To Craig, a hunk who is 24 and works in IT, don’t do any drugs but considers anabolic steroids as his sin. This was according to the article of Penny Wark at Times Online. According to Roy Jones, who runs the advice facility and needle exchange, few of the men who visit the charity Turning Point’s Smart Muscle sessions are so bulked up that they walk in sideways. Most of these “bulked up” men look ordinary and you can find them everywhere. And to have this kind of physique, majority of aspirants turn to anabolic steroids. This substance have been used way back the 1950s, but were only used by bodybuilders, certain athletes and gay clubbers. But now, people using steroids extend to lawyers, students, teachers, prison officers and people from all walks of life. These people use anabolic steroids to bulk up their bodies. These people are not competitive sportsmen, but only want to bulk up for occupational reasons. However, most just want the kind to beautifully toned body they see in advertisements.

Anabolic steroids are actually controlled substances because of the unpleasant side effects it can give when taken out of prescription. Fifty-four anabolic steroids are already controlled, legal to possess for personal use, or illegal to supply in UK. The Home Office is also alarmed because the abuse of these substances is escalating especially in young men. It is even consulting on adding additional 24 anabolic steroids to the controlled list.

It is difficult to determine the exact number of anabolic steroid users in UK. The 1993 report for the Department of Health revealed that an estimated 5 percent of people entering gyms were users. Meanwhile, in a 2006 study in South Wales, it says that users accounted for 70 percent of those who go to hardcore bodybuilding gyms. The British Crime Survey (BCS) estimates that 200,000 people have used anabolic steroids but professionals believe that this number is an underestimate. Jim Mcveigh, head of the substance use at the Liverpool John Moores University and whose study of anabolic steroids was published in March, puts usage at three times the BCS estimate. “Our best indication comes from syringe exchange schemes. We know that more people are engaging with them and that the profile is changing to people who are not competitive sportsmen. They’re doing it because of peer pressure, the media, and for some there’s an economic drive. If you’ve got little educational or occupational aspirations, if you’re big enough and strong enough you can do security work in the grey economy.”

It is also included in the article of Wark that oral anabolic steroids are available but most users opt to inject because the oral version poses greater harm to the liver. The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs has also reported that boys as young as 12 are among the steroid users but do not consider themselves as drug users.

Jones, a former psychiatric nurse who has worked with drug users for more than a decade says that steroid use is more on the vanity and self-esteem side. “They feel under pressure to look a certain way, if they don’t they struggle, and because they’re attempting to improve themselves, they don’t see it as abuse. That’s why it’s best to have a separate service because they won’t turn up if they’re going to be alongside heroin users. We want to tell people about potential side-effects, to allow them to make informed decisions. We work with heroin users in the same way but steroid users are not committing crimes to buy their drugs. They’re not unemployed, a lot of them are in responsible positions and that makes them a difficult group to engage with.”

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