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Federal officials made a temporary, emergency change to the federal sentencing guidelines Monday to stiffen penalties for steroids-related offenses.
The change by the U.S. Sentencing Commission means abusers of anabolic steroids will face the same sentences as those who abuse other controlled legal substances, categorized by the federal government as Schedule III drugs.
Schedule III drugs are substances that are accepted for medical use in the United States but have the potential for abuse and addiction. As listed by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, they include LSD, ketamine and certain codeine combinations.
The commission's amendment to provide harsher penalties for steroids use and distribution was prompted by a directive from Congress.
"We are hopeful that the enhanced penalties will help deter anabolic steroid trafficking and abuse," U.S. Attorney Kevin Ryan said.
The amendment to the sentencing guidelines also adds sentencing enhancements for athletes using masking agents to hide their steroid use, for coaches who pressure athletes into experimenting with the drug and for individuals who distribute to athletes.
The tougher guidelines would have made the sentences for those convicted in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative scandal about five times longer, according to Luke Macaulay, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office for the Northern District of California.
BALCO owner Victor Conte, for example, would have been sentenced to 37 to 46 months instead of the eight months that he served after pleading guilty to possession and conspiracy to distribute steroids in 2005, Macaulay said.
Previously, steroids-related sentences did not equal those for other Schedule III drugs. Distribution of 50 steroid pills, for example, was the equivalent of the illegal distribution of one Vicodin pill, Macaulay said.
In 2004, Congress passed the Anabolic Steroid Control Act, which directed the Sentencing Commission to review the federal sentencing guidelines and provide for increased penalties that reflect the seriousness of the offenses.
Federal officials made a temporary, emergency change to the federal sentencing guidelines Monday to stiffen penalties for steroids-related offenses.
The change by the U.S. Sentencing Commission means abusers of anabolic steroids will face the same sentences as those who abuse other controlled legal substances, categorized by the federal government as Schedule III drugs.
Schedule III drugs are substances that are accepted for medical use in the United States but have the potential for abuse and addiction. As listed by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, they include LSD, ketamine and certain codeine combinations.
The commission's amendment to provide harsher penalties for steroids use and distribution was prompted by a directive from Congress.
"We are hopeful that the enhanced penalties will help deter anabolic steroid trafficking and abuse," U.S. Attorney Kevin Ryan said.
The amendment to the sentencing guidelines also adds sentencing enhancements for athletes using masking agents to hide their steroid use, for coaches who pressure athletes into experimenting with the drug and for individuals who distribute to athletes.
The tougher guidelines would have made the sentences for those convicted in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative scandal about five times longer, according to Luke Macaulay, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office for the Northern District of California.
BALCO owner Victor Conte, for example, would have been sentenced to 37 to 46 months instead of the eight months that he served after pleading guilty to possession and conspiracy to distribute steroids in 2005, Macaulay said.
Previously, steroids-related sentences did not equal those for other Schedule III drugs. Distribution of 50 steroid pills, for example, was the equivalent of the illegal distribution of one Vicodin pill, Macaulay said.
In 2004, Congress passed the Anabolic Steroid Control Act, which directed the Sentencing Commission to review the federal sentencing guidelines and provide for increased penalties that reflect the seriousness of the offenses.
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