This is a discussion on All about the new steroid laws by Rick Collins within the Prohormone Forum forums, part of the Supplements Discussion category; Originally Posted by Paxmillion I like the letter about petitioning the current DASCA, but asking them to appeal the Steroid ...
exactly. u want to get some action u gotta ask for something reasonable that has a chance of getting a response. the only thing in this bill that could be a point of contention is perhaps the definition of "testosterone like effects" or perhaps some of the sentencing guideline crap.Originally Posted by Paxmillion
coming out for a total repeal of the anabolic steroid control act is just ludicrous. Yes it ultimately is a goal but to a politician it is madness in these current times
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yea like I have been saying over and over we will not get a friend in Washington when it comes to any kind of anabolic. Its a unanimous stance our only hope of this not coming to pass was someone like Ron Paul but he is ahead of his time and people do not get him.
Whoops sorry man.
Mods feel free to delete that.
Don't get me started on the aceto. More people have liver problems in 1 year with aceto than in the whole history of steroids.
What do tobacco companies have that that we dont have? Oh thats right ... Money. Lots and lots of it.
Of course there's tons of contradictions and inconsistencies in the way our country enforces drugs but what is legal and illegal is determined by money. Patrick is right, we dont have an ideological leg to stand on.
So you're saying I don't need to stack 3 types of PH's eh?
"I dont think smell is a reliable gauge of purity" - Patrick Arnold
Resistant to antibiotics bacteria is obviously undesirable but efforts to prevent it should focus on giving people information on how to best use antibiotics (for instance, "education" right now is limited to slogans like "you cannot self-prescribe antibiotics, go to your doctor", instead of focusing on teaching good self-prescription practice like taking the full course of antibiotics to avoid creating resistant strains and so on), along with research to create new antibiotics. The end of avoiding undesirable strains does not justify the means in the sense that it is totally unacceptable seeking it through the path of restricting individual freedom of choice. That's where the line must be drawn. If someone needs an antibiotic for treating an infection we cannot take away his right to cure the infection and make it contingent on his will of allowing a physician to examine him. That is just like taking away the right of being able to deny informed consent: consenting a physician to "invade" your body, when you are unwilling to do so, only because otherwise you will be denied the medicine you need is not informed consent at all. Resistant strains are very bad, but losing the inalienable right to self-ownership of your body is still much worse and can never be accepted as a solution.
People who want to be treated and have their drugs prescribed by an MD can do so whenever they want. What you cannot do is forcing those who are unwilling to do so by taking away their right to buy any drug they want.My point is that having physicians, experts on the safe, responsible use of antibiotics in medicine, are best equipped to help the public recover from illness using these drugs, especially in such a way to minimize the development of MDO's that threaten the health of us and our loved ones.
Not the same as antibiotics. Even if your previous argument about antibiotics were hypothetically right (which it is not), it would not hold here, giving that here you are not creating any resistant strains that could endanger other people. Therefore, the "protect the public from harm" argument cannot be applied here. Laws are to protect people from others, not from themselves. By taking away the right to self-prescribe AAS/PH/DS you are not protecting anybody from anybody else... the only thing you would do in that situation would be protecting individuals from themselves, which is unacceptable, given that that's what personal choice is all about: being able to take bad decisions as well.AAS/PH/DS should be treated and prescribed the same way as antibiotics, as an unscheduled prescription drug, for the same reasons: to protect the public from harm.
And that's a choice that can be taken by those that want to do so, they are free to do it like that. Again, what you cannot do is forcing others to ask a doctor for permission to take a drug if they simply do not need or simply do not want to do so. It's their business and not the state's business.By going to a physician you are educated by a licensed medical professional on the potential benefits, risks, adverse side effects, proper use, length, and planning of a cycle and post cycle therapy, and avoidance, prevention, and management of adverse side effects.
