Before delving into the specific ingredients commonly used in steroids, it is crucial to examine and observe the current state of anabolic steroid use worldwide and how it has evolved, both before and after its prohibition.
Testosterone, the first anabolic steroid, was first isolated and synthesized in the 1930s by German scientists and chemists, which was soon followed by investigations into its properties and potential uses.
In the 1940s, testosterone found many useful medical applications, and in the 1950s, it began to be used in professional sports, first by Soviet athletes in the Olympics.
It wasn’t long before Americans discovered the secret to the Soviet Union’s impressive performance enhancements at the Olympics. In 1955, the first synthetic derivative of testosterone was officially created by the U.S. Olympic science team, and with the release of Dianabol (Methandrostenolone), the era of steroid use in sports and physique enhancement as we know it today began.
Immediately after Dianabol was synthesized and released, word of the effects of this drug, known as an anabolic steroid, spread rapidly.
Following the Olympics, the use of these substances quickly spread to nearly every major sport from the 1960s to the 1980s, including bodybuilding, football, and baseball.
What’s interesting about anabolic steroid use is that while it was initially dominated by athletes and pro/competitive bodybuilders, by the 1980s, this user group represented only a small fraction of the total steroid-using population.
Ultimately, in the 1990s, statistical data studies revealed that the average anabolic steroid user was not an athlete or a teenager, as the media and government had led people to believe.
Various studies conducted over the past two decades have confirmed that the average anabolic steroid user is a middle-class, heterosexual male with a median age of about 25 to 35, who is not a bodybuilder at any level, nor a professional or amateur athlete. These users take anabolic steroids solely for cosmetic enhancement [1].
Furthermore, a 2007 study revealed that 74% of non-medical anabolic steroid users had obtained a college or university degree at some point, and far fewer had dropped out of high school than the commonly perceived education level of the average user [2].
This study also found that the average anabolic steroid user maintains a significantly higher employment rate and overall higher household income compared to the general population.
The data described above shows that the average perception of steroid use portrayed by the media and government is, in fact, highly misleading, a point we will continue to uncover.
The next topic to cover is the rate of anabolic steroid use.
The prohibition of anabolic steroids, enacted with the Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 1990 (ASCA), was originally designed to curb and control usage rates. The U.S. government’s goal was to reduce and eliminate the use of anabolic steroids.
However, the exact opposite occurred.
It must be understood that anabolic steroids are drugs with very valid and important medical purposes, available in all developed countries.
For this reason, the widespread production of anabolic steroids is guaranteed.
Furthermore, South Korea is one of the countries that prohibits the use, possession, manufacture, purchase, and sale of these drugs, whereas the majority of countries on Earth do not have the same laws criminalizing their possession or use.
The idea that anabolic steroid prohibition is necessary and that steroid use is inherently “bad” is an American concept that has only spread to a handful of countries with close ties to the United States. Even countries like the United Kingdom and Canada permit the personal possession and use of anabolic steroids.
Prohibition laws have been attempted countless times for various substances and activities in different countries.
However, history has proven time and again that prohibition is ineffective.
Traditionally, prohibition has focused on recreational drugs such as alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines, opiates and heroin, and hallucinogens.
History and experience have shown that prohibition tactics and laws have had little to no effect on reducing the supply or demand for these substances.
Instead, prohibition laws result in pushing the market for these drugs further underground and changing the way they are traded and used.
The same is true for steroid use, where in South Korea and some Western countries, prohibition laws have been extended to include anabolic steroids.
Although not the largest group of drug users, steroid users are likely the fastest-growing group of illicit drug users in places like Korea, the United States, and Europe.
There are more anabolic steroid users today than ever before, and usage rates continue to soar.
Not only has prohibition failed for anabolic steroids and their use, but ironically, prohibition policies have become a major cause of the proliferation of anabolic steroid use.
This can be seen in the Prohibition era in the United States during the 1920s, which is regarded as one of the greatest social failures in history.
The Truth, Lies, and Misconceptions About Anabolic Steroid Use
Anabolic steroids and their users are perhaps the most misunderstood drug and user group among all illicit substances.
Anabolic steroids are a completely different class of drugs from conventional, commonly abused illicit substances.
Anabolic steroids are not used to achieve a euphoric high, but rather to maximize hormonal levels in the body for the purpose of enhancing physique and athletic performance.
