Steroid use is all the rage as drug seizures soar


  • Alex Fynes-Clinton
  • From: The Sunday Mail (Qld)
  • April 01, 2012 12:00AM

IMAGE-conscious young men obsessed with bulking up and looking good are behind an alarming boom in steroid use. Customs seizures of performance- and image-enhancing drugs have soared by more than 500 per cent in the past five years, figures obtained by The Sunday Mail reveal.

There were 5559 detections last financial year, compared with 2696 the previous year and only 1090 in 2005/06.

Personal trainers and gym owners say young men are following the lead of beefed-up celebrities, taking steroid use into the mainstream.

Music festival promoters are so concerned about the rise of muscled men at events they are introducing "shirts on'' policies.

Onelove, which runs the Creamfields and Stereosonic music festivals, confirmed men were asked to cover up to keep other patrons more "comfortable in their surroundings''.



Personal trainer Andrew Smith, who works at several fitness centres in southeast Queensland, said steroid use was booming among young men.

"You see it everywhere, even in smaller gyms,'' he said.

"It's a shallow pursuit. I've heard a lot of different people mention that they're going to time their steroid course to peak for a music festival.''

The boom had led to a anti-social culture, he said.

"It's completely cosmetic and from my experience, a lot of those guys who do take steroids are very vain and aren't very personable,'' he said.

Sports Medicine Australia spokesman Stuart Murray said ease of access through the internet was also a problem.

"If you want this stuff, you can get it. I can see this problem just getting worse,'' Dr Murray said.

Gym owner Jason Suna, an ex-amateur bodybuilder who used steroids briefly while competing, said performance enhancers affected him emotionally.

"It stays in your system for about a month and then it starts to taper off everyone starts to mention you're losing weight and it affects your mind.

"These guys aren't even bodybuilding now - they're doing it purely for looks.''