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Congressional Hearings on Steroids: Is this an efficent use of Congress' Time

By Sam Esan

Introduction

In November 2007, Gallup conducted a survey of the top ten issues on the American public's priority list. [1] The list was based on "an analysis of open-ended responses to questions asking Americans to name the top priorities for the government and to name the most important problem facing the nation today, plus a series of additional questions in which Americans rate the priorities of the issues and concerns facing the nation today." [2] The survey showed the top five issues on American minds in ascending order being Iraq, terrorism and national security, the economy, energy and illegal immigration. [3] Each of them are relevant considering current news clippings, however steroid use in Major League Baseball did not make the top ten. [4] If this does not appear to be a concern for the American public, then why does it seem that our representatives in Congress are so keen on finding a cure to a problem that is not pressing? This paper will inquire into the legislative branch?s interest in steroids, if the steroid issue is of any real concern, and most importantly, why it is a congressional priority compared to the issues that Americans really care about.

Steroids: A Brief Introduction & Congressional Concern

Anabolic Steroids also known as anabolic androgenic steroids are "synthetic substances related to the male sex hormones, called androgens." [5] "They promote the growth of skeletal muscle (anabolic effects) and the development of male sexual characteristics (androgenic effects) in both males and females." [6] Steroids have been used by the medical community to treat conditions such as "delayed puberty, impotence, and body wasting in patients with AIDS and other diseases." [7] Body builders and weight lifters were the first ones to begin abusing steroids and other athletes soon followed suit. [8]

According the United States Sentencing Commission Steroid Report of 2006, ?[c]ongressional concern is not just about steroid misuse by major league sports professionals but also the trickledown effects that such use has on amateur athletes, notably teenagers. Another congressional concern that has emerged recently is the availability of steroids (and other performance enhancing substances) for purchase over the Internet.? [9] Senator Joseph Biden stated that the Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 2004 was passed to ?address the abuse of steroids by athletes and, especially, by youngsters and teenagers. [10] However, congressional interest in regulating steroids dates back to Anti Drug Abuse Act of 1988. [11] The Act changed the penalty for the illegal distribution of steroids from a misdemeanor to a felony. [12] Prior to the 1988 Act, steroids were federally regulated as prescriptive drugs where their unauthorized sale represented misbranding, a misdemeanor, under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. [13] In 1988, Representative William Hughes introduced an amendment to the Omnibus Drug Initiative Act of 1988 in the House, proposing that the distribution of steroids become a felony. [14] He cited the increased use amongst high school and college athletes as part of the change. [15] After passing the House and with a few amendments including doubled penalties for distribution to minors proposed by Senator Joseph Biden, the bill emerged as "The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988" and was duly signed into law shortly thereafter. [16]

Congressional hearings involving athletes can be traced back to the 101st Congress. [17] Carl Lewis, a track and field sprinter, was invited to testify before Congress shortly before he awarded the gold medal in 100 meter dash in the 1988 summer olympic games. [18] Shortly after these hearings, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary conducted hearings called "Steroids in Amateur and Professional Sports: The Medical and Social Costs of Steroid Abuse." [19] The Senate invited numerous professional athletes and coaches to testify at the time including Marty Schottenheimer, Joe Paterno and Chuck Knoll. [20] In the hearings, the witnesses testified about the rampant use of steroids in the National Football League. [21] In response, Senator Biden introduced "The Steroid Trafficking Act of 1989" which further increased penalties for steroid trafficking to an equal footing with cocaine and heroin. [22] This legislation did not however make it out of committee. [23] Congress was however successfully able to pass the Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 1990 shortly thereafter. [24]

The steroid discussion resurfaced in 2003 when allegations of rampant use of steroids in Major League Baseball emerged with the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) grand jury. Major League players including Barry Bonds, Gary Sheffield and Jason Giambi were called to testify in front of the San Francisco grand jury. [25] Congress once again began investigating steroid use, but this time focusing on baseball. The resulting legislation was the Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 2004, Pub. L. No. 108-358, which added a laundry list of substances to the banned list and most importantly, included funding for education programs for elementary and secondary schools. [26] In February, 2008, Congress continued its steroid investigation with testimony from Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee and there appears to be no end in sight on the matter.

The continued congressional interest in steroid regulation is likely due to the notion that children that look up to the athletes being implicated in steroid scandals may be of the impression that in order to excel in their chosen sport, they may need to use steroids as well. It is worthwhile to note however that in a National Institute on Drug Abuse report, among 8th, 10th and 12th graders, steroid use among all three grades, remained unchanged from 2005 to 2006. [27] The specific numbers for lifetime use were at 1.6% of all 8th graders, 1.8% of all 10th graders and 2.7% of all 12th graders. [28] In contrast, marijuana use among the same demographic lifetime in 2005 was 16.5% for 8th graders, 34.1% for 10th graders, and 44.8% for 12th graders. [29] Yet, even these astounding numbers (for marijuana and not steroid use) did not break the top ten issues on American minds this election year.

