Bonds, Baseball and the Drug War

What does the war on drugs have to do with baseball? Just ask Barry Bonds who was just indicted by federal prosecutors on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. Bonds is now facing up to 30 years in prison if convicted. Anti-doping advocates are calling for jail time for baseball players who use steroids saying that it may be the only effective deterrent for curbing illegal use.

Let's face it, while Bonds's indictment for lying to a grand jury may have legal basis, the real underlying reason for this federal indictment four years after the BALCO investigation is their failure to get Bonds to admit he had used steroids or any other performance-enhancing drugs. In that case a business named Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) was alleged to be distributing illegal performance -enhancing drugs was investigated by several governmental agencies. This resulted in a huge scandal which involved many major league baseball players and led to Major League Baseball initiating penalties for players caught using steroids in 2004.

Well now the government is ready to take down the home-run king along with the entire sport of baseball by pushing their personal agenda of a zero tolerance for drug use. Travis Tygart, head of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency thinks that Major League Baseball's rules concerning the use of performance-enhancing drugs such as steroids don't pack enough of a wallop in terms of functioning as a real deterrent. He is rooting for Bonds to be imprisoned so it sends a clear message.

Imprisonment of record-breaking hitters like Bonds will not solve baseball's problem. I know this is true because of the failed war on drugs. The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. It has 5% of the world's population, but 25% of the world's prisoners, with more than 2.3 million citizens sitting behind bars, a rate of one in every 136 U.S. residents. About 55% of all federal and over 20% of all state prisoners are convicted of drug-law violations with many of them serving mandatory-minimum sentences for simple possession offences. And despite all of the incarceration drug use and drug availability are as prevalent as ever. Are we now going to add major league players to drug war statistics?

For the sake of argument, what if Bonds did use steroids? Does he belong in jail? He is not the first athlete to use them and he will not be the last. The pursuit for athletic superiority through the use of chemicals has been around a long time. Before steroids were officially banned in the early 1970s, almost 70% of all Olympic athletes had used them.

Is it ethical and morally right to sentence someone to a lengthy prison term for putting substances in their own bodies? The premise for prosecuting the other war with no exit strategy - the drug war -- has slowly but surely infiltrated the public's eye through different vehicles. Now the feds attempt to bring their message through the sport of baseball. Bonds joins the ranks of the demonized including medical marijuana users, pain sufferers and their doctors who prescribe opioid analgesics, and students who are forced to urinate in cups. All of this in the name of a drug-free America without concern for individuals' rights.

At one time baseball was our obsession. It was a sport that walked hand and hand with the American dream full of heroes of whom we could all be proud. Now the federal government, with its crusade against any and all drug use, has begun a new mission to alter our way of thinking no matter what the cost or how many lives are ruined. I say no to the government for trying to destroy our national past time and no to imprisoning a baseball king.

Comments

[RedWhiteandBlueState]

Great post, sir. Whatever one feels about the morality of drug use in a tolerant society, there can be little doubt the "War on Drugs" has been a miserable failure from many perspectives. Most devastating perhaps has been its effect on the American Family and pure financial cost. When I think of all the money that has gone to these two "open-ended wars" Iraq and the war on drugs and how they could have been used to bolster infrastructure, schools, teacher salaries and incentives, alternative energy, energy independence... My God. Barry Bonds is the problem? One of the top three ballplayers of all time BEFORE any accusations ever hit him. The son of a great major leaguer, Godson of one of the other two greatest ever, Wille Mays. Please, please some sanity, transparency, dignity back to our government! It's absolute... Ah, I can't even finish my thought.

[Herm]

An open letter to Mr. Bonds. Do not hire Martha Stewart's lawyer. Find the closest thing to a clone of Johnny Cochrane and sit back and watch him make mincemeat of that bunch of clowns who brought the charges. This is not meant to be a commentary on the approval of disapproval of performance-enhancing drugs, whatever the hell that means, but on the sanctimonious pricks - wait, cancel that - but on the moral arbiters of everyone's behavior, save their own. I would venture to say there are more people incarcerated for 'lying to the authorities', as opposed to actually committing crimes, than there are for the latter. No one has to look at, listen to or read about baseball if they don't want to. Period. Baseball is not a sport and has not been for a long time. Rodriguez is worth $350 million? Are they out of their frigging minds? Sanity left the building a long time ago - and until it returns, if ever, leave sports alone. Who in the hell put 'the authorities' in charge, anyway? And 'lying to the authorities' - the constitution guarantees citizens the right to lie if they are lied to.

[oldpotsmuggler]

I was more of a mind altering substances drug guy, so I didn't really follow the whole steroid illegality situation to the same extent that I studied my own field. However I did do time with a guy who assured me that he was the first person ever imprisoned in this country for selling steroids, and I did see some verification of that along the way. I'm going to search the deep dark drug addled recesses of my memory and come up with a date of around 1990 on that.

