Anti-Doping: Producing Health or Harm?

Citation

Henning A & Andreasson J (2021) Anti-Doping: Producing Health or Harm?. MESO-Rx Forum [Blog post] 29.09.2021. https://thinksteroids.com/articles/anti-doping-producing-health-or-harm/

Abstract
First paragraph: It will likely come as no surprise that steroids and other enhancing substances carry both risk and potential for achieving specific body goals. The physical risks of use are well known within steroid communities, while the results – both desired and undesired – are visible on the bodies of some of those same community members. What may be more surprising is the broader scope of what contributes to (or reduces) risk when we zoom out from the purely physical side of things and consider national-level laws and approaches to enhancement drugs. For example, some countries have made doping substances – especially steroids – illegal to buy or sell, while others have criminalized possession and/or use similarly to illicit recreational drugs. In other countries it is also possible to buy and use image and performance enhancing drugs (IPEDs) without any real risk of police interference. In general, though, anti-doping responses have largely come to focus on individuals, whether through testing and sanctioning or education and prevention. This focus at the individual and psychological levels has, however, tended to background or even ignore some of the broader environmental factors that shape doping behaviors. Put differently: Though different countries presumably intend to promote health with their punitive approaches, they can ignore the fact that strict policies against steroids may actually structure use environments in ways that result in greater potential risk. And these risks don’t stop with the physical. Rather, laws impact the entire use environment, including social, economic, and political risk factors.