The use of anabolic steroids is skyrocketing according to media reports. The claims seem to be based on two sources: customs seizures data and interviews with personal trainers at gyms in Australia.
Government statistics show a dramatic increase in the number of seizures made by customs in the most recent year. The Australian Customs and Border Protection Service announced that it had made 2695 seizures involving anabolic steroids and human growth hormone as of July 2010. This figure represents a 155 percent increase over the 1054 seizures made in the corresponding period last year.
An Australian customs spokesperson blamed the increase on the explosion of internet websites selling steroids from within jurisdictions that have lax regulations governing the sale of anabolic steroids and other prescription drugs. The spokesperson pointed the finger as Thailand, Hong Kong, Bulgaria, China as well as the United States and United Kingdom.
“The majority of performance-enhancing drugs are detected at the international mail gateways and are generally from internet sites located in overseas jurisdictions which do not exercise the same controls as Australia,” a Customs spokesperson said.
The Newcastle Herald reported that steroid use had increased dramatically this year as gym-goers prepared for the Australian summer. Their source for this assertion was personal trainer Marc Hingston who claimed that 25 to 30 percent of the trainers that work out at his gym were using anabolic steroids. He told the Herald that other health clubs may not want to report such high numbers to avoid looking bad in a competitive industry.
‘‘I know that others [fitness centres] are having big problems but I don’t know whether or not they are willing to talk about it, because it’s such a competitive industry,’’ according to Hingston.
When interviewed this month, Hingston claimed that steroid use had increased from about 5% to 25-30% over the past 18 months at his gym.
This was not the first time personal trainer Marc Hingston was interviewed. He has become the Newcastle Herald’s expert on local trends in steroid use. Nine months ago, Hingston told the newspaper that the market for steroids ‘”had become bigger than ecstasy” over the previous 18 months.
While government reports of steroid use in the United States have shown a dramatic decline in self-reported steroid use over the past seven years, it is possible that trends are different in Australia. It is also possible the so-called epidemic in Australian steroid use may simply reflect the recent hysteria that seems to have surfaced in the Australian media.
Source:
Wingate-Pearse, G. (September 11, 2011). Steroids season starts early. Retrieved from http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/steroids-season-starts-early/2287869.aspx
