Anabolic Steroid Users Are Educated, Older Professionals, Study Says Recently a new study was released regarding the characteristics of anabolic steroid users.
The conclusions, while shocking to some, are hardly surprising. Most users of anabolic steroids are not elite athletes, nor do they meet the image of the desperate addict to recreational narcotics. They're also not the poor children that have been used to justify the USA's ban on anabolic compounds.
No, in fact, the average steroid user is a different and, to many a surprising, animal: approximately 30 years old, well-educated, earning above average income in white-collar jobs. Most reported that they were not involved in any athletic competition, nor did they use the drugs as teenagers.
The study was published by the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, and focused on an Internet survey sampling around 2000 men in the US.
Other findings included the fact that steroid users were almost universally well-educated about the drugs' effects and risks, far more so than the traditional image of the recreational drug user.
To most steroid users, this isn't surprising news. But it does go a long way in showing just how distorted the mainstream view is in regards to the realities of steroid use: both in the drugs effects and risks, and in the people using them.
This study comes on the heels of a similar study released by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Center in New South Wales, Australia. The Australian study showed nearly identical demographics among the steroid users to the American study.
While it can be assured that studies of this nature will continue to be performed, and the evidence showing the blatant overstatement of the drugs' dangers will continue to pile up, the reality is both of these studies are just more confirmation of what's already known: the criminalization of anabolic steroids is not rooted in any sort of scientific or logical basis.
The US government seems to have little if any interest in reality when it comes to such politically-charged topics. However it would be nice is someone could at least acknowledge the body of research instead of the continued burying of their collective heads in the sand.
This article displays the conflicting thought processes quite well:
Exhibit A:
"Although often considered similar to abusers of narcotics and other illicit drugs, non-medical steroid users are remarkably different, following carefully planned drug regimens in conjunction with a healthy diet, ancillary drugs and exercise.
As opposed to the spontaneous and haphazard approach seen in abusers of psychotropic drugs, everything is strategically planned to maximize benefits and minimize harm, the survey found."
Exhibit B:
"Based on the results, the authors said that targeting at-risk teens and "cheating" athletes for steroid abuse is ineffective. The study concluded that a better group to target would be professional men who are driven, ambitious and dedicated to gym attendance, diet, occupational goals and educational attainment."
Now, call me crazy, but don't they just admit in the first passage that the steroid users are by definition not abusing the drugs (you know, since abuse typically implies blatant misuse and haphazard tomfoolery, as opposed to deliberate, intelligent usage), then turn right around and say we need to target these poor lost souls with intervention strategies?
Has it really sunk this low, folks?
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