The Illegal Side Of Steroids
So far, in part one and two of the series, we learned about the essence of anabolic steroids (AC) and how they work in the body, leading to different effects and side effects. We discussed some of the main myths and misconceptions that accompany the subject, and today we will look at another important part of it – the illegal production of anabolic steroids.
Why Do Illegal Anabolic Steroids Exist?
As we mentioned at the beginning of this series, all medical researches on anabolic steroids, refer to substances, that are legally sold to and used by athletes under serious medical control, or used for