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Publication of ACMD report into anabolic steroids
Issued by the News
Distribution Service on behalf of the Advisory Council on the
Misuse of Drugs (ACMD)
Today the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD)
publishes ‘Consideration of the anabolic steroids’, a report
considering the misuse and harms of the substances.
The
report was written following the ACMD’s increasing concern at the
numbers of anabolic steroid users. Among other findings, the
report considers the potential harms to users due to the patterns
of use and the presence of substandard and counterfeit steroids in
the marketplace.
Professor Les Iversen, Chair of the ACMD, said:
“The misuse and rising prevalence of anabolic steroids is a worrying development. While the health related harms associated with these substances are not as severe as with some other drugs, misuse carries significant risks, particularly for young people whose bodies are still developing.
“More needs to be done to tackle the supply of anabolic steroids and to educate people of the potential dangers.”
In particular, the report notes concerns around the following:
• estimates from the British Crime Survey that 50,000 people aged
between 16 and 59 years had used anabolic steroids in the last
year (2009/2010 data) alongside indications from needle and
syringe programmes of a rise in steroid injectors;
• use of anabolic steroids by adolescents potentially
disrupting the normal pattern of growth and behavioural maturation
and leading to virilisation ;
• that the majority of users inject anabolic steroids and are
potentially at risk of a number of serious harms including
blood-borne viruses such as hepatitis B and C as a result of
sharing used injecting equipment;
• the ease of availability through transnational internet
sites trading in these products;
• that there is no recognised drug treatment provision for
anabolic steroid users in the UK; and
• the existence of substandard and counterfeit steroids
within the marketplace posing a risk to users’ health.
On the basis of its findings, the ACMD makes a number of recommendations to government and industry bodies. It recommends that the legislative framework should be strengthened, primarily through reducing the availability of anabolic steroids. The Council considers that criminal prosecution should continue to be limited to illicit steroid dealers, suppliers, manufacturers and traffickers who profit from this trade as a Class C substance. It recommends improved intervention and education messages aimed at users alongside this.
In line with this, specific recommendations put forward in the report include:
• further restriction to be placed on the importation and
exportation exemption, namely personal custody on importation,
thereby making online ordering of the substances illegal;
• efforts to ensure better availability of credible
information and advice for users of anabolic steroids;
• greater focus on users who present to Needle Exchange
Schemes to assist in addressing the spread of blood borne viruses;
and
• improvements in data collection to better inform
interventions.
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. A full copy of the Consideration of the Anabolic Steroids report can be found at http://drugs.homeoffice.gov.uk/drugs-laws/acmd/.
2. The ACMD’s Anabolic Steroids Working Group was set up to
further consider the Council’s concerns around anabolic steroid
misuse, particularly among young people.
The Group is
chaired by Professor Les Iversen.
3. The ACMD is an independent expert body that advises government on drug related issues in the UK. It was established under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. The interim chair of the ACMD is Professor Les Iversen.
5. For further information on the ACMD go to http://drugs.homeoffice.gov.uk/drugs-laws/acmd/
6. For interview requests or further information please contact Dajinder Rana or Jamie Hamill on 020 7035 3535.
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