Nick names/Street names: Anabolic steroids, androgens, hormones, juice, gym candy, roids, vitamins, and product.
Drug Identification: Anabolic steroids are a family of compounds that include the male hormone testosterone, and a large number of synthetic compounds structurally related to testosterone. Anabolic steroids come in pill form, transdermal patches, and as a liquid meant for injection. Currently there are nine types of steroids marketed in the US for human consumption and come under the brand names of Testandro, Tesamone, Android, Depo-Testosterone, Anadrol-50, Oxandrin, Winstrol and others.
Paraphernalia associated with use: Pills, transdermal patches, single use glass ampules, multiple-use glass vials, and syringes.
Methods of use: Steroids can either be ingested orally by a pill, through the skin with a transdermal patch, or injected into muscle via a syringe.
Pharmacology: Anabolic steroids increase protein synthesis, the action that cells use to create proteins. This stimulates the growth of muscles and causes the enlargement of muscle fibers, leading to increased mass and strength. Steroids also decrease fat in muscle cells.
Effects: The medical community is in some disagreement about the effects of anabolic steroids, but there appears to be general agreement that steroid use can result in weight gain and muscle development in some individuals. Although evidence suggests that anabolic steroids are not physically addictive, they can cause serious and potentially life-threatening damage to the human body. Some of the more serious and most common side effects include: cancer of the liver, prostate and kidneys, blood-filled liver cysts, high blood pressure and cholesterol imbalance resulting in cariovascular problems, male breast enlargement, jaundice, baldness, depression. In females, anabolic steroids can result in male pattern baldness, facial and body hair, and deepening of the voice. Many researchers believe that anabolic steroids use also causes increased levels of aggression, often referred to as "roid rage."
Who is using steroids?: A 2007 Study done by Monitoring the Future found that 1% of 8th Graders, 1.7% of 10th Graders and 2.3% of 12th Graders have used steroids in the last year and that males are almost four times as likely to use steroids than females. The study also found that, overall, steroid use has dropped over the last four years which might be attributed to schools testing for steroids and increased control efforts by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
