The Real Reason Behind the Demonization of Anabolic Steroids w/Rick Collins

Since 1990, anabolic steroids have been classified as a controlled substance even though there’s a lot of data showing that they are actually beneficial. What drove lawmakers to clamp down on steroids? What problems have been created by the prohibitionist approach taken by the government? Why is therapeutic testosterone demonized by the media? On this episode, the foremost legal authority in the area of dietary supplements, fitness law and anabolic steroids, Rick Collins, joins me to discuss the truth behind the so-called risks of testosterone.

When you take a prohibitionist policy to a behavior, if there’s still going to be demand for that, there’ll be an alternative supply. -Rick Collins

Three Takeaways

• Calling it the Anabolic Steroid Control Act ironically took away the government’s control over the quality of the products. Now we have non-FDA produced substances, and use has been driven underground and away from doctors-- which is dangerous.  
• There is a belief that using an anabolic steroid, or even testosterone, is cheating and an integrity issue with athletes. However, the people using these substances the most aren’t even professional athletes.
• When people are confronted with facts that challenge a core belief they are invested in, they often double-down on the false information rather than adopt the new information.
• Unfortunately, the people who don’t believe in the abilities of testosterone are the same researchers and gatekeepers who are keeping it away from the people who need it.

At the start of the show, Rick shared on the shift that took place when steroids became a controlled substance. Then we talked about the true reason behind the classification of steroids as a controlled substance. We discussed how the demonization of substances has contributed to sick care, lack of optimization and obesity culture. Towards the end, we talked about recent findings regarding the use of testosterone for diabetic people.

It’s hard to imagine any other beneficial substance that has been as demonized and thrown under the bus like anabolic steroids. In the last 20 years, the research data supporting the therapeutic uses of testosterone for many things is monumental. We’ve clearly seen how powerful and transformative testosterone can be as a life molecule in changing the biological processes that are broken down due to the various diseases of aging. The problem is the legislature, along with the media and opportunistic lawyers. This needs to change.