New Jersey Cops and Firefighters on Roids

[Yachirobi]

Read the article and see pictures here.

I'm of two minds about this story.

On the one hand, hearing that a large number of New Jersey police officers and firefighters broke the law by getting prescriptions for steroids and HGH is not good news. They used taxpayer money to get these drugs and, especially with the cops, they violated the principals they're supposed to stand for.

I'm also saddened that the man who administered these drugs, Dr. Joseph Colao, died from a hardening of his arteries, a symptom of steroid abuse.

On the other hand, I can't help but get a thrill thinking about how there's a bunch of muscled up cops and firemen in N.J. It's wrong but I can't help it. It's hot. Too bad they didn't get their good looks the natural way.

You can really see it in Dr. Colao. They mention that his jaw became noticably harder before his death and the pics show a remarkable transformation without showing a single pec or bicep. Just based on his face alone you can see that the man got markedly hunkier after juicing up. But were the good looks and big muscles worth his life?

[Stoneman]

Yes they were.

[musqlure]

I just can't get that excited about illegal steroid use. But I sure as hell can get excited by the photos of that musclestud cop!

[xythan_shadow]

One thing that article didn't mention is why said groups went to steroids. A lot of the time, it's not just for their egos, but in some cases, they take the steroids in order to do their job better.

I think it was Bigger, Faster, Stronger that had an interview with some cops who admitted taking steroids mainly because they thought they needed the extra strength to be able to handle people they engaged with on the streets. These beat cops cited the fact that they encounter several people who are drugged up, drunk, and resistant to the normal methods of subdual. Having that extra strength sometimes meant the difference between them holding someone down and that same person overpowering them.

Lets also not forget that being big adds that level of physical intimidation which, combined with a well fitting uniform, can go a long way to difuse a situation.

While I don't agree with the insurance fraud part, I personally believe that steroids should be studied, then made legal for us.

/end rant

[CelticMuscle]

Originally Posted by xythan_shadow

One thing that article didn't mention is why said groups went to steroids. A lot of the time, it's not just for their egos, but in some cases, they take the steroids in order to do their job better.

As members know, I am a very strong support of natural bodybuilding, but Xythan has hit the nail on the head here. In the UK, several firemen have been told to either gain 30lbs of muscle or resign from the fire service because the average weight of people in their area has increased by 10% - 15%. So on one hand we are telling people to gain muscle or lose their jobs, and on the other hand we are telling them not to use artifical means. You can't have it both ways.

[mewletter]

That's both tragic and ridiculous. Getting fired for not gaining the required weight? In the Army here, your rank will be in jeopardy if you hit a certain over BMI index. I never knew the drug abuse is getting much worse in USA than I thought. I assume many US politicans are mostly on drugs too, whether it's prescribed or illegal.

[wolfotehmoon]

"Face hardening" is more likely attributable to HGH use than to straight steroid use. That said, while I sympathize with the firefighters, whose jobs are all about saving people and have little potential for abuse [and therefore anything (healthy) that they do to add strength I would support wholeheartedly], I'm finding it hard to feel for the cops. The latter's job is to defuse situations; they should be focusing on learning methods to bring an end to conflict with as little conflict as possible (learning how to talk people down, learning martial arts that will allow them to incapacitate a criminal with as little injury to either party as possible, etc), not necessarily bolstering the tools with which abuse could occur. They're only humans, and with human beings, sans proper training, have weapon = use weapon.

And I don't think anyone's mentioned the irony of people who are supposed to uphold the law breaking it...

[Minotaur]

Originally Posted by xythan_shadow

While I don't agree with the insurance fraud part, I personally believe that steroids should be studied, then made legal for us.

/end rant

^ This. I believe in a modified version of the Wiccan Rede: "An it harm none [other], do as ye will."

[suma]

yeah it's interesting that speaking most recently we have had 2 well known cops that are certainly shooting the juice, Ronnie Coleman and Derek Poundstone.

[redwolf64]

It's probably not that uncommon and you may see more of it as departments cut budgets - fewer police means only one cop to handle a situation where they might otherwise be two. (The city of Camden, NJ, recently cut their police force by half and the department told the public that they can only respond to high priority violent crime.)

There was a similar bust in my state a few years ago in Lexington, NC. I've noticed that it seems like you see more big muscled cops than you used to around the state.

There's also been reports of steroid use and abuse among our troops in the Middle East and the security firms working there. That might be part of the uptick as these guys come back and start working in related fields here in the states.

[Mubypoeby]

Thanks Donny You too, mate. Woo New year and all of that