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2000:
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September
1999 Introduction I must say that I was shocked at the number of visitors to the site, and would like to thank everyone who supported us through their readership. Most of the response was positive, although we did generate a few colorful posts on some of the various message boards. As before, your comments are crucial to the success of this publication and we welcome any input, be it positive or negative. One of the common themes in everyone's feedback was that they wanted more hardcore information. We also received a few complaints about articles that warned readers to be careful when using certain substances, i.e. DNP and Insulin. For those of you who thought these warning were redundant and unnecessary, please remember that many people who come to this site may not be that sophisticated or knowledgeable as yourself. It's important that neophytes to the complicated world of sports pharmacology are fully aware of the dangers involved in using certain drugs. Enough said. I've noticed as of late that it's becoming increasingly easier to legally obtain both testosterone and growth hormone for "physique enhancement" purposes. I know of several clinics that you can now contact and have both of these substances prescribed to you for a variety of conditions. This now allows some of us to legally inject ourselves with hormones for aesthetic purposes while everyone else has to involve themselves in some kind of felonious activity. Makes sense to me. Several things bother me about this whole scenario. First of all, only people with a lot of disposable income can avail themselves of the services of these clinics. Most of the people I know who are interested in using bodybuilding drugs aren't rolling in dough. So, we are left with a situation where I can legally inject myself with growth drugs while my buddy, who isn't as well of financially, must commit felonies to take the same drugs I do for the exact same reasons. Fair? I think not. Secondly, these clinics operate under false pretenses. They claim to exist for hormone replacement therapy, life extension, or rejuvenation applications. However, when they advertise in Max Muscle Magazine or on the Underground Supplement Board, who is their target audience? How many 40-70 year old guys are reading Max Muscle or cruising the bodybuilding boards? These ads, and hence these clinics, are targeted largely to profit from the illegal prescribing of growth promoting hormones for bodybuilding purposes. What we have is doctors profiting from the same illegal activity that steroid dealers are locked up for ever day. Fair? I think not. Let me give you an example of a scenario that is taking place every single day. I email the clinic of my choice and fill out their online questionnaire. They send me some paperwork which I take to a lab and have the prerequisite tests done. After the clinic gets the results from the lab, they send me my prescription for growth and testosterone. After everything is said and done, I've probably paid out at least $1,000 just to get my script. I still haven't even paid for the actual drugs at the pharmacy. Now, my buddy wants test and growth. He goes to his connect and pays maybe $250 for the same thing and walks away with his product. Someone here has committed a crime, I just can't figure out who it is. Just so everyone is clear on something, the FDA has not recently approved either growth hormone or testosterone for physique enhancement purposes. What has happened over recent years is that the FDA has made it easier for physicians to prescribe these drugs for hormone replacement therapy. Now we have enterprising doctors all over the place suddenly interpreting normal blood levels of hormones as deficient so they can prescribe these drugs to bodybuilders. Hooray. For those of us who can afford it, this is a Godsend. For the rest of you, I guess it's tough, you'll have to keep breaking the law. Fair? I think not. Which, in a roundabout way, brings me to my point. When are we going to decriminalize the use of steroids for physique enhancement? Hey, I know it may have sounded like I'm down on these clinics, but that's the furthest thing from the truth. I think it's great that I can drive around with vials of test on my seat and tell a cop to get lost if I get pulled over. But what about the poor bastard who can't? Is the doctor who illegally prescribes me drugs by ignoring the fact that my hormone levels are within a normal range any less guilty of a crime than your local steroid dealer? Every day the line between illegal and legal gets blurred more and more. It's now possible to buy injectable prohormones. I'm sorry, did I say injectable? I meant sublingual or topical. I mean, just because that vial has a rubber stopper and is designed just like a multi-use vial doesn't mean it's meant for injection right? Does anyone think that this isn't going to blow up in everyone's face sooner or later? Bodybuilding is an underground sport. The powers that be generally tend to ignore what's going on in bodybuilding until it becomes more of a mainstream problem. Renewtrient and the other GBL products are a perfect example. Those products existed on the market for some time before the FDA stepped in and pulled them off the shelves, and it's still an ongoing fight. How long will the injectable prohormones remain on the market before enough parents find their teenage kids injecting themselves with Impact 250 and bring it to the attention of the FDA. I can tell you right now, all it takes is for the right person in the right agency to hear about these products and it will spell the end of prohormones for everyone. I will be the first person to admit that prohormones cannot compare in any way to a reasonable cycle of anabolic steroids. I will also defend them by saying that they offer a "natural" athlete, someone who is against the use of illegal anabolics, a chance to enhance their physique far beyond what they could have achieved without their use. However, I look at prohormones in a different light altogether. I looked at prohormones as a major stepping stone towards the decriminalization of anabolic steroids. Given enough time and study, the current JAMA article notwithstanding, I believe the safety and efficacy of prohormones would be proven in a scientific fashion. Once this scenario played itself out, is it unreasonable to assume that some would wonder about the safety and efficacy of certain illegal anabolics and study them as well? I mean, if you've got the government turning a blind eye to norando products, how much longer will it be until some pharmaceutical company sees the profit potential in steroids and attempts to have nandrolone, or some other mild steroid approved as a way to increase lean body mass and decrease bodyfat in normal people? It seems silly to me, in an era where physical perfection is defined by lean, muscular physiques, cosmetic surgery, and implants that we still have these draconian steroid laws on the books. I think it's time for a call for more responsibility in media (that's a new request) when it comes to dealing with the dangers associated with the use of anabolic steroids. Has anyone read that drivel in a recent issue of Maxim magazine about the idiot who almost lost his leg by injecting intravenous steroids? I guess I haven't reached that insiders circle yet where the intravenous versions are available. Is it any wonder that the general public thinks of steroids as killer drugs when we can read articles on roids with more disinformation that a White House press release? Where is the knowledgeable pro-steroid minority when we need them? Where are the physicians who are willing to stand up and take risks and call for an end to this foolishness? Well, their working at those clinics I was telling you about, making a fortune off those of us who can afford their services. |
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