Tuesday, November 17, 2009

The dangers of black market steroids

Many years ago, when anabolic steroid use was in its infancy, the drugs were not so readily available. Only people with alot of money and proper connections could obtain such things. In this modern day and age, steroids are readily available at gyms, clubs, and sadly, even our high schools. Another increasing trend is the use of steroids for cosmetic reasons only. That means that people are using steroids just to get bigger, not nocessarily for a sport or bodybuilding competition.

The following is a true story that happened in New York, but the name has been changed. A young man 23 years of age who we will call James decided he wanted to get bigger, and fast. He began lifting weights and enjoyed it. Although the results he was achieving were good, he was not quite satisfied with the rate that he was putting on muscle. James wanted to get that much bigger, that much faster. James had heard about the risks and benefits of anabolic steroids, and decided that in his case it was worth the risk. However, since anabolic steroids are illegal, James had to resort to the black market to obtain the steroids.

James basically went down to the corner drug dealer to get what he was looking for, without researching the potential side effects, dosage, cycling methods, or anything. The man that James bought the steroids from did not provide any information, although if he did, it would certainly not be accurate medical advice. James decided to procede forward, with no knowledge, and no regrets. He began taking heavy doses of steroids right away, determined that this approach would help him put on muscle mass faster. Unfortunately, what makes steroids so attractive to many young men is that they are indeed effective for putting on muscle mass, and they do work quickly.

One thing most people including James don't understand about using steroids(or any other drug) in large doses is that it severely alters the body's chemistry. The body is such a delicate balance of systems and chemical processes, putting even moderate doses of a strong drug or chemical into the equation can cause severe damage. Putting large doses of a drug into the body is known as toxifying, while getting off of the drug is known as detoxifying. Steroids, like any other drug, must be detoxified from the body. Detoxifying is such a difficult and dangerous procedure, and without strong medical supervision, the results can be damaging or even life threatening.



Unfortunately, James learned that lesson the hard way, and thought that he could just get off of steroids and not have any consequences. What happened was that since James had started off dosing on such large amounts of steroids, his body became chemically dependant on them. When James got off of the steroids, his internal organs began shutting down, without the chemical that they had become so heavily dependant on. James passed out and was rushed to the hospital, but died less than 24 hours later. Sadly, James discovered that it most certainly was not worth it, not to put on a few more pounds of muscle mass.

As with buying any drug illegally, there are no guarantees as to what exactly you are buying. Somebody can just as soon sell you a bottle of rat poison and say that it's steroids. Since such transactions are not regulated and typically face no legal accountability, buying such drugs on the black market is basically like playing Russian Roulette with your life.

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