Teens On Steroids
 

I read a blog post, it pointed me to Openbook and mentioned drug references.

My own Facebook feed had a chav on it, no idea how he ended up on there, referring to 'steds'. This would appear to be chav speak for steroids.

A search on Openbook is disconcerting. It would appear ickle chavs, 16 and below, popping steroids to try and look 'hard' isn't as uncommon as you'd like to see.

Gems like 'Mitchell Benchpress xxxxxx cn eny1 gt dianabol ?'

Kinda scary the only word he spelled right was the name of the steroid, Dianabol. Struggle to give Mr Benchpress the credit to take the proper liver protection supplements or the correct Post Cycle Therapy regimen after the cycle to ensure his endocrine system returns to normal.

These drugs are quite legal to possess in the UK.

They can be used safely, by adults or under doctor's supervision. The odds of these guys using them safely as opposed to abusing them are I'd suggest minimal, and regardless these power hormones are not for adolescents, they can have serious short and long term effects.

Is this perhaps something we, as a society, need to concentrate some more on rather than marijuana or MDMA/Ecstasy, both of which are considered safer by experts, not that they are ever listened to.

I'm going to repeat that - anabolic steroids can be used reasonably safely.

They are also extremely prone to abuse and misuse, is it something society should be educating teens on along with other potentially dangerous drugs, if for no other reason that they know the risks involved and how to minimise them?

Re: Teens On Steroids
 

I heartily agree..I think we should underline the dangers of abusing all drugs and their potential dangers, prescribed or not..

You are right that we tend to concentrate only on the illegal drugs and those that are proscribed against use by the under 18s..when we should cover the dangers from everyday asprins(potentially dangerous to children under the age of 14)all the way up to heroin and all the drugs legal or otherwise in between.

Re: Teens On Steroids
 

Isn't the banning of certain legal highs evidence that there is some will (however motivated) to tackle the abuse of legal but nonetheless potentially dangerous substances?

Education is the key but if our governments and educators between them can't even manage to teach a sizeable proportion of our youth to write properly what chance do they have of getting the message across that these things can be seriously dangerous?

Re: Teens On Steroids
 

Sadly for a small but growing group in this country the use of steroids is becoming more prevelent and in the ones i have seen it is usually those who have been bullied or feel they are physically not as developed as they should be trying to bulk up. Also sadly they don't have to be prescribed in order for teens to get them at least one gym in my town is well known for being able to obtain just about any steroid you want with two other gyms also highly rumoured to be the same. I have only know two young men who openly admitted using and neither of them were aware there could be serious consequences to using steroids so education as so often is the case is definately a way to go in this matter.

Re: Teens On Steroids
 

Oh the dangers of steroids are easy enough. Some pictures or a meeting with a guy with severe steroid induced gynecomastia along with some pictures of some nice steroid damaged organs should hit the spot.

It's a subject of great interest to me and I have a couple of very informative and above all balanced documentaries on the subject.

Nothing will turn these kids off quite like telling them how evil steroids are, how they'll turn them into raving lunatics trying to murder people as the roid rage takes them, etc, and claiming that they don't actually work anyway. The best route is middle of the road, yes they work, no kids shouldn't take them because a) b) c), yes they can be reasonably safe, they can also be extremely dangerous if misused.

---------- Post added at 09:25 ---------- Previous post was at 09:22 ----------

The group aren't small I'm afraid, however I have no trouble at all with grown men using them, their call, the thing is teens whose hormones are all over the place and who aren't taking the proper steps when they come off them. The testosterone drop that these things cause can, and does, cause depression during the withdrawal stage.

The ridiculous thing is that these guys already have an abundance of testosterone within their bodies from puberty, they've testosterone levels twice those of you and I. They just need to eat right and train hard and they will bulk up anyway :(

Re: Teens On Steroids
 

I'd like to think it'd be as simple as that but graphic shots of the hideous effects of AIDS and syphillis for example, don't seem to have dulled the appetite for unsafe sex amongst our youth. The same applies to smoking and images of cancer riddled lungs. Now that graphic violence is common on our TV/PC/cinema/Xbox screens etc., I think our youth have become desensitised to images like these.

Re: Teens On Steroids
 

True but that's where the gynecomastia comes in. These vain, hormone crazed creatures chasing the 'ladies' like dogs on heat aren't going to like the idea of having female breast tissue - doesn't do much for their chances to pull :)

Re: Teens On Steroids
 

lol

Neither does a deformed todger or a severe dose of genital warts.. ;)