Steroids are an easy buy, By: Brian Ettkin

February 28, 2007

I'd never browsed the Internet for steroids before, so I thought they'd be hard to find.

It took six seconds. I type slowly.

I found one Web site selling steroids ... then another ... and another. Within minutes I discovered dozens of online suppliers, with extensive product lists. If I wanted deca durabolin, I could have deca durabolin; if I desired testosterone, it was mine for the injecting. Sustanon, nandrolone, anabol, whatever my vice, how nice.

Anybody, including children, with computer access -- and a credit card, cash, check or money order -- may buy illegal performance enhancers online.

"It's as easy as going to GNC, it's that easy," a former pro athlete who purchased performance enhancers on the Internet when he played said, on the condition he would not be identified. "You can get stuff sent right to the Times Union building in three days, or less."

Know what would be the hardest part about buying steroids for this column?

Explaining my need for human growth hormone on an expense report.

Because federal authorities lacked the resources and for so long the desire to pursue and prosecute steroids cases (in part because the penalties for convictions are light under federal sentencing guidelines), the Internet has been a bustling black market for performance enhancers.

Tuesday's raid of an Internet-based Orlando pharmacy -- first reported by the Times Union's Brendan Lyons -- and the arrests made as a result of a yearlong investigation into Internet drug sales headed by Albany County District Attorney David Soares' office probably won't change that. But it's a warning shot to those who illegally produce, prescribe and buy steroids through the Internet that, by golly, we may from time to time enforce the laws you've been flouting.

It astonishes how brazen these Internet drug suppliers are. Good luck finding street drugs such as heroin or crack for sale on a Web site, but you can buy steroids as easily as you'd order a sweater from an online catalog.

The former athlete said he bought performance enhancers online 10 to 15 times in his career. He'd find a site advertising "hormone replacement therapy." Or he'd trawl a bodybuilding message board, post several times to become accepted into its drug community to find a reliable source, choose from the source's e-mailed price list of products, follow payment instructions, and then "sit back and wait."

He said he got scammed several times, but because buying online was much more discreet than finding a drug dealer through his gym, he preferred buying online and joked, "I should've gotten a computer five years ago."

I'm an online drug-shopping novice. Fortunately one of the companies posts diagrams on how to inject oneself with steroids.

Another company posts a top 10 list of its most popular performance enhancers -- a New York Times best-seller list with flex appeal.

And yet another company posts this among its frequently asked questions: "Is it legal to purchase your products?"

A: "It depends. Laws are different in every country. For instance, for our United States customers, some of (sic) products are legal to purchase and some of our products may not be legal. We recommend you consult a qualified lawyer concerning the laws of your country. We do not recommend ordering illegal products as you should respect the laws of your country."

But it's OK to buy it from them.

And so easy.