Daniel Duchaine (1952 – January 12, 2000) was an American
bodybuilder
Bodybuilding is the use of progressive resistance exercise to control and develop one's muscles (muscle building) by muscle hypertrophy for aesthetic purposes. It is distinct from similar activities such as powerlifting because it focuses ...
. Nicknamed ''the steroid guru'', Duchaine gained worldwide notoriety due to his outspoken opinions on the use of performance-enhancing drugs, and made numerous television appearances discussing the subject on shows such as
''20/20'',
''Geraldo'', and ''
60 Minutes''. ''Steroid Nation'' author and ESPN writer
Shaun Assael
Shaun Assael (born February 4, 1962) is an American author and award-winning investigative journalist. He is the author of four books that deal with sports, crime and culture.
Journalist
After graduating from New York University with a degree i ...
calls Duchaine "a founding father of the steroid movement."
Duchaine and steroids
Duchaine began competitive bodybuilding in his home state of Maine in 1977; however, after he had no luck (describing himself as a "miserable bodybuilder"), he began using
anabolic steroids that he persuaded his family physician in Portland to prescribe as a training aid. However, after beginning their use he said "I still wasn't very good. Obviously something wasn't working, and the doctors and the pharmacists couldn't really answer my questions. So I started looking into steroids on my own." This was the start of the quest for knowledge that would eventually land him the title of "Guru" on the subject. He moved to Los Angeles in 1978.
Duchaine initially claimed that he would not sell steroids because he didn't know where to get them. But after a messy divorce from his first wife left him broke, he met a supplier and began selling. He started by undercutting the local dealers, then moved into wholesale. Eventually, he became part of a major trafficking ring from Mexico, and co-founded Laboratories Milano in
Tijuana
Tijuana ( ,["Tijuana"](_blank)
(US) and [< ...]
, which was the largest black market steroid manufacturing plant in Mexico at the time.
In mid-1987, Duchaine was caught and indicted on
conspiracy
A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agre ...
and mislabeling charges. He pleaded guilty to the two counts and was sentenced to a maximum of three years in
federal prison with five years of
probation
Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration.
In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...
by Judge J. Lawrence Irving of
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...
Federal Court.
In November 1988 Duchaine was profiled by ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' on its front page as part of an Olympics-inspired series on steroids in sports.
Duchaine was released after ten months. In 1991, while still on probation he met up with a friend who was selling
gamma-hydroxybutyrate
''gamma''-Hydroxybutyric acid (or γ-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), also known as 4-hydroxybutanoic acid) is a naturally occurring neurotransmitter and a depressant drug. It is a precursor to GABA, glutamate, and glycine in certain brain areas. ...
(commonly known as GHB) and began working with him. One of their customers, however, was an undercover
Food and Drug Administration
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...
(FDA) agent, and Duchaine was convicted a second time and sentenced to 36 months in prison. While in prison, he says he learned to make money through "legitimate avenues".
In 1988, Duchaine introduced
Clenbuterol
Clenbuterol is a sympathomimetic amine used by sufferers of breathing disorders as a decongestant and bronchodilator. People with chronic breathing disorders such as asthma use this as a bronchodilator to make breathing easier. It is most commonl ...
to bodybuilders. Duchaine is also credited with introducing
2,4-Dinitrophenol
2,4-Dinitrophenol (2,4-DNP or simply DNP) is an organic compound with the formula HOC6H3(NO2)2. It is a yellow, crystalline solid that has a sweet, musty odor. It sublimates, is volatile with steam, and is soluble in most organic solvents as well ...
(DNP) into bodybuilding through an interview on one of ten cassettes included with bodybuilding magazine
Muscle Media 2000.
In 2007 Duchaine was featured prominently in the book ''Steroid Nation'' by ESPN writer Shaun Assael.
Writing career
First published in 1981, ''The Underground Steroid Handbook'' was an 18-page pamphlet which focused on bodybuilders who used the drugs for competition, defines the different types of steroids and explains what they look like, what they should cost, where to get them and how to use them. After placing ads in fitness and martial-arts magazines, as well as ''
Soldier of Fortune'', he printed and sold between 40,000 and 50,000 copies of the ''Underground Steroid Handbook'' at $6 a copy, over a four-year period. In 1988
Robert Voy, the chief medical officer of the United States Olympic Committee called it "a fabulous pharmacological text." The New York Times reported that both Voy and
Don Catlin
Don H. Catlin (born June 4, 1938) is an anti- doping scientist and one of the founders of modern drug-testing in sport.
Career
Catlin has overseen testing for performance-enhancing drugs at the three most recent Olympics held in the United State ...
of
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...
, who did most of the drug tests for the
United States Olympic Committee
The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee and the National Paralympic Committee for the United States. It was founded in 1895 as the United States Olympic Committee, and is headquartered in Col ...
and the
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...
in the 1980s had the book in their files.
In 1992 after being released from prison for a second time Duchaine began working for
Bill Phillips' ''Muscle Media 2000'' magazine writing a monthly
Q&A column called "Ask the Guru". By this time Duchaine had published several books in his ''Underground Steroid Handbook'' series (co-authored with Michael Zumpano), and referred to himself as a ''Human Performance Theorist''.
Death
Duchaine was found dead on January 12, 2000, by his close friend Shelley Hominuk in his apartment in
Carlsbad, California.
Daniel Duchaine 1952–2000 by Shelley Hominuk
Cause of death was complications resulting from polycystic kidney disease
Polycystic kidney disease (PKD or PCKD, also known as polycystic kidney syndrome) is a genetic disorder in which the renal tubules become structurally abnormal, resulting in the development and growth of multiple cysts within the kidney. These c ...
.
Quotes
* ''"If you can't grow on Deca and Dbol, you can't grow on anything!"'' – taken from Duchaine's ''Dirty Dieting'' Newsletter in 1997
Duchaine's books
* Duchaine, Dan. ''The Original Underground Steroid Handbook'', 1981
* Duchaine, Dan. ''Underground Steroid Handbook'', 1983
* Duchaine, Dan. ''Underground Steroid Handbook II'' HLR Technical Books, 1988.
* Duchaine, Dan. ''Underground Body Opus: Militant Weight Loss & Recomposition'' XIPE Press, March 1996. ()
See also
* Experimental and Applied Sciences
References
External links
Dan Duchaine at qfac.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duchaine, Dan
1952 births
2000 deaths
20th-century American criminals
20th-century American non-fiction writers
American bodybuilders
People from Carlsbad, California
Sportspeople from California
Writers from California