Norwegian right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik on May 25 in Oslo during a court recess. (Fredrik Varfjell/AFP/GettyImages)

Breivik “took one capsule” at around noon at a dose about 50 percent stronger than what is approved under European Union regulations, Moerland told the court, according to Norway’s TV2. There were also traces of anabolic steroids in Breivik’s system, he added.

Moerland said large doses of ephedrine could lead to temporary psychosis or confusion as it can mimic the effects of amphetamine.

Anabolic steroids may have factored into the 33-year-old’s aggressive behavior, Moerland said. There have been numerous studies that correlate steroid usage with increased aggression and violence, with media reports coining the term “roid rage” to describe the side effect.

Breivik in his longwinded manifesto described that he used anabolic steroids for several weeks before the massacre and also admitted to using ECA stacks, TV2 reported.

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/expert-says-norway-killer-took-stimulants-steroids-245492.html

Daily News Editor – Jennings, LA

Approximately $30,000 worth of powder and liquid testosterone was confiscated by the Jennings Police Department (JPD) Wednesday in a bust that marked the largest steroid seizure in the department’s history.

One kilo of powder testosterone was seized in the largest steroid bust in JPD history. The drugs were valued at $25,000 and could have been manufactured into approximately 250 vials of liquid steroids.

Chase Benoit, 24, of Koll Road in Hathaway was arrested as the suspected ring leader of the steroid manufacturing operation. He was booked in to the city jail on charges of possession with intent to distribute a Schedule III narcotic.

Ventura’s Ortiz (29-3-2, 22 knockouts) appeared Wednesday at Staples Center to promote his June 23 replacement fight against Riverside’s Josesito Lopez (29-4, 17 KOs) and said he’s suspected Berto has used performance-enhancing drugs since their April 2011 fight of the year.

Andre Berto, left, delivers a punch to the face of Carlos Quintana during a fight in 2010. Victor Ortiz says he suspects Berto was taking performance-enhancing drugs when he fought Berto last year. (Cristobal Herrera / Sun Sentinel / April 12, 2010)

The bout was a classic, with both men knocked down en route to an Ortiz victory by decision, but Ortiz said he was irked by Berto’s saying afterward that Ortiz must have used performance-enhancing drugs to beat him.

“My whole thing is [Berto] saying that if I can take a beating like that for 12 rounds and still win … he made the conclusion that I was on steroids,” Ortiz said. “I thought, ‘You know, why would he say that? Maybe he’s on something.’ “

Ortiz said his speculation grew when he saw a shirtless Berto at a recent commercial shoot.

“I said, ‘He’s on something,’ ” Ortiz said. “Steroids are a bad thing, but you know, I didn’t care. I was still willing to fight him. I’m not mad at him. He didn’t deserve the fight, and now he’s not getting it.”

The test was gathered by the new Voluntary Anti-Doping Assn., run in Las Vegas by former Nevada boxing figure Margaret Goodman.

Ortiz promoter Richard Schaefer,  chief executive of Golden Boy Promotions, said he was unwilling to wait for Berto to exhaust his appeal to  the California State Athletic Commission.

“Waiting was no fun,” said Ortiz, who ran the Los Angeles Marathon and some triathlons since his layoff dating to a September fourth-round knockout loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. “I could’ve had two fights in the time I’ve waited for this one.”

The June 23 card, with tickets ranging from $50 to $250, also includes a junior-welterweight bout between Lucas Matthysse and former lightweight champion Humberto Soto, and  a heavyweight bout featuring Riverside’s Cris Arreola, who’s angling for a fall date against heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko.

Ortiz said he still harbors some ill will toward the way Mayweather knocked him out in the seconds after referee Joe Cortez’s signal to resume after Ortiz had head-butted Mayweather in the mouth.

“I lost my title, but there was no honor in that,” Ortiz said.