Just when I thought that everybody was able to recognize the "Save the children!" argument for what it really is (i.e. a stupid phallacy), I am shocked to see that there are still people who believe in that. If non-adults are still not prepared to use these drugs, the solution is enacting legislation that prevent non-adult access to them; what you cannot do is take away the freedom of choice of the entire adult population in order to prevent kids from doing it. The fact that kids must be prevented from doing something does not enable the government to restrict it to everybody else as well. It would be as absurd as restricting the freedom to run any kind of risk under the argument that "kids should not do it". I thought that only politicians used this kind of fallacy, but I am surprised to see that there are people who really believe it!!!This is not to restrict freedom of choice or to line the pockets of those who work in the medical field--most of them are doing fine already on their own--but to protect the 15 or 16 year old kid who doesn't understand what gynecomastia and the HPTA axis is, who doesn't understand the meaning of the phrases aromitizing and aromatase inhibitor. It is to protect eager young men, and women who wish to use these substances before their bodies are developed to such a degree that it would be unsafe and unwise to do so.
I really believe this kind of collectivism to be intolerable. I am sorry, but I am unable to be more respectful towards a set of ideas that show such disregard for the inalienable rights of individuals.
Last edited by superminded; 08-11-2012 at 10:42 AM.
The problem with antibiotics is that they will only be effective in treating bacterial infections. Do you think the average person can accurately tell the difference between symtoms caused by bacteria, virus, protozoa, parasites, allergic reactions etc? No, they can't. They'll need to be checked by a Dr, otherwise they place themselves at unnecessary risk by self-prescribing an antibiotic for an infection that it can't treat. To make matters even more complicated, there are antibiotics that only affect certain types of bacteria as well. In this case, it's possible that using the wrong medication could exacerbate the infection. For example, the normal gut flora keep pathogenic bacteria in check by competing with them and limiting their rate and extent of propogation. If you inadvertantly use an antibioitc that spares a pathogenic strain of bacteria but still kills a substantial portion of normal resident flora, you might allow for that pathogenic strain to divide more readily, worsening the infection. Basically I'm saying that the odds of the average person using an antibiotic properly are nil. If it only affects that individual, then it's their problem. Unfortunately it can affect many others who weren't involved in that person's ill informed actions.
I generally agree with your philosophy here. I'll even add to it and say that antibiotics actually have the potential to create more harm to an un-informed individual than aas in some cases. That's to say nothing of the harm invidual and haphazard commercial use of antibiotics could potentially cause society.Not the same as antibiotics. Even if your previous argument about antibiotics were hypothetically right (which it is not), it would not hold here, giving that here you are not creating any resistant strains that could endanger other people. Therefore, the "protect the public from harm" argument cannot be applied here. Laws are to protect people from others, not from themselves. By taking away the right to self-prescribe AAS/PH/DS you are not protecting anybody from anybody else... the only thing you would do in that situation would be protecting individuals from themselves, which is unacceptable, given that that's what personal choice is all about: being able to take bad decisions as well.
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That said, the chances that a given individual will use ph/aas in a way that minimizes potential risk are similarly low. You see people on these forums posting things that make little or no sense all the time. People using 5a-reductase inhibitors on cycles with only 5a-reduced ph/aas, people using aromatase inhibitors with aas that can't aromatize, and the list could go on and on. As with antibiotics, androgens can be complicated drugs to use properly. Do I think they are the gravest risk that the typical person faces every day? No of course not. Most people take much graver risks by commuting to work everyday, swimming in a pool, diving into a lake, crossing the street, being caught outside during a thunderstorm, smoking, drinking alcohol, eating junk food, you get the idea. I think this legislation is probably driven solely by politics, not empathy or altruism (as they might try to imply).
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Then again, let's think about this from another perspective. Even though aas might not typically pose imminent, grave risk, they can potentially harm health, especially when negligently abused over time. Often the symptoms of said health issues aren't necessarily apparent and manifest insidiously over the course of years. This means, there might not be an obvious red flag that informs the negligent user that they're hurting themselves until it's too late. If this person does develop health problems he/she might need costly medical intervention. As most societies move closer to (or already have and embrace) socialized healthcare systems, that medical intervention is absolutely every tax payer's business. It isn't your body for you to negligently harm as you see fit. My taxes might have to help pay for that person's care, which might not have been necessary if they didn't abuse aas or other drugs. So yeah, if I have to pay for it, I want some sort of control. I'm not necessarily advocating for that system, I'm simply telling it as it is. For those who don't like it, all I can say is pay more attention to what your elected officials are doing and, generally, be better informed. BTW, truly informing yourself doesn't mean just reading a paper or passively absorbing what some talking head says on tv. It means informing yourself, not just allowing yourself to be informed by others. Otherwise, sleep in the beds you made. I mean this in general, not toward any specific member(s).
