N.J. State To Probe Steroid Use By Police

EWING, N.J. (AP) -- New Jersey will investigate steroid use by law enforcement officers.

Attorney General Paula Dow announced on Tuesday that she'll form a committee that will consider the role of physicians who illegally dispense them. The panel also will consider the cost to taxpayers and the need for random testing.

The announcement followed a seven-month investigation by The Star-Ledger of Newark that found at least 248 officers and firefighters had obtained steroids, growth hormones and other muscle-building drugs from a Jersey City doctor. The newspaper found he often falsified diagnoses to justify the prescriptions.

The newspaper also found the officers and firefighters used their government benefits to pay for the drugs in most, if not all, cases.

The doctor died in 2007.

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