Now he faces Lopez, a 28-year-old Rubidoux High grad who’s spent time in gyms since the age of 8, toiling at Southern California promoter Ken Thompson’s shows mostly in the Inland Empire.

Lopez was given a significant stage on the Mayweather-Ortiz undercard, and most ringside observers differed with the judges who gave Mayweather protege Jessie Vargas a victory by decision that night.

Lopez shone as a skilled, smart boxer, and now he has what Ortiz’s manager referred to as his “Rocky moment,” stepping in to the main event at Staples, where Ortiz was upset by Marcos Maidana in 2009.

“These kinds of fights are the most dangerous,” Ortiz said. “He has nothing to lose.”

Lopez said he was at home watching an Angels game on television when he got the call that he was being considered for Ortiz, scrapping a June 22 date he had set at Soboba Casino in Hemet.

“I know going in that I have to win nine or 10 rounds to win the decision,” Lopez said. “I have to be on top of my game, but I have the will. I had a tough road through this sport. I never had a manager, still don’t. I haven’t been babied in this sport. I was a small, nerdy kid growing up, and I proved myself. I deserved this shot.

“And when I step into the ring, it will show.”

Lopez said he will prove he can punch just as hard as Ortiz.

“We’ll see,” Ortiz said.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-boxing-ortiz-staples-20120523,0,6516978.story

In his recent interview, Khan said, “Anyone who has been done for drugs should be banned for life. Peterson failed a test and that should be his punishment. If for any reason Peterson is not suspended people will want to see him  fight again and there will be commercial pressure for it to happen. But he was a threat to my life and a threat to his own life. As a professional boxer he must have known the dangers of what he was putting in his body. If not then his trainer (Barry Hunter) should have known better. But I’m hoping they ban him. Then by the time he comes back it would be pointless me facing him again because I will moved on way beyond where he will be.”

Khan will be taking on Danny Garcia soon after his rematch against Peterson was cancelled lately. Khan was scheduled to take on Peterson on June 9 at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas. However, since Peterson was tested positive for having a banned substance in his body, the match was cancelled.

Khan, who was highly excited for the rematch, was disappointed over the news. Even though Peterson claimed that he was unaware of the fact that the drugs prescribed by his doctor were banned, Khan is still upset with him. Khan is no mood to forgive Peterson. Instead, the British-Pakistani boxer wants Peterson banned so that others are not encouraged to follow the practice.

Khan said that an example needs to made of Peterson to make sure no one else follows the practice. According to Khan, Peterson lost the biggest purse of his life of $1.5 million and he would be having sleepless nights now. Khan added that people would have remembered Peterson as a legend in Washington but now he has lost his respect.

Khan lastly said that he is proud of himself for not using such stuff ever.

http://blogs.bettor.com/Amir-Khan-believes-Lamont-Peterson-should-be-banned-from-Boxing-Boxing-News-a158321

Baer was quick to point out that all they have had were discussions and that nothing was actually imminent.

Baer said to the San Francisco Chronicle,

“He approached us about doing something in an official capacity in the organization. We had a cordial conversation. Right now, there are no plans.”

The Chronicle says that Bonds is interested in being an instructor ad possibly with helping the team make improvements during Spring Training.

There is reportedly some controversy over a reported 10 year personal services clause in his contract which pays his personal charity, Bonds Family Foundation, $100,000 annually but the San Francisco Chronicle noted the team’s ownership will have the final call on his personal services clause because of “the magnitude of the hire and person.”

Bonds was a seven-time NL MVP, eight-time Gold Glove winner and 14-time All-Star. He played 15 of his 22 major league seasons with the Giants. Bonds last played in the majors in 2007 with the Giants, hitting .276 with 28 homers, 66 RBIs and an NL-best .480 on-base percentage. It was during the final season of his career that he hit home run number 762 which made his the all time leader in the history books.