Last edited by Just99; 08-11-2012 at 11:19 PM.
Don't worry they will just lace PH with CornSyrup, Hydro oils, trans fats, MSG etc.... prolly dump some floride in there well "for dental reason" plus some ingredient to cause addiction, then add a nice health care tax onto them.
They are mad because they haven't been able to add all of their nasty FDA approved mercury/acid processed shit to them.
If you only had access to foods with the things mentioned above and only floride treated water to drink.. you would be more fucked than you ever could be on a proper PH cycle. FDA motto should be "SupaDerp Size meh".
Cigarettes have worse shit in them than PH yet they are legal wtF?
FDA: helping to support obesity and a health issue plauged future since 1906
this kind of idiocy is why I'm a proud member of the nra.... bad guys will ALWAYS be able to get a hold of guns, taking away the everyday mans right to own one, protect his family, hunt efficiently for food if needs be and level the playing field with oppressive governments and the bad guys that will undoubtedly have guns is just asking to be walked all over by anyone and everyone.
Plus guns are just plain fun to shoot.
I'm back with a poop attack! ..... err.... yup....
There was a shooting massacre we had a while back,then our gun laws became even tighter.At the time our Prime minister wore a bullet proof vest campaigning for the gun amnesty.
I know your US history but let me ask you how many people have died from your gun laws?How many people have died from PH use?Your gun laws will never change but that is just my opinion.
''I don't take steroids.I take prohormones and their safe''
Jesus could turn water into wine but could he bench press 200KG?
We should go march at the capital. If they gays can get what they want why cant the juicers get what we want? I would bet not one of the prohormone users is on welfare using up government funding lol. It's ashame personal choice doesnt exist in America anymore. I cant believe i faught for this country sometimes.
They'll never get my "guns".
I joined right after 9/11, I feel like a total sucker.
I joined to kill terrorist, not to over throw a dictatorship in a completely unrelated country, chasing down imaginary WMD's.
I remember watching the news nearly a year later still talking about WMD's, the only thing I could do was laugh.
wow
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that whole contrived excuse to invade iraq was practically criminal. i remember the lead up to the war. i couldnt believe how so many politicians were scared to oppose it. the whole thing seemed so wrong
I am a little concerned about romney too, now that he is hangin around with those same old neo-cons. Are we going to make the same mistakes over again?
Last edited by Patrick Arnold; 08-13-2012 at 02:05 PM.
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This country needs leaders. Not puppets who are afraid. And focus on THIS country. Not others.
So how long do we have before this bill passes and PHs are illegal? Need to stack obviously.
Legal or not PP carries crap products, They do not sell well now, and they will not sell in the future. They are merely ineffective products.
You guys are all idiots. Obviously the government wants us all to be scrawny fragile emo faggots, its part of the gay agenda conspiracy, this way, we the people will be to small to fight back when shit hits the fan.
next week. or two years. no one knows. seems inevitable thoughSo how long do we have before this bill passes and PHs are illegal? Need to stack obviously.
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i have heard of the new world order. and the zionist occupational government. but this is my introduction to the gay agenda conspiracy
my gut feeling is this bill has nothing to do with homosexual activism. But I am open to any opinion, no matter how insane
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The Anabolic Steroid Control Act - The Wrong Prescription
Click the link above to read some very interesting comments from Rick Collins, JD on the injustice and foolishness of laws that restrict and criminalize anabolic steroid use.
Send his comments to your respective Congressmen and Senators and demand that they move against DASCA and such bills that criminalize AAS/PH/DS in the future AND that they move to collectively repeal the Steroid Control Acts of 1990 and 2004.
With complete due respect to PA and others here who say such efforts are useless and the bans will never be repealed: that should not stop us from persistently and tirelessly petitioning, annoying, and harassing our Congress to repeal these laws and shedding light on the myths and media lies that surround AAS/DS/PH.
