Summary of Steroid Use
Before diving into the details of common steroid use, it is very important to review and observe the current state of anabolic steroid use around the world and how it has evolved both before and since the ban.
Testosterone, the first anabolic steroid, was first isolated and synthesized by German scientists and chemists in the 1930s, and investigations into its properties and potential uses soon followed.
By the 1940s, testosterone had many useful medical uses, and in the 1950s, testosterone began to be used in professional sports, first by Soviet athletes in the Olympics.
Soon after, Americans discovered the secret to the Soviets' impressive performance in the Olympics, and in 1955, the first synthetic derivative of testosterone was officially created by the U.S. Olympic scientific team, and with the introduction of Dianabol (methandrostenolone), steroid use in sports and bodybuilding as we know it today began.
Shortly after Dianabol was synthesized and released, rumors of the effects of this compound, known as an anabolic steroid, spread quickly.
After the Olympics, the use of these substances quickly spread to nearly every major sport from the 1960s through the 1980s, including bodybuilding, soccer, and baseball.
An interesting aspect of anabolic steroid use is that, while it was initially used primarily by athletes and professional/competitive bodybuilders, by the 1980s these user groups represented only a small fraction of all steroid users.
Eventually, in the 1990s, statistical data studies revealed that the average anabolic steroid user was not an athlete or teenager as the media and government would have you believe.
Various studies conducted over the past two decades have confirmed that the average anabolic steroid user is a middle-class, heterosexual male with an average median age of approximately 25 to 35 years old, is not a bodybuilder of any level, is not a professional or amateur athlete, and that these anabolic steroid users are using anabolic steroids solely for cosmetic enhancement [1].
Furthermore, a 2007 study found that 74% of non-medical anabolic steroid users had earned a high school or college degree at some point, and that far fewer than the average anabolic steroid user had dropped out of high school [2].
The study also found that the average anabolic steroid user maintains a much higher employment rate and overall higher household income than the general population.
The data described above shows, and will continue to show, that the average notion of steroid use as portrayed by the media and government is actually very misleading.
The next topic we'll cover is anabolic steroid utilization.
The anabolic steroid ban, enacted in 1990 with the Anabolic Steroid Control Act (ASCA), was originally designed to curb and control usage rates, and the US government's goal was to reduce and eliminate anabolic steroid use.
However, the exact opposite has occurred.
It should be understood that anabolic steroids are drugs with very valid and very important medical purposes that are available in all developed countries.
It is for this reason that the widespread production of anabolic steroids is guaranteed.
In addition, South Korea is one of the countries that prohibit the use, possession, manufacture, purchase, and sale of these drugs, and the vast majority of countries on the planet do not have the same laws criminalizing the possession or use of these drugs.
The notion that anabolic steroid bans and steroid use is necessarily "bad" is an American idea that has spread to only a handful of countries with close ties to the U.S. Even countries like the United Kingdom and Canada allow personal possession and use of anabolic steroids.
Prohibition has been tried countless times in many different countries, for many different substances and activities.
However, history has proven time and time again that prohibition doesn't work.
Traditionally, prohibition has focused on alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines, opiates, and recreational drugs such as heroin and hallucinogens.
History and experience have shown that prohibition tactics and laws have done little to reduce the supply or demand for these substances.
Rather, prohibition laws have the effect of pushing the market for these drugs further underground and changing the way these drugs are traded and used.
The same is true for steroid use, where in South Korea and some other Western countries, prohibition laws have been expanded to include anabolic steroids.
While not the largest drug user group, steroid use is probably the fastest growing illicit drug user group in South Korea, the United States and Europe in general.
Today, there are more anabolic steroid users than ever before, and the rate of use continues to skyrocket.
Prohibition has not only failed anabolic steroids and steroid use, but ironically, prohibition has been a major contributor to the proliferation of anabolic steroid use.
This can be seen in the United States' Prohibition laws of the 1920s, one of the greatest social failures in history.
