The situation with Titus's first jail time was not just a steroid offense. This is the Wikipedia account, which I believe is accurate:
"In April of 1995 in Louisiana, Titus pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute Methylenedioxymethamphet amine or "Ecstasy." He was sentenced to 16 months of "house arrest" via monitoring with an electronic anklet. In July of 1997, Titus was sentenced to 21 months in jail for violating his probation by using anabolic steroids."
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Titus said (in a magazine interview) that his probation officer left him alone till she found out that he was a "name" bodybuilder, & then insisted he get tested for steroid use. He tested positive, which was a violation of parole & this sent him to jail (my recollection is that it was a minimum security prison in Lompoc, California). I saw him shortly after he got out of prison (he guest posed at an Oklahoma contest I attended) & he looked & sounded chastened at that time. Obviously that changed.
As for BBs being targeted, why wouldn't they be? They're easy pickings, with no unions & no organization to protect them (being in the IFBB is like being in nothing as far as protection goes--there's nothing like an MLB Player's Union). Everyone already associates BBs with AAS use (including BBs themselves); even someone who's natural is assumed to be using these days, especially if he has any size. It's a no brainer to go after a BB who's using. He (or less commonly, she) can easily be set up & sent down the river. I suspect that fewer BBs get convicted than might be the case because the public at large simply doesn't care about bodybuilding, & the feds get very little publicity with a conviction. Also, courts often haven't given heavy sentences to those convicted. That doesn't mean that BBs who use don't run a risk; they're breaking both state & federal laws, & if anyone in the chain of people involved is knocked over, they are generally plea-bargained down for naming names. What gets me is that a lot of people cheerfully admit online they're using, discussing their stacks in detail on discussion boards. That is tantamount to admitting use of heroin or cocaine. For details, see Rick Collins:
http://www.elitefitness.com/members/steroidlaw/interview.html
bbers are easy pickings because, generally, they're law abiding citizens.
quickly changes when they start becoming more and more savvy and realise that crime does pay.
what i mean by that is that people don't just quit doing what they love (yes, i'm talking drug assisted bbing which is somewhat different to natural bbing) just because someone tells them they can't do it anymore. what they become is less likely to leave themselves open by following the rules of such a society.
prohibition has never been a successful enterprise and outlawing steroids has just made the problem become much much worse. now athletes are hanging out with cons as a matter of routine, not because they want to but because they have to and where the love is they go. if that love is not coming from society then they turn their back on society. bbers can also be useful in the underworld eg. doorman dealers, enforcers, loan shark collecters, etc.
you are right. it is all to do with politics and megalomaniacal control freaks.
someone, anyone, explain to me how alcohol or cigarettes (which have both proven to be a billion times more destructive to health, environment and society than steroids have in even the most biased studies) can be legal but steroids not?
bring your best shot. i don't care if you're as ignorant as a box of hammers, you can't debate this one.