Bonds is better known for the scandals that he was involved in that ended his career.  Bonds has been accused of using anabolic steroids during most of his stint with the Giants. In December, he was sentenced to two years of probation, 250 hours of community service and 30 days of home confinement for misleading grand jurors in the BALCO steroid trial.

Three packages from Thailand containing 1.6 litres of a steroid were allegedly intercepted on March 13 by Customs officials.

NSW Police identified one of the intended recipients as an alleged Comanchero member.

On Tuesday, officers raided three premises at Liverpool and Mt Pritchard, in Sydney’s southwest, and seized two bottles of a liquid believed to be a steroid.

Other restricted substances, cash, empty vials, computers and importation documents were also seized during the raids.

Police arrested the 32-year-old man and a 35-year-old woman who were charged with multiple counts of importing steroids and possessing a restricted substance.

They were both granted conditional bail to appear at Campbelltown Local Court on June 19.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8475853

Don

To Cheat or Not to Cheat

This story appears in the June 4, 2012 issue of Sports Illustrated. Buy the digital version of the magazine here.

The 1994 Fort Myers Miracle, a Class A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, included four pitchers of similar attributes. They each threw righthanded, with average velocity, and were either 23 or 24 years old and had been drafted out of four-year colleges in no higher than the fourth round. All would become good friends as they shared the torturous bus rides and even worse food through multiple rungs on the minor league ladder. All clutched the little boy’s dream of becoming a big leaguer. Only one of them made it. Only one of them used steroids. Only one of them considered taking his own life. Only one of them harbors enormous regret. The big leaguer, the juicer, the near suicide and the shamed are one and the same.

Dan Naulty, now a pastor, overcame a vicious cycle of steroids, heavy drinking and suicidal thoughts to become one of the few players in the Mitchell Report to own up to PED use.

This is a story about the real cost of steroids in baseball — not the broken records, not the litigation, not the talk-show drone about the elite players who juiced and how to weigh their Hall of Fame candidacy. This is a story about the hundreds, even thousands, of anonymous ballplayers whose careers and lives were changed by a temptation that defined an era. It is also a story about the secrets we keep and the casualties we create when we allow the corrupt to go unspoken — especially when the corrupt is something far more horrific than steroids.

A JAVELIN thrower has been suspended from competing after being charged with committing anti-doping rule violations.

Seaham athlete Ian Burns has been provisionally suspended from taking part in competitions while an investigation is carried out by UK Anti-Doping.

Ian Burns of Gateshead in action during the Mens Javelin Final during the AVIVA UK Championships & World Trials at the Alexander Stadium on July 11, 2009 in Birmingham, England.

The suspension was announced last week and relates to alleged possession and use of a number of prohibited substances.

The 34-year-old, who competes for Gateshead, now has the right to respond to the charge in the form of an appeal and full hearing of the case.

A UK Athletics spokeswoman said: “The provisional suspension, issued by UK Anti-Doping, came into effect on May 19, 2012 and relates to the possession and use of a number of prohibited substances.

“The athlete now has the opportunity to respond to the charge against him, including the right to a full hearing of the case.”

Burns’s best throw is 69.57m, compared with British record holder Steve Backley, who smashed the record 20 years ago with 91.46m.

A spokesman for Gateshead Harriers said the club only discovered Burns, who was ranked 84th in Britain last year, was under investigation “a few days ago”.

He added the club is unable to comment until the investigation has been completed.

UK Anti-Doping is an independent body responsible for all anti-doping programmes and the management of violations and disciplinary issues in the UK.

As part of the rules, athletes are often randomly tested for illegal substances.

They are asked to provide samples in pots labelled A and B, which are sent to be tested anonymously.

Pot B remains unopened unless an athlete tests positive and an appeal is launched.

They can then request a new test is carried out on the second pot.

