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January 12, 2007

Under The Knife

Bonds Tests Positive

by Will Carroll

So now we have the definitive word: Barry Bonds did test positive...just not for the substance everyone expected. T.J. Quinn of the New York Daily News broke the story when sources told him that Bonds failed a test in 2006 for amphetamines. The question is not if, but how and why. In the last 48 hours, I've been able to put together some of this information.

According to sources in Quinn's story, Bonds tested positive for a "strong stimulant," one that may have been the result of a supplement. While Bonds is unlikely to have taken the classic "greenie," there are several amphetamine-like substances that have been found in legal supplements. Remember two things here: legal and banned are two different things, and an athlete is responsible for whatever he/she puts into his/her body.

Bonds, of course, will eternally be linked to BALCO. BALCO is not just known for steroids. In fact, many of the athletes who worked with Victor Conte and his lab used stimulants. The best known is modafinil, a drug originally designed to help with narcolepsy, and now prescribed for ADD. It is possible, though unlikely, that Bonds used this drug. It was not indicated at all in the research done in Game of Shadows. Modafinil is presumed to be on the MLB banned list, although the complete list is not publicly available. There are athletes that have requested Therapeutic Use Waivers for this drug in other sports, but again, it is not known to be used by legal waiver in baseball. (It's worth noting that baseball has granted TUWs for substances such as testosterone. We don't know why.)

Modafinil is hardly the only stimulant with a BALCO connection. Patrick Arnold, Conte's source for THG, sells a legal supplement called AMP. It is legal and available. (In fact, I stopped by a GNC here in Indianapolis and saw it on the counter Thursday afternoon.) AMP was found to contain substances that were very much like amphetamines. In a May 2006 article, Amy Shipley of the Washington Post talked with Don Catlin, a steroid researcher who works with WADA and was involved in the BALCO case, about AMP. Catlin found that the active ingredient was not listed on the label. Methylhexaneamine, like many of Arnold's substances, was a re-concocted version of a previously existing compound, this time one invented in the 1940s as a nasal decongestant. Catlin described the drug as similar to amphetamines and ephedrine.

Bonds is known to take supplements today, including ZMA, a supplement produced by SNAC, an offshoot of Conte's infamous BALCO labs. This picture tells you all you need to know about SNAC. Yes, that's Greg Anderson on the right. While there's no evidence that Bonds used AMP, it is quite possible given the connections. Ergopharm, the producer of AMP and several other supplements, boasts of professional-athlete usage of their supplements. However, Ergopharm is not one of the supplement manufacturers whose products have been approved for usage in baseball or football. Under that policy, the National Science Foundation can "certify" or "bless" supplement manufacturers after inspecting their manufacturing facilities and testing their products.

Why would Bonds risk failing a drug test despite being under a level of scrutiny unlike any other athlete? The reason is unclear. Bonds could have taken a supplement that contained a banned substance, such as AMP. Again, Amy Shipley showed that some products that are available in stores may contain banned substances. (It should be noted that most of these products were immediately pulled from the market after Shipley's story.)