There have been many controversial issues throughout our nation's history that were at one time or another considered scandalous, taboo, harmful to the public health or immoral by certain individuals and as such were subjected to laws that banned or prohibited their practice: alcohol Prohibition and the Temperence Movement is perhaps the most notable and obvious example, however voting rights and civil rights for women, African Americans, and other minority groups, even recent legislation promoting civil rights for homosexuals etc are comparable on various levels. Regardless of one's views on any of these issues mentioned above, it is important to note that in each case there were several individuals, often from a minority group, who joined together in an effort to repeal existing laws that restricted their personal freedoms, and in so doing, won their liberty and equal standing among their peers.
It does not take a majority to prevail...but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.
-Samuel AdamsYou gotta fight for your right to party.
-The Beastie Boys
Full text of the article below for those who are too lazy to click the link
The Anabolic Steroid Control Act – The Wrong Prescription
September 15, 2005 By Rick Collins, J.D.
According to the body of common knowledge, anabolic steroids are dangerous and deadly drugs. The mainstream media have thoroughly vilified these hormones for several decades. The use by mature adults of any amount of anabolic hormones to enhance physical appearance is invariably labeled anabolic steroid “abuse” and, consequently, the average American lumps the athletic steroid user into the same depraved category as the heroin or cocaine user. Law enforcement agents and prosecutors readily proceed accordingly in furtherance of our national “War on Drugs.” Only the most progressive physicians accept the legitimacy of anabolic steroid use for any but the most limited medical purposes. Understandably then, the proposition that our current approach to the non-medical use of anabolic steroids is flawed, failing and in need of reform is provocative to many.
While rarely reported in the lay press, there are actually very compelling reasons to revisit the legitimacy of our current anabolic steroid laws. There is mounting evidence that the actual health dangers associated with anabolic steroids for mature adults are significantly less than were suggested to Congress or are commonly perceived by the public. There is evidence that the tight regulations have stifled research, undermined beneficial applications, and effectively severed any connection between physicians and most steroid users. Further, there are strong arguments that the legislation has failed to solve the very problems for which it was enacted; rather, it has exacerbated the situation.
The Congressional Hearings
In the mid 1980’s, media reports of two problems came to the attention of Congress: the increasing use of anabolic steroids in professional and amateur sports, and a “silent epidemic” of high school steroid use. Between 1988 and 1990, Congressional hearings were held to determine the extent of these problems and whether the Controlled Substances Act should be amended to include anabolic steroids along with more serious drugs such as cocaine and heroin. It is sometimes overlooked that the reported adverse medical effects of steroid use, such as potential liver damage and endocrinological problems, were completely irrelevant to the criteria for scheduling under the Controlled Substances Act.
Many witnesses who testified at the hearings, including medical professionals and representatives of regulatory agencies — including the FDA, the DEA and the National Institute on Drug Abuse — recommended against the proposed amendment to the law. Even the American Medical Association repeatedly and vehemently opposed it, maintaining that abuse of these hormones does not lead to the physical or psychological dependence required for scheduling under the Controlled Substances Act. However, the records from the hearings suggest that any “psychologically addictive” properties of steroids were secondary considerations to Congress. The majority of witnesses called to testify at the hearings were representatives from competitive athletics. Their testimony, and apparently Congress’ main concern, focused on legislative action far less to protect the public than to solve an athletic “cheating” problem. Congress wanted steroids out of sports and classified steroids as Schedule III controlled substances. As a result, these sex hormones stand out as a strange anomaly among the codeine derivatives, central nervous system depressants, and stimulants that form the rest of Schedule III.
The Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 1990
The Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 1990 added anabolic steroids to the federal schedule of controlled substances, thereby criminalizing their non-medical use by those seeking muscle growth for athletic or cosmetic enhancement. It places steroids in the same legal class as barbiturates, ketamine and LSD precursors. Those caught illegally possessing anabolic steroids even for purely personal use face arrest and prosecution. Under the Control Act, it is unlawful for any person knowingly or intentionally to possess an anabolic steroid unless it was obtained directly, or pursuant to a valid prescription or order, from a practitioner, while acting in the course of his professional practice (or except as otherwise authorized). A first offense simple possession conviction is punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to one year and/or a minimum fine of $1,000. Simple possession by a person with a previous conviction for certain offenses, including any drug or narcotic crimes, must get imprisonment of at least 15 days and up to two years, and a minimum fine of $2,500, and individuals with two or more such previous convictions face imprisonment of not less than 90 days but not more than three years, and a minimum fine of $5,000. Distributing anabolic steroids, or possessing them with intent to distribute, is a federal felony. An individual who distributes or dispenses steroids, or possesses with intent to distribute or dispense, is punishable by up to five years in prison (with at least two additional years of supervised release) and/or a $250,000 fine ($1,000,000 if the defendant is other than an individual). Penalties are higher for repeat offenders.
The Health Risk Issues
Although the purported health risks of anabolic steroids are irrelevant to the criteria for scheduling controlled substances, they have provided a seemingly valid public basis for the enforcement of the legislation, justifying a policy favoring prosecution of mature adults involved with steroids over allowing them to “destroy themselves” with these substances. It is curious whether the policy would be publicly supported if the actual dangers to healthy adult males were significantly less than the general public has been led to believe. While a comprehensive review of the medical and scientific evidence of health risks is beyond the scope of this article, a few words on the subject are in order.
Without question, there are health risks involved in the self-administration of any prescription medicine, particularly in the absence of a physician’s advice with respect to dosages and duration of use. Further, without regular monitoring by a doctor, some side effects may go unnoticed or untreated until it is too late. Anabolic steroids can have adverse effects upon the body, with particular risks for teenagers, who are more likely than adults to abuse anabolic steroids in dangerously high dosages and without any medical supervision.
But while steroids can have adverse side effects, including serious ones, to mature adult users as well, the scientific literature is far less conclusive than is claimed by government-sponsored physicians and anti-drug officials. Despite a virtually one-sided presentation in the lay press, the position that anabolic steroids are such dangerous substances as to warrant militaristic government enforcement tactics is surprisingly controversial. Mounting research strongly suggests that the actual health risks have been overstated to the public. A landmark 1996 study, for example, found virtually no adverse effects when anabolic steroids were administered at a dosage of 600 mgs per week (about six times natural replacement dose) for ten weeks. The actual risk levels for mature adult males using steroids are related to various factors, such as the dosages and duration of use, the specific types of compounds administered, the existence of any preexisting pathologies, etc. Some highly knowledgeable authorities who have objectively reviewed the medical literature pertaining to mature adult users have concluded that “[a]s used by most athletes, the side effects of anabolic steroid use appear to be minimal.”
The public has been led to believe that “roid rage” — the descriptive term for steroid-induced spontaneous, highly aggressive, out-of-control behavior — is rampant among steroid users. While a handful of researchers have claimed that psychiatric symptoms including increased aggression are a common side effect of anabolic steroid use, these claims have been regarded with skepticism by experts. Indeed, the relationship between anabolic steroids and aggressive behavior is far more complex than the press has reported, and the most exhaustive review of the medical literature did not find consistent evidence for a direct causal relationship between steroid use and aggression even in those affected.
Personal Freedom and General Comparative Risks
The law does not prevent individuals from skiing, scuba diving or even hang gliding, although all are extremely dangerous activities. As one reviewer noted: “People in this country can choose to have tummy tucks, breast implants, nose jobs, smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol excessively, or watch strippers as long as they don’t hurt other people. Actually smokers are allowed free reign to harm others with second hand smoke in most places in the country except California, so why aren’t people allowed to exert their freedom of choice in regards to use of things like marijuana and anabolic steroids, either of which can be credibly argued to be less dangerous or no more dangerous than cigarettes and alcohol.” Smokers are not subjected to arrest and criminal prosecution, even though many, many more deaths result from tobacco annually than in all fifty years of non-medical steroid use. Each year, the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs – including over-the-counter aspirin and ibuprofen – accounts for an estimated 7,600 deaths and 76,000 hospitalizations in the United States. Although the inherent risks of dangerous sports and cosmetic surgery are unnecessary, and may well outweigh the benefits, we do not proscribe these activities. Is it appropriate, then, to prevent mature, informed adults from choosing cosmetic enhancement through physician-administered hormones?