Depending on the outcome, athletes are given time to appeal against the decision, which is then heard before a board before a final decision is made.

http://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/local/all-news/javelin-thrower-on-doping-charge-1-4594245

While allegations of steroid sales to high school-aged athletes were made by a federal prosecutor shortly after Mansa, 47, of Bethel, and three other co-defendants were indicted in February 2011, little information about the allegations has surfaced since then.

Mansa, who pleaded guilty in December to one count of conspiracy to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana, is expected to be sentenced on the charge in U.S. District Court in Hartford on Friday.

As part of his plea agreement, charges that Mansa sold steroids were dropped.

“Follow-up investigation confirmed that Mansa’s steroid customers included a nationally ranked competitive bodybuilder and a college athlete,” states a sentencing memorandum filed by a federal prosecutor this week. “Both of these individuals admitted that their steroid relationships with Mansa were longstanding.

“Sadly, the college-aged individual admitted that he had first purchased steroids from Mansa while he was in high school,” the document states.

While the memorandum does not identify the student, previous court records have indicated that the bodybuilder is Philip “PJ” Braun, a former Danbury resident who is facing drug possession charges.

Those charges are to be dropped, however, if Braun completes a drug education program that was granted by state court officials in September.

The sentencing memorandum portrays Mansa as a man with “a brazen disregard for the health and safety of the community,” noting that the Bethel resident would often conduct hand-to-hand drug transactions in public venues as part of his daily errands.

The document describes one transaction in which Mansa purchased about 20 pounds of marijuana from a supplier one weekend afternoon in the parking lot of a Danbury area restaurant.

Much of the memorandum is in stark contrast to a similar document filed this week by Mansa’s attorney, Peter Schaffer of Stamford.

In arguing for a 37-month prison sentence, the minimum for which Mansa is eligible, Schaffer argues that his client has been addicted to drugs since 1980, and that his abuse of steroids led to the sales.

The defense document adds that Mansa is a devoted son, a beloved father and “an active volunteer in youth sports in the community.”

Mansa has been involved with local youth sports organizations, including Bethel Youth Football and the Bethel Youth Wrestling Club.

One aspect of the case that is markedly missing from the government’s memorandum were allegations that surfaced early in the case about Mansa’s alleged ties to local law enforcement.

A federal prosecutor stated in open court that Mansa had connections to at least three area police departments that helped him thwart investigators efforts to infiltrate the drug ring.

The newly released document also downplays Mansa’s role in the drug ring.

While previous statements and court documents indicated the Mansa was the leader, the government’s sentencing memorandum states “the record shows an equivalence of authority.”

Brookfield resident Glen Wagner, 49, plead guilty to a conspiracy to distribute marijuana charge in March and is scheduled to be sentenced on July 17.

Richard Sciacchetano, 63, a Stuart, Fla., plead guilty to a conspiracy charge in January and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 14.

Kevin Lubic, 49, of Salem, NY, the fourth man indicted in the case, is scheduled to go to trial in December.

Mansa is the only member of the drug ring that authorities allege also sold steroids.

Dorn, 20, from Sydney, is part of a thriving amateur bodybuilding subculture that uses anabolic steroids and growth hormones as a fast-track to the ultimate ”ripped” body.

While the drugs are heavily restricted in Australia by laws that are among the strictest in the world, Dorn – and hundreds like him – have discovered a novel way around the problem: they travel to Thailand on ”steroid vacations”.

A Fairfax Media investigation has found that rather than risk prosecution in Australia, everyday gym users are travelling to Asia and ”stacking” a dangerous cocktail of steroids that include powerful veterinary drugs and fertility medicine.

While police in Australia warn of a growing trade in performance and image-enhancing drugs, health experts say the products can cause life-threatening heart and liver damage and other illnesses.

But in Thailand, price is part of the allure: during a two-week investigation, this reporter visited Bangkok and Pattaya pharmacies that sell some steroid brands for 10 times less than what they fetch on the Australian black market.