Later there were a few others here and there. I'll give these guys credit for one thing though. Unlike lots of guys who only hit the iron pile after coming inside, they were pretty fit looking dudes right from day one.

And, hey, Lyle Alzado did do himself in early juicing so of course we really need to protect people from them selves enough to just go ahead and lock them away from all temptation. You cynics may call this policy "War on Drugs" but I'd be willing to bet you that the Drug War Commander In Chief labels it "compassionate conservatism".

[NABNYC]

This is the same tactic used against Martha Stewart. The feds do not have evidence to convict on the underlying crime. So instead, they charge a person with a failure to cooperate -- essentially a failure to confess to the crimes charged -- then threaten 30 years and a months-long-trial unless the defendant cops a plea to some lesser charge.

This is a terrible deterioration of the justice department. Going after baseball players. Wasting our money.

They can't charge Bonds with taking steroids, assuming that is a federal crime. But they don't have the evidence. So they come up with this bs charge to force him to "confess" or face the possibility of a truly insane prosecutorial system that will spend millions to "prove" they are right.

What an enormous waste of taxpayer's money. Let's ask the people who are out of work and about to lose their homes if they think this is a good place for the Bush regime to spend our tax money.

What's that crime: "Driving while black? They need to come up with a new name for a crime, something like "Succeeding while black."

[altohone]

Unlike Libby, there was no underlying crime in the case of Barry Bonds... steroid use in baseball wasn't illegal.

Compared to Olympic standards, none of the major sports has a comprehensive policy with stringent enforcement.

Singling out Barry smacks of a racial component considering the vast numbers of players who used steroids... selected targeting and enforcement of minorities is all too common in the war on drugs as prison statistics bear out. Ignoring this fact is like ignoring the history of America.

The long history of stimulant abuse including amphetamines and cocaine before the steroid age also seems to be conveniently forgotten by the puritanical sports writers and fans calling for blood at this point.

[praxitas]

really this isnt about race? in america? who are you kidding? there is always a racial component at least in part. somehow black athletes manage to inspire greater anger and outrage for equivalent actions.

[roald]

My father used the same line to explain why Nixon should not have gotten in trouble for Watergate, "He just happened to get caught."

[SamanthaJaneSalem]

In 2001 Barry Bonds broke the single season home run record with 73 homers, and in 2007 Bush has finally caught him.

In 2001 Osama bin Laden orchestrated the attacks which led to 3000+ deaths, but Bush, who doesn't think much about Osama anymore, still hasn't caught him with about one year left in his presidency.

In a State of the Union address Bush declared war on steroids. Which really meant "War on Barry Bonds."

So Bonds has had the federal government, backed by a crooked President, tracking him down for years. The economy may be shaky, bin Laden may roam free, the environment may be deteriorating, but the only thing the ex-Texas Rangers owner could accomplish was finally nailing Bonds.

If 73 is wiped off the books, do we use Mark McGwire's 70? One of Sammy Sosa's 61+ home run seasons? Should we go back and examine every career, even those not suspected because they either A) weren't famous or B) just weren't very good even with steroids?

What about the players who drank from the coffee pot marked "Caffeinated"? These baseball numbers are "sacred" (as opposed to the NFL-- let them use what they want, since their union isn't as strong). Bush is against health insurance for every child in America-- the least he could do is investigate every baseball player in America to make sure our precious pastime is not as tainted as air over an unregulated factory. Ah, priorities.

[jhNY]

The prison industry must have new recruits to replace the folks who've served their time or received parole. Prisons are now profit centers for prison enterpreneurs, who are usually polically connected to an unusually high degree. Some of the profits from the prison industry are set aside for political purposes and candidates agreeable to the aims of the industry, chief of which is to keep growing. Prison population growth means more people have to go to jail, and for longer sentences.

What better source for prisoners than the demonized? What better policy for prison population increase than the extension and increased application of draconian no-tolerance drug laws? What better ally to have in your fight for greater profitability than a 'family-values' politician who takes your donations and then goes into the halls of congress and passes more laws to guarantee the perpetuation of your industry?

Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical companies,always at the top of political donor lists, have saturated the nation with high-priced prescription drugs, many of which provide no proved benefit, thanks to incessant advertising and medical collusion. Some of these prescribed drugs have even been proven harmful, far more harmful than anything associated with marijuana. And some are highly addictive, like oxycontin and amphetamines. These prescription drug pushers are rewarded with gargantuan profits and a seat at society's banquet table, bought and paid for by political donation.

Where's the outrage? Oh yeah-- so many of the prescribed drugs are mood-altering you can't really be surprised there isn't much.

[MooseToga]

He lied under oath. This is something people need to go to jail for if they're guilty of doing so. Our entire criminal justice system is dependent upon it.