Comparative Risks to Cosmetic Surgery
Commentators from both the legal and medical communities have noted an interesting cultural irony in the comparison of anabolic steroid administration to cosmetic surgery procedures. Under a physician’s supervision, these represent different approaches toward a similar goal. In a society preoccupied with physical appearance, confidence and self-image are often intertwined with body shape and condition. Interestingly, under the current views and laws of our society, it is criminal for a physician to administer anabolic steroids to a healthy adult for purposes of cosmetic physical enhancement. However, it is perfectly acceptable (and quite lucrative) to perform the much more radical and dangerous procedure of surgically implanting foreign prosthetics into virtually all parts of the human anatomy for the same purpose, subjecting patients to the potentially fatal risks associated with general anesthesia and post-surgical infection. Many more people have died or been permanently injured from botched liposuctions, breast augmentations and other cosmetic surgery procedures in the past few years than in nearly fifty years of anabolic steroid use by athletes. Liposuction, for example, is now the most popular cosmetic surgical procedure in North America despite the fact that it has resulted in significant incidences of blood vessel blockage and death. Given the comparative risks, it would seem that the current state of legality regarding non-medical steroid use and these procedures might best be reversed.
(Continued)
The Goals of Criminalization for Non-Medical Usage
Whether providing criminal penalties for illegal steroid use is the proper and most effective way of dealing with the “steroid problem” has been debated for quite some time. Proponents of criminalization and law enforcement authorities say that the Control Act and similar state laws: (1) help to deter trafficking, (2) protect young people, and (3) preserve fair competition in sports. Against criminalization are arguments that such penalties have proven to be a failure in stemming abuse of other drugs and alcohol, that criminalization only increases the underground black market, and that efforts are best confined to education and rehabilitation.
Deterring Steroid Trafficking
Proponents of criminalization contend that stiff penalties help deter trafficking, and that the strict controls associated with controlled substance status prevent pharmaceutical companies from manufacturing more product than could be legitimately used for FDA approved purposes. Indeed, it was the allegation of such a “diversion” problem that helped sway Congress to classify steroids even against the advice of medical authorities. The Control Act addresses the diversion problem by the triplicate “paper trail” that is associated with controlled substances. Every person who manufactures, distributes, or dispenses a controlled substance is required to register annually with the Attorney General. But while the paper trail requirements have reduced the amount of legitimate steroids diverted, they have helped foster a booming counterfeit trade where underground labs make and label steroid products to mimic legitimate pharmaceuticals. An even bigger problem is the tremendous increase in production and importation of non-FDA-approved foreign products that have come to replace domestic preparations. All of these products completely bypass the Control Act’s paper trail.
In a 1990 statement to Congress, Department of Justice officials estimated the black market to be a 300 million dollar per year industry. In January 2001, federal law enforcement officials announced that they seized more than 3.25 million anabolic steroid tablets in the single-largest steroid seizure in U.S. history. Last year, U.S. Customs agents made 8,724 seizures, up 46 percent from 1999 and up eight-fold from 1994. Public health experts estimate that the steroid black market has grown larger – perhaps far larger – than the $300 million to $400 million estimated in 1988. But as officials from the Office of National Drug Control Policy issue statements supporting even broader interdiction, the Congress takes steps toward further regulations, and prosecutors and lawmakers decry the dangers of this huge black market of illegitimate steroids, it seems only sensible to deride the “deterrent” effect of our approach.
Protecting Young People
Protecting young people from danger is a worthy goal of any legislation. The Control Act appears to have had the opposite effect. A primary effect of the Control Act’s restrictions upon legitimate product has been the increased manufacture and distribution of black market counterfeit products and substandardly made veterinary steroids never intended for human consumption. Some of these black market products are tainted with impurities or contain other foreign substances, supporting the assertion that “continued enforcement of steroid legislation will worsen health risks associated with steroid use. An investigation by The Atlanta Journal and Constitution concluded that ‘tougher laws and heightened enforcement’… have fueled thriving counterfeit operations that pose even more severe health risks.”