The rise of the steroid holiday was highlighted last year when Australia’s number one amateur bodybuilding celebrity, Aziz ”Zyzz” Shavershian, died of an ”undiagnosed” heart condition in a Bangkok sauna while on holiday.

Numerous Australians in Thailand told of how they were buying and consuming their steroids overseas rather than end up with a criminal record at home.

In 2006, bodybuilder John Hurlock was arrested and charged at his Townsville home for smuggling steroids into Australia. But Hurlock fled the country before he could be prosecuted. Today he lives in exile in central Bangkok, where he buys the same drugs over the counter at the chemist.

”I ordered steroids online and the second time I did so, the Queensland cops came crashing through my door with sniffer dogs. I find that crazy,” Hurlock told Fairfax Media. Each week, he ”cycles”, which involves using a combination of deca durabolin, testosterone cypionate and trenbolone, a powerful horse drug that is widely considered the best anabolic steroid on the black market, but also the worst for side effects.

”Why should I not be able to take it, as and when I want?” Hurlock asks. ”I’m not hurting anybody and, as an older bloke, these drugs have particular benefits. The deca works wonders for my joints and shoulder injuries.”

Hurlock, however, is quick to criticise young users: ”They are arriving here en masse and you can spot them a mile off. They’re like kids in candy stores. They get so dosed up, they leave here looking like giant water bombs with acne. Vanity is destroying them before they’ve even hit adulthood.”

Hurlock is referring to Australians like Dorn. When Fairfax Media met him in Pattaya, Dorn was bulking up on his latest ”roid vacation”.

Michael Dorn in Pattaya, Thailand on his latest 'roid vacation'. Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/steroid-vacations-a-dangerous-rage-for-the-ripped-20120526-1zbto.html#ixzz1wGOBrTPF

”Anything I want, everything that could potentially land me in hot water back in Australia, is freely available over the counter here in chemists, no questions asked,” says Dorn. ”I take the steroids, I train and party in paradise and then I go home.”

He believes Australians would be surprised to learn how many young people are flying to Thailand mainly to take steroids.

”I don’t use in Australia, and wouldn’t even know where to get it because I don’t need the trouble. I’m happy doing it here where nobody bothers me,” he says.

A hormone expert at Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital, Katherine Samaras, said in poor countries, ”anything can be bought for a song, whether it’s people, sex, or anabolic steroids”.

She warns that, aside from triggering ”behavioural issues”, steroid abuse causes ”irreversible damage” to the heart, liver and body, including ”long-term testicular wasting”.

”Stupid people do stupid things,” she says. ”If people want to flout laws that are designed to protect them and head to poor lawless countries to destroy their bodies, there’s only so much you can do.”

According to the latest Australian Crime Commission statistics, there were 5561 border detections of ”performance and image-enhancing drugs” in the last financial year, a 106 per cent increase on the previous year. More than 90 per cent of the seizures were postal orders from internet sites in countries such as the US, Hong Kong, China and Thailand, where legislation is more relaxed.

In Australia, performance and image-enhancing drugs are only legally available through tightly monitored prescriptions on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Used to stimulate bone growth and appetite, they are occasionally prescribed to short children. They are also given to people suffering from chronic wasting conditions such as cancer and AIDS. But illegal importers face maximum penalties of $110,000 or five years’ jail.

Michael Dorn says he has never suffered side effects. But one of Australia’s leading endocrinologists, Ken Ho, warns that users are unknowingly inducing a ”profound state of testosterone deficiency”.

”The body regulates the production of testosterone to a level which optimises health,” Professor Ho says. ”If those levels exceed what is ideal, there are internal biological mechanisms to control that. So when people load their bodies with huge amounts, the body senses there is too much and turns off its own factory.” Once that happens, ”health goes down the gurgler”.

”It becomes a form of addiction,” Professor Ho says. ”This is what’s happening on these trips. This is what’s happening in gyms across Australia … There is no smart way to take these drugs. It’s a shady business.”