Current American Concerns

With all the steroid talk in the press, an average person would be convinced that it was the main issue on American minds. However, as previously stated, it does not even crack our top ten issues list. [30] The question then becomes why does it appear that our representatives in government are disinclined to address the issues that concern us? The fact of the matter is of the over 200 House and 150 Senate hearings available on the United States Government Printing Office ("GPO Access") website for the 110th Congress, which does not include all of them [31], very few have anything to do with steroids, baseball, or even sports in general. [32] In fact, based on a cursory review of GPO Access, it appears that most of the issues on American minds per the Gallup survey are very prevalent in Congress. [33] Further, while C-Span (the public service channel that airs proceedings of the House and Senate) is available on most basic cable network plans, at best, its viewership is likely insignificant, on par with public access television. [34] All for-profit advertising media, like any other service based industry or even any business at all, are driven by consumer demand, and if consumer demand requires knowledge on sports, then that is what the media will report. A House hearing on Budgeting for War Costs [35] or a Senate hearing on The Plight of Iraqi Refugees [36] is unlikely to gleam the level of interest that Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee throwing steroid accusations back and forth would generate in the news.

Conclusion

The average American has real concerns with the possibility of a recession looming and the trillions of dollars being spent to finance the Iraq war. Congress has the same concerns, however, the legislative body's duty is to address all issues that impact their constituents, and society at large. Congress has a vested interest in regulating the manufacture and distribution of steroids, not just because of the harmful effects that their abuse can cause, but the fact that when the athletes that children look up to have been reported to have used them, the children are more likely to be curious in both negative and positive ways about steroids. While Congress does have a vested interest in regulating steroids, the only reason why the issue is in the public eye to a large extent is because the media are in the business of reporting what people want to hear. This is by no means however; a reflection on the job that our elected representatives in Congress are doing and a little time invested in research will support this conclusion.

[1] The People's Priorities: Gallup's Top 10, http://www.gallup.com/poll/102526/Peoples-Priorities-Gallups-Top.aspx (last visited Mar. 3, 2008).

[2] Id.

[3] Id.

[4] Id.

[5] Anabolic Steroids: What are Anabolic Steroids?, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF DRUG ABUSE, http://teens.drugabuse.gov/drnida/drnida_ster1.asp (last visited Mar. 3, 2008).

[6] Anabolic Steroid Abuse, Medicinet.com,  http://www.medicinenet.com/anabolic_steroid_abuse/article.htm (last visited Mar. 3, 2008).

[7] Anabolic Steroids, supra note 5.

[8] Anabolic Steroid Abuse, supra note 6.

[9] 2006 Steroid Report, UNITED STATES SENTENCING COMMISSION, http://www.ussc.gov/USSCsteroidsreport-0306.pdf. (last visited Mar. 3, 2008).

[10] Id.

[11] Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1998, Pub.L.No. 100-690, 102 Stat. 4181 (amended 1990).

[12] Steroid Report, supra, note 9.

[13] Id.

[14] Id.

[15] Id.

[16] Id.

[17] Id.

[18] See Tim Layden and Don Yaeger, Playing Favorites?, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, April 21, 2003, available at http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_online/scorecard/news/2003/04/15/sc/ (last visited Mar. 3, 2008).

[19] Steroid Report, supra note 9.

[20] Id.

[21] Id. It is worthy to note that these hearings, conducted 19 years ago, are very similar to the current hearings being conducted into Major League Baseball.

[22] Steroid Report, supra note 9.

[23] Id.

[24] Id.

[25] Foxnews.com, Timeline: Steroids and Baseball, http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,316730,00.html (last visited Mar. 5, 2008).

[26] Id.

[27] Infofacts: Steroids (Anabolic-Androgenic), NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE, http://www.drugabuse.gov/Infofacts/Steroids.html (last visited Mar. 5, 2008).

[28] Id.

[29] Infofacts: Marijuana, NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE, http://www.drugabuse.gov/infofacts/marijuana.html (last visited Mar. 5, 2008).

[30] Gallup supra note 1.

[31] The GPO Access website specifically states that the hearings available online are the electronic hearings of the 110th Congress and they continue to add them as they become available electronically. The website further states that only hearings released from the GPO committees are  made available to  GPO Access. This likely means that the list of hearings above stated is unlikely to be complete. See http://www.gpoaccess.gov/chearings/index.html (last visited Mar. 5, 2008).

[32] Catalog of House Hearings, GPO ACCESS, http://www.gpoaccess.gov/chearings/110hcat1.html; Catalog of Senate Hearings, GPO ACCESS http://www.gpoaccess.gov/chearings/110scat1.html.

[33] Id.

[34] Budgeting for War Costs: Hearing Before H. Comm. on the Budget, 110th Cong. 1 (2007), available at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_house_hearings&docid=f:32737.wais.

[35] The Plight of Iraqi Refugees: Hearing Before the S. Comm. on the Judiciary, 110th Cong. 1 (2007), available at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_senate_hearings&docid=f:33563.wais.

Full post as published by The Journal of the Business Law Society on March 06, 2008 (boomark / email).