Truths, lies, and misconceptions about anabolic steroid use
Anabolic steroids and steroid users are probably the most misunderstood group of drugs and drug users of all illicit drugs.
Anabolic steroids are a completely different class of drugs than the more commonly abused illicit drugs.
Anabolic steroids are not used to feel euphoric, but rather to maximize the levels of hormones in the body to enhance physique and athletic performance.
There are many serious misconceptions and outright lies among the general public regarding the use of anabolic steroids and how these drugs are used.
As discussed earlier in this article, it is not surprising that the general public has been deceived or outright lied to regarding the data and reality of anabolic steroid use around the world (especially in countries with anabolic steroid bans, such as 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, alternate with periods of non-use, in which the user abstains from using these drugs for a period of time to allow the body's hormonal endocrine system (and other subsystems affected by anabolic steroids) to normalize or recover from possible damage.
The public has come to believe that anabolic steroid users pop pills and stick needles into their bodies without any forethought, thought, consideration, or planning.
These behaviors are characteristic of chronic and persistent anabolic steroid abuse rather than responsible anabolic steroid use.
While there are some obvious abusers who abuse anabolic steroids in this manner, the vast 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.
Labeling anabolic steroid users as 'drug addicts' is considered to be even further removed.
Even outside of the immediate realm of anabolic steroid use, anabolic steroid users are not behaviorally different from traditional problem drug users.
As discussed earlier in this article, anabolic steroid users behave very similarly to other drug-free individuals.
That is, they hold steady jobs, pay taxes and bills, and are not involved in any crimes other than the essential "crime" of steroid use (although this can be a subjective judgment depending on your country, as most countries 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 average uninformed and uneducated individual, anabolic steroid use is considered to be a very risky activity that has been claimed to be so by governments and mass media, and has been commonly labeled as something like a "game of Russian roulette". In fact, the medical community considers anabolic steroids to be low-risk drugs, and even among anabolic steroid users, there is a significant lack of awareness of the harms.
In fact, anabolic steroids are very safe drugs with little chance of overdose, and acute damage or injury is uncommon.
In addition, most anabolic steroid users tend to have a fairly extensive understanding and knowledge of anabolic steroids, as evidenced by studies that show that anabolic steroid users tend to research the drugs they use much more than users of other drugs[3].
This is also very evident in the words of medical organizations, who have acknowledged that anabolic steroid users have more knowledge and expertise about anabolic steroids than medical staff.
In one particular study, it was stated that "athletes using anabolic steroids today have a sophisticated pharmacologic knowledge base that surpasses that of the majority of physicians...
The experts on anabolic steroid use in athletics today appear to be the athletes themselves, not medical personnel."[4]
Health risks appear to be of concern only in the case of excessively high doses or chronic long-term abuse, with the most prominent risk from such abuse being an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease. However, the health risks of anabolic steroid abuse are significantly lower compared to smoking cigarettes or drinking alcohol.
Statistical data on anabolic steroid use rates in the form of studies are intermittent and incomplete, but in the abstract, it appears that steroid use rates today are significantly higher than they were prior to the 1990 anabolic steroid ban.
The bottom line is that anabolic steroid use has not and will not decline, and harm reduction and appropriate use policies are the best approach, rather than criminalization or bans.
Medical References:
[1] “Anabolic Steroid Use in the United States” Yesalis CE, Kennedy NJ, Kopstein AN, Barke 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 use patterns of 1,955 adult male non-medical anabolic steroid users in the United States. Cohen, J.; Collins, R.; Darks, J.; Gwotney, D. (2007). Feedback 4: 12. doi:10.1186/1550-2783-4-12. PMC 2131752. PMID 17931410. //www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2131752/.
[3] Study of 100 users of anabolic androgenic steroids. Copeland J, Peters R, Dillon P (March 1998). Med. J. Aust. 168 (6): 311-2. PMID 9549549.
[4] Illegal anabolic steroid use by athletes. Perry, P.J., Anderson, K.H., Yates, W.R. Am J Sports Med 18(4):422, 1990.