A second major effect of the criminalization approach has been to discourage illegal users, including teens, from admitting their steroid usage to physicians. Since some of the greatest dangers inherent in self-administered steroid use involve the failure to be monitored by a doctor, the Control Act has succeeded in greatly escalating this danger and has created an even wider gap between the users and the medical community. Because the self-administration of anabolics is a federal crime, few users are willing to confess their steroid use to physicians. And because federal enforcement efforts have targeted physicians, few doctors want anything to do with athletes taking steroids. Other than in legitimate and authorized research, physicians must prescribe steroids “for a legitimate medical purpose” and “in the usual course of professional treatment” or risk prosecution as a common drug dealer. Doctors caught distributing steroids for bodybuilding have been criminally prosecuted. The end result is that the people, including minors, using steroids illegally rarely get regular blood pressure checks, cholesterol readings, prostate exams and liver enzyme tests. “Thus, the risks involving the use of anabolic-androgenic steroids have increased well beyond those of the drugs themselves.” As one reviewer concluded: “By forbidding trained physicians from administering steroids in a controlled manner, the Legislature has forced athletes to either buy steroids off the black-market or seek out un-ethical and possibly incompetent physicians to supply them steroids…. [I]t appears that Congress’ attempt at preventing steroid prescription has at best been futile and at worst harmful.”
Preserving Fair Competition in Sports
Issues of cheating, “hollow victories,” “winning at any cost,” etc., were probably the primary ideological foundation for the Control Act. “Permitting steroid users to compete with drug-free athletes reflects on the fairness of athletic competition at every level. Allowing those with an unfair advantage to compete can pressure drug-free athletes to use anabolic steroids to remain competitive.”
The Control Act has been of extremely limited value in addressing this “cheating” problem. Elite athletes are almost never prosecuted under the Control Act, obtaining their steroid supplies through sophisticated channels that avoid detection by law enforcement. The extremely remote possibility of criminal prosecution deters few if any Olympic and professional level athletes. The most effective way to eradicate anabolic steroids from competitive sports is through systematic drug testing. Athletes who fail the steroid test are prohibited from competing. While testing for anabolic steroids is not perfect, it does remove identified steroid-users from the sport and also serves as the most effective deterrent today. Serious athletes devote huge amounts of time, energy and resources into training for an event. The effect of drug testing — preventing steroid-using athletes from competing — is both a more effective and more appropriate deterrent than the Control Act’s threat of making overly ambitious athletes into convicted felons. This is especially true because the vast majority of anabolic steroid users are not competitive athletes at all, but merely otherwise law-abiding adults who are using the hormones for physical appearance.
Problems Created or Worsened by the Control Act
The Control Act has made it much more difficult for those who might legitimately benefit from steroid therapy to have access to it, such as in geriatric medicine. There are many who believe that hormones may an antidote for aging. Serum testosterone levels decline in men as they age: replacement is being suggested as a beneficial therapy with few adverse effects. The restoration of strength, muscle mass and libido in the elderly would greatly benefit society. However, the sweeping stroke with which the Control Act is applied has precluded many favorable applications for the elderly. When “physicians prescribe steroids for other than approved illnesses, they open themselves up to a presumption of illegality based upon the reading of the Anabolic Steroids Control Act.” “By respecting the federal law, physicians may not prescribe steroids to advance the physical strength and condition of the elderly. By subverting a doctor’s determination concerning the best interests of a patient, elders are penalized as well -not for violating the law, but by submitting to it.” “Many illnesses requiring managed care possibly could be eliminated with hormone treatments. This would not only trigger a social benefit but a financial benefit as well. Congress has created a barrier for the revitalizing effects of steroids for the elderly.”
The prudent use of anabolic steroids is also becoming extremely attractive to middle-aged men, the tail end of the so-called “baby boom.” As endogenous testosterone production decreases with age, the use of anabolic steroid therapy (“androgen replacement therapy”) can be a godsend to men in their forties and fifties suffering from low libido and other ailments. Recent research supports the safety and effectiveness of this hormonal replacement therapy, and public awareness has begun. The judicious use of androgens can improve age-related decreases in sexual desire and sexual arousal in many men, and would seem to have a positive effect toward lowering serum cholesterol when used in appropriate dosages. Some progressive experts anticipate that within a few years, androgen replacement therapy with anabolic steroids will be as common for men as estrogen replacement therapy is for women.
