Yet another National Pastime sullied by steroid use.
“Mumbai attacks: Terrorists took cocaine to stay awake during assault,” by Damien McElroy in the Telegraph, December 3 (thanks to Anne Crockett):
Terrorists who battled Indian commandos for 60-hours last week relied on cocaine and other stimulants to stay awake for the duration of the fight.
Officials said drug paraphernalia, including syringes, was recovered from the scene of the attacks, which killed almost 200 people.
The heavily built men, who had undergone training at a special marine camp established by the Lashkar-e-Taibat (LeT) terrorist group in Pakistan, had also used steroids to build a tougher physique.
“We found injections containing traces of cocaine and LSD left behind by the terrorists and later found drugs in their blood,” said one official.
“There was also evidence of steroids, which isn’t uncommon in terrorists.
“These men were all toned, suggesting they had been doing some heavy training for the attacks. This explains why they managed to battle the commandos for over 50 hours with no food or sleep.”…
Everything that is old is new again. In the thirteenth century the Ismaili Shi’ite Hashishin (حشّاشين) (Assassins) got their name from their practice of using hashish before setting out on jihad missions to assassinate Sunni leaders.