There are many serious misconceptions and outright lies among the general public regarding the use of anabolic steroids, the typical user, and how these drugs are administered.
As explained earlier in this article, it is not surprising that the general public has been deceived or told blatant lies regarding the data and reality of anabolic steroid use worldwide (especially in countries that enforce anabolic steroid prohibition, like South Korea).
The reality of anabolic steroid use involves meticulous and carefully planned phases or periods of use known as cycles.
These periods of use, known as cycles, are alternated with periods of non-use, during which the user abstains from these drugs to allow the body’s endocrine system to normalize or recover from any potential damage.
The public has been led to believe that anabolic steroid users pop pills and jab needles into their bodies without any foresight, thought, consideration, or planning.
This behavior is characteristic of chronic and persistent anabolic steroid abuse rather than responsible use.
While there are certainly abusers who misuse anabolic steroids in this manner, the majority do not.
The truth of the matter is that anabolic steroid users do not resemble other types of drug users in any way, shape, or form.
Classifying anabolic steroid users as “drug addicts” is considered even more far-fetched.
Even outside the immediate realm of their use, anabolic steroid users are behaviorally different from conventional problematic drug users.
As explained earlier in this article, anabolic steroid users behave very similarly to other ordinary, non-drug-using individuals.
That is, they maintain steady jobs, pay taxes and bills, and are not involved in any criminal activity outside the inherent “crime” of steroid use itself.
(However, this can be a subjective judgment depending on the country, as most nations around the world do not consider anabolic steroid use a crime).
Even the very concept of the consequences of anabolic steroid use is shrouded in serious misconceptions and lies among the general public.
To the uninformed and uneducated individual, anabolic steroid use is considered an extremely dangerous activity, often categorized as something akin to a “game of Russian Roulette,” as has been claimed by the government and the mass media.
In reality, even the medical community considers anabolic steroids to be low-risk drugs, and the perception of harm among users themselves is correspondingly low.
In fact, anabolic steroids are very safe drugs with almost no possibility of overdose, and acute damage or injury is uncommon.
Furthermore, most anabolic steroid users tend to have a fairly extensive understanding and knowledge of these substances, as shown by research indicating they tend to study the drugs they use far more than users of other substances [3].
This is made very clear by statements from the medical establishment, which has acknowledged that anabolic steroid users often possess more knowledge and expertise about these drugs than medical professionals themselves.
One particular study noted, “Athletes who use anabolic-androgenic steroids today have a sophisticated pharmacologic knowledge base that surpasses that of many physicians… It appears that the experts in the use of anabolic steroids in sport today are not the physicians, but rather the athletes themselves.” [4].
Health risks appear to be a concern only with the use of excessively high doses or chronic long-term abuse, with the most prominent risk from such abuse being an increased danger of developing cardiovascular disease.
However, the health risks from anabolic steroid abuse are significantly lower when compared to smoking tobacco or drinking alcohol.
While statistical data on anabolic steroid usage rates from studies is sporadic and incomplete, in the abstract, today’s usage rates appear to be significantly higher than before the 1990 anabolic steroid prohibition.
In conclusion, anabolic steroid use has never decreased and never will; a harm reduction and proper use policy, rather than criminalization or prohibition, is the best approach.
Medical References
[1] “Anabolic-androgenic steroid use in the United States”. Yesalis CE, Kennedy NJ, Kopstein AN, Bahrke MS (1993). JAMA 270 (10): 1217–21. doi:10.1001/jama.270.10.1217. PMID 8355384.
[2] A League of Their Own: Demographics, Motivations and Patterns of Use of 1,955 Male Adult Non-Medical Anabolic Steroid Users in the United States. Cohen, J.; Collins, R.; Darkes, J.; Gwartney, D. (2007). J. Int. Soc. Sports Nutr. 4: 12. doi:10.1186/1550-2783-4-12. PMC 2131752. PMID 17931410. //www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2131752/.
[3] A study of 100 anabolic androgenic steroid users. Copeland J, Peters R, Dillon P (March 1998). Med. J. Aust. 168 (6): 311-2. PMID 9549549.
[4] Illicit anabolic-androgenic steroid use in athletes. Perry, P.J., Anderson, K.H., Yates, W.R. Am J Sports Med 18(4):422, 1990.
