Bodybuilding is booming in Afghanistan. While bodybuilding has always been popular in the country, it really took off after the United States invasion in 2001 led by former President George W. Bush in response to the events of September 11, 2001. The oppressive Taliban had previously outlawed all music and all sports with the curious exception of bodybuilding. The increasing popularity of bodybuilding since the invasion has been accompanied by a dramatic increase in the use of anabolic steroids.
Anabolic steroids are legal for bodybuilding and performance-enhancing purposes in a country where regulatory issues take a backseat to more immediate concerns involving the stability of the country’s government. The Taliban is still fighting for control leading a blood insurgency against U.S.-led troops and the government of President Hamid Karzai.
Bodybuilders can freely buy steroids at local pharmacies.
“All you have to do is go to a pharmacy and say you need to build your muscles. The pharmacists would happily offer you various types of tablets, powders and vials,” according to one Kabuli bodybuilder.
The Bush Bazaar in Kabul, named after former President George W. Bush, is the most popular source for anabolic steroids. There are no restrictions on the purchase and sale of steroids.
Many Afghanistan youth use bodybuilding to escape the violence and chaos around them.
“I don’t care what’s happening in the world,” one bodybuilder tells L’Agence France-Presse (AFP). “I want to look good and party, man. I want to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger… it’s my dream to look like him.”
The bodybuilding subculture and accompanying steroid use provides them with a sense of empowerment and control amidst the uncertainty of life in Afghanistan.
Still, efforts are being made to contain steroid use in Afghanistan. Mujeeb Ul Rahman Rahmani, spokesman for Afghanistan’s National Olympic Committee (NOC), plans to initiate an educational campaign to address steroid abuse by athletes in the near future.
Source:
AFP. (September 27, 2011). Afghan Arnies gripped by bodybuilding craze. Retrieved from http://www.dawn.com/2011/09/27/afghan-arnies-gripped-by-bodybuilding-craze.html
