When it comes to steroid law and the defense of those who break it the majority of attorneys are not going to be up to speed. Regardless of how good an attorney is in court, where he received his education or how many cases he’s successfully defended, in most cases most attorneys have very little experience defending anabolic steroid violators. The reason is simple, steroid law is not something a great amount of focus is put on and the vast majority of people derive their education on the matter from media hysteria and this includes most attorneys. For this reason, in most cases violators of anabolic steroid law are treated in the same light as other Schedule III drug offenders and this can be very damaging to the offender in a disastrous way.
If you are even slightly familiar with anabolic steroids then you already understand their relationship with other Schedule III drugs is non-existent; there is not correlation. Just as important and perhaps more importantly is the difference between anabolic steroid users and other Schedule III drug partakers in-terms of reasons for possession and overall behavior. By the wording of the law anabolic steroid users are deemed no different than any Schedule III drug user and thereby defense often mimics such an action; again, this often proves to be horrific in-terms of the end result.
Perhaps the most important translation of this problem was given by Rick Collins J.D. before the United States Sentencing Commission in 2005, where Mr. Collins not only showed the error of the laws ways but completely dismantled every presumption made. Mr. Collins, one of the few knowledgeable and apt steroid attorneys in the U.S. started by stating “There is a stark contrast between the profiles , motivations, and patterns of possession and use of illicit steroid users” and further shown how imperative it is this is not ignored. His case for the matter at hand was given strength to this end as he stated:
“They are not stimulants, depressants or hallucinogens. By contrast, the person who uses crack buys it, smokes it, and gets high from that dose. When he wants to get high again, he buys more. The behavior is largely the same with marijuana, LSD, cocaine, and all other controlled substances, including all other Schedule III drugs. Not so with steroid users. Because they seek long-range effects, not an immediate high, their habits are very different from narcotics abusers. Most steroid users plan out – typically memorialized in writing – a cycle of use lasting weeks or months. The plan will typically involve the use of several different drugs in a sometimes elaborate system of methodically planned dosages.”
Mr. Collins would further question the legitimacy of the law as it is read, by which the Controlled Substances Act completely misrepresented the hormone Testosterone; a hormone found and produced naturally in all living human beings. As we can see from his statements and we have only touched on a few Mr. Collins showed anabolic steroids were inappropriately labeled as it pertains to the Schedule III nature and the sentencing for violations within. This is something you will find most defense attorneys do not understand as they have either not taken the time to fully understand anabolic steroids or in many cases they simply do not care due to an already prejudicial view.
When it comes to anabolic steroids and those who violate anabolic steroid laws the truth is fairly simple; these individuals are for all intense purposes law abiding citizens and individuals who not only live very healthy lives but ones who like all good people are after and within a constant state of self-improvement. This is something that must be taken into consideration when one finds themselves confronted by the law when such violations exists but unfortunately it is often left in the waste bin of truth when it could have been a very formidable weapon.
If one finds themselves in trouble for anabolic steroid violations only an attorney such as Mr. Collins is going to be able to represent them fully; it’s fairly simple, if one does not truly understand the issue how can they defend it? The lack of understanding can be only one factor; it is important to remember anabolic steroids have been largely demonized on a highly emotional level and if your defense attorney is one who lives in this emotional state, as many do, then your end result may not be as large of a concern for him.
As can be seen in many of the other steroid law sections of steroid.com anabolic steroid laws are by-in-large lacking in logic choosing to first rely on emotion and for the individual who is found in violation of such laws for the outcome of his predicament to be met with success he must possess a defense that understands this fact. A proper and quality defense will be able to speak to the emotions already set by the prosecution and judge but he will be able to do so by presenting logic based on facts that
