol poisoning, heart failure. To be quite honest, I know people who attended Alcohol Anonymous (AA) meetings, and according to them everyone they know is in there for Alcohol or Narcotics addiction, no known PH users or even steroid for that fact. Additionally, let’s point out that Senator Whitehouse lists addiction as a “may” making it evident that there is no positive conclusion to that. I also know people who have used PH’s and have not had a need to continuously run them, so with breaks in between, that negates the addiction part! At what point do “we the people” begin to realize that this is the “prohibition” starting all over again? Furthermore I ask this, how many people have you heard of killed in a prohormone and driving accident? Alcohol is far more dangerous than a prohormone I’ve ever heard of.
In Senators Whitehouse and Hatch’s defense, they are probably not really about this, but doing what is in the best interest of some of their campaign investors (needs of the campaign finance before the needs of the people). The recommendation for this law comes from “the United States Anti-Doping Agency, the Alliance for Natural Health, the Council for Responsible Nutrition, the American Herbal Products Association, the Natural Products Association, the Consumer Health Products Association, and the United Natural Products Alliance.” If you check out their organizations, they are loaded with… You guessed it, Pharmaceutical and big herbal corporations as sponsors (members) – aka “Lobbyists” with a personal interest in getting a cornered market and to further peddle questionable ingredients such as maca root, tribulus terrestris and other unproven ingredients that have no in vivo testing to support their claims. Truth is, if you were to list prohormone ingredients – maca and tribulus would have to be added because the lacking in vivo data means we don’t know if there are side effects and places American children and families safe from unknown drugs.
Again, if this were a bill to regulate the sale and use such as a standard for notifying consumers of the side effects and ensuring that consumers are of a proper age, I would not oppose this. Fact is they are trying to tell us what we can and can’t do in places that should not be their concern. Anyone else tired of it? I know I was born to a mom and a dad – I don’t need another set now as an adult, nor do I need the politicians that work for me acting as my mom and dad. Politicians are representatives and it seems that notion escapes them from time to time. It often takes a movement of some kind to remind them of that. If you enjoy the use of prohormones, sign the petition. If you are indifferent to the use of prohormones, sign the petition to demonstrate how sick you are of Congress overstepping. Reeling congress in has to start somewhere; this is as good a topic as any.
The link to the petition is at the top of the page. I ask everyone who reads this to pass it on to friends and family for support. It costs nothing to sign the petition and it can be done in less than a minute. Let’s let congress know they are now interfering in our rights. Additionally a template has been added to submit to your local Congressman and/or Senator. Please copy and paste, fill in the blanks and send to your Representatives.
Link to find your Congressman
Link to find your Senators
” The Honorable Congressman/Senator__________________________
I express concern for the Designer Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 2012 (SB 3431). I am not in support of this bill or any similar bill that would remove the rights of personal choice similar to the Prohibition of 1920 – 1933. As a citizen and a constituent, I ask that you vote not in favor of SB 3431 the Designer Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 2012 or any bill similar. The evidence presented in favor of the bill is greatly inaccurate and based on conjecture. Furthermore there are far more dangerous compounds available such as alcohol and history shows us the results when that was removed from the will of citizens. I thank you for your service to the United States of America and to our community.
v/r
Your Name”