In a different area of medicine, specialists are coming to consider anabolic steroid therapy an essential component of the treatment of HIV+ men, greatly improving quality of life by increasing protein utilization for muscle growth (actually stopping or reversing AIDS-related wasting), increasing appetite, stamina and libido, and promoting a general feeling of well-being. The Control Act has sadly hindered the expansion of use for HIV+ and AIDS patients.
Reforming Our Anabolic Steroid Laws
The Anabolic Steroid Control Act has been a prescription for failure. Illegal use has continued unabated and the potential dangers associated with anabolic steroid use have been significantly increased because of the Act. Meanwhile, legitimate uses and vital research have been suppressed. While anti-steroid experts try to minimize the real life effects of the criminalization approach upon those apprehended for merely personal use, the effects of arrest and prosecution, even where a sentence of incarceration is averted, can be quite devastating. This is especially true since most adult steroid users lead otherwise responsible, law-abiding lives.
Steroid prohibitionists have met any challenges to the status quo with resistance, maintaining: “However imperfect our present systems might be, it would be a terrible mistake to consider legalizing performance-enhancing drugs… We cannot depend on athletes making judicious use of steroids during their athletic careers. From the earliest times, the pattern has always been one of excess. Alcohol regulation does not entirely prevent alcohol abuse by youngsters but it serves as a check that is in the best interests of society.” The argument invites two responses. First, the observation about athletes themselves being incompetent to judiciously use steroids more persuasively supports the contrary position. Reforming the law to again allow doctors to be involved in the dosage regulation, administration, and health monitoring of athletes using anabolics would vastly reduce the patterns of “excess.” Second, the analogy to alcohol is well taken in a way that must have been overlooked. Recognizing the failure of Prohibition, Congress changed our national laws regarding alcohol use from prohibition to restriction, permitting use by mature adults but banning sales to minors. Just as our society views alcohol and tobacco as requiring maturity for responsible use, so too should any relaxation of laws regarding anabolic hormones be reserved for adults only.
An alternate solution to the problem is sorely needed, and discourse must begin on the details of the reformation. Regulation as prescription drugs and removal of criminal penalties for adult personal use with a prescription would solve some of the problems created by the Control Act itself. Physicians would no longer fear being arrested for dispensing moderate amounts of anabolics to mature adults for cosmetic purposes. Steroid users would no longer be discouraged from continuous health monitoring. Responsible cosmetic users would no longer be imprisoned or transformed into criminals. Those suffering from AIDS or age-related infirmities would have greater access to needed medications. Funding for anabolic steroid research would certainly increase. There would be a major shifting of the steroid supply to favor legitimately produced, FDA regulated products. Clearly, the two greatest dangers in the use of anabolic steroids today – the use of tainted black market substances and the failure to be medically monitored and supervised – would be averted by this approach. Of course, anabolic steroids would be restricted to adults, and non-physicians caught trafficking in steroids, especially selling steroids to minors, would be subjected to stiff criminal sanctions. Organized sports bodies could continue to ban steroids for participating athletes, with more aggressive testing and punishments.
While there are obvious political hurdles standing in the way of such reformation, it is time for our laws to discard the unqualified view of anabolic steroids as “deadly drugs” for mature adults, based on the medical and scientific truth. The current scheme, with its unsupervised self-administration of potentially dangerous black market pharmaceuticals and the arrest and prosecution of mature adults seeking physique enhancement, is the wrong prescription indeed.
The author has been involved in the defense of numerous anabolic steroid cases in a variety of jurisdictions. He has written extensively and been interviewed by the media concerning anabolic steroid legal issues.
COPYRIGHT (c) 2005 by Rick Collins. All rights reserved. No commercial reproduction of any portion of this material is permitted without the express written permission of the author. (Modified from the version originally published in the New York State Bar Association Criminal Justice Journal, Vol. 9, No. 2, Summer 2001)
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