New Jersey lawmakers are seeking to beef up efforts to prevent steroid abuse, introducing what may be the nation’s first law requiring police and firefighters to be examined by a doctor before they can be prescribed anabolic steroids or human growth hormone.
Assemblyman John McKeon, who authored the bill, said in a news release that the legislation would combat an abuse that has been costly to state taxplayers. He said they have been “wrongly paying for millions of dollars in insurance costs for prescriptions that were, in many cases, issued illegally.”
Another potentially precedent-setting measure, also introduced by McKeon Monday, urges the state attorney general’s office to implement random steroid drug testing for law enforcement and firefighters. Under existing policies, law enforcement agencies may request testing for steroids and designer drugs, but they rarely do.
A series by The Star-Ledger newspaper of Newark, N.J., recently revealed widespread steroid abuse in police and fire departments. In one case, at least 248 officers and firefighters reportedly obtained prescriptions for steroids from a single Jersey City doctor.
A particular concern is that steroid-using police officers will be overly aggressive, perhaps fueled by “’roid rage.” Larry Gaines, chairman of the Department of Criminal Justice at California State University, San Bernardino, told Reuters he didn’t think that sort of aggression is a common problem. But, he added, “If it does occur, you could see lawsuits against police departments regarding citizens injured from steroid rage.”
The state legislature also is considering a bill that establishes measures to deter the use of steroids and performance-enhancing supplements among middle school and high school students.
If my house was on fire I would want the fireman who is juiced to be the one rescuing my sorry ass.