Breaking News - Steroid Dealers To Face Tougher Sentences

[Echo]

STEROID DEALERS TO FACE TOUGHER SENTENCES WITH "EMERGENCY" FEDERAL SENTENCING GUIDELINES

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

(03-29) 17:35 PST WASHINGTON (AP) --

Drug dealers, coaches or athletes who distribute steroids could now face harsher sentences after the government made an "emergency" change to its federal sentencing guidelines.


The enhanced penalties apply to defendants who sell steroids or masking agents to an athlete; and to coaches who use their positions of trust to entice athletes into using performance-enhancing drugs.


The change — made by the U.S. Sentencing Commission on a temporary basis Monday — typically would result in a 25 percent increase in sentences.


At Congress' direction, the commission bypassed the normally lengthy approval process for such a change, making what it called a "temporary, emergency amendment" so the penalties could go into effect immediately. Had it followed the usual process, that would not have happened until Nov. 1.


Commission members could decide at their April 5 meeting to make the change permanent or alter the penalties. In that case, the emergency rule would remain in place until Nov. 1.


The sentencing guidelines are advisory and provide federal judges with a complicated mathematical formula for determining punishment. The formula takes into account several factors, including a defendant's prior criminal record and the amount of drugs involved.


In 2004 and again in 2005, Congress ordered the sentencing commission to increase penalties for distribution of anabolic steroids in response to baseball's steroids scandal.


As a result, steroids are now considered a "Schedule III" drug, on par with the common painkiller Vicodin or the tranquilizer ketamine. Cocaine and heroin are considered "Schedule I" drugs.


URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2006/03/29/sports/s152942S89.DTL


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©2006 Associated Press

[Michelle Brent]

But it's ok too get uncoherently drunk and smash into somebody and end up killing a car full of people, or smoke until your lungs are so black you cough up half of them.

[advair]

But it's ok too get uncoherently drunk and smash into somebody and end up killing a car full of people, or smoke until your lungs are so black you cough up half of them.

Got that right for shure outlaw the stuff that kills 60,000 +
people a year if you wont to outlaw something when the public did not know about roids everything was ok

[Tre]

Can't catch me!


hehe

[ricard]

(2000): "The leading causes of death in 2000 were tobacco (435,000 deaths; 18.1% of total US deaths), poor diet and physical inactivity (400,000 deaths; 16.6%), and alcohol consumption (85,000 deaths; 3.5%). Other actual causes of death were microbial agents (75,000), toxic agents (55,000), motor vehicle crashes (43,000), incidents involving firearms (29,000), sexual behaviors (20,000), and illicit use of drugs (17,000)." (Note: According to a correction published by the Journal on Jan. 19, 2005, "On page 1240, in Table 2, '400,000 (16.6)' deaths for 'poor diet and physical inactivity' in 2000 should be '365,000 (15.2).' A dagger symbol should be added to 'alcohol consumption' in the body of the table and a dagger footnote should be added with 'in 1990 data, deaths from alcohol-related crashes are included in alcohol consumption deaths, but not in motor vehicle deaths. In 2000 data, 16,653 deaths from alcohol-related crashes are included in both alcohol consumption and motor vehicle death categories." Source: Journal of the American Medical Association, Jan. 19, 2005, Vol. 293, No. 3, p. 298.)

[Echo]

(2000): "The leading causes of death in 2000 were tobacco (435,000 deaths; 18.1% of total US deaths), poor diet and physical inactivity (400,000 deaths; 16.6%), and alcohol consumption (85,000 deaths; 3.5%). Other actual causes of death were microbial agents (75,000), toxic agents (55,000), motor vehicle crashes (43,000), incidents involving firearms (29,000), sexual behaviors (20,000), and illicit use of drugs (17,000)."....


Michelle and Ricard:

The use or so-called "abuse" of steroids does not, by any definition, constitute a public health problem. Nevertheless, the people we elect to public office do not seem to care. Instead, they seem intent on creating a "straw man" (the "problem" of steroids) to attack. After all, it is a lot easier to throw a few local steroid dealers in jail and ruin their future than it is to create opportunities for Americans to find affordable health insurance, or to find solutions for the myriad of real problems that exist today .