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Steroids in Ramona? More Likely Than You Think
by Jim Evans
Most parents typically stick their proverbial heads in the sand and feign ignorance when it comes to anabolic steroids. After all, only Olympic and professional athletes use steroids. Their little Johnny — or Jenny (yes, even girls use steroids, although not as much as the boys) — would NEVER use steroids.
• If Johnny gains 20 to 30 pounds in one year and exhibits characteristics of the $6 Million Man of bigger, faster, stronger, he’s just a "growing boy" with a good appetite.
• If he develops severe acne on his shoulders and back, it’s just sign of puberty.
• If he exhibits frequent mood changes and aggressiveness, it’s just his hormones acting up.
• If he starts losing hair in clumps — especially from the top of his head — it’s just stress, because he is studying so hard.
• If he looks red-faced with a "puffy" appearance, it’s just because kids are under so much pressure these days.
And more. While any and all of these symptoms might be caused from reasons other than steroids, they nevertheless should be a cause for parents to be watchful.
Contrary to popular belief, steroids are used not only by youngsters trying to improve their athletic performance — although that is certainly the most common reason for using steroids. Many young people use steroids simply to enhance their physical appearance by increasing their muscle size or reducing their body fat. What they often don’t realize is the possible adverse physical and psychological side effects that may be totally contrary to what they are trying to accomplish in the first place.
Among the common adverse side effects for men include testicular atrophy, severe acne and other skin disorders, baldness, infertility, personality aggression (’roid rage), and gynacomastia (the development of female-like breasts on men).
Women typically experience increased facial hair, male-pattern baldness, deepened voice, and fertility problems.
Both genders expose themselves to the increased risk of heart attack and stroke, liver cancer, eating disorders, tendon rupture, delusions, homicidal rage, mania and HIV.
Unfortunately, research on steroid-education programs shows that teaching about the adverse effects of steroids generally does not discourage young people from abusing them. Like most young people, they believe themselves to be immune from what happens to other people — it just won’t happen to them (National Institute on Drug Abuse).
Statistics from the National Institute on Drug Abuse indicate that more than 2.5 percent of eighth-graders have used steroids; 3.0 percent of 10th-graders; and 3.5 percent of 12th-graders. Of course, this does not account for the seventh-, ninth- and 11th-graders in-between and, while the percentages might appear small, they are significant when applied against the tens of millions of youngsters in these age groups. In addition, the data show that more than 86 percent of youngsters who use steroids will eventually use opioids and other drugs to counteract the insomnia and irritability that they experience from steroids.
There are more than 100 different kinds of anabolic steroids — all of which are regulated prescription drugs — and they are widely available through black market sources including the Internet and foreign countries such as Mexico.
In rural communities such as Ramona, where livestock iscommonplace, steroid abusers often obtain animal steroids such as Equipoise (Boldenone Undecylenate or Boldabol) from unsuspecting local veterinarians under the guise of treating their horses.
Possession of anabolic steroids without a prescription has been illegal under both federal and state laws for decades. Since the 1970s, the Food & Drug Administration, under the Food, Drug, & Cosmetic Act, has regulated steroids and required them to be prescribed and dispensed only by a licensed physician. The Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 1990 categorized steroids as a Schedule III substance and elevated the penalty for simple possession to up to one year in prison and/or up to a fine of $1,000 with substantially increased penalties for subsequent offenses.
The sale of, or the intention to sell, anabolic steroids is a federal felony subject to up to five years in prison and/or up to a $250,000 fine. The latter is where many young people complicate their offense of possession by selling small amounts of steroids to their friends, thus elevating the gravity of their crime.
One of the fastest ways of getting "busted" is by ordering steroids by mail from the Internet. Not everyone gets caught, of course, but many an unwary recipient of mail-order steroids has found federal agents waiting at his or her doorstep.
Steroid use might be more prevalent in California than anywhere else because of the often-exaggerated emphasis on physical appearance and athletic performance in our state. Just over 15 months ago, a popular group exercise instructor and personal trainer in San Diego was arrested by the Drug Enforcement Agency for selling steroids to female members of a health club under the pretense that they were buying "B-Complex" vitamins to reduce their body fat. Coaches and athletic trainers are not immune from selling or tacitly condoning the use of steroids either because of the increased pressure to "win" at any cost, as indicated by the recent Major League Baseball scandal.
But aside from the potential physical and legal risks of using steroids, there is also the moral argument. It is cheating.
Next month: The Price of Winning — Real-life horror stories of athletes who have used steroids and what happened to them.
Jim Evans is a 36-year veteran of the health and fitness industry and a nationally recognized fitness consultant. He was the founder and president of the North American Natural (Drug-Free) Bodybuilding Association — the largest drug-tested body-building organization in the world — and was inducted as a charter member of the Natural Bodybuilding Hall of Fame in 1985. He has worked with the DEA for more than two decades in the arrest and prosecution of persons selling illegal steroids and has testified before state legislations in support of tougher penalties and enforcement for the illegal possession and/or sale of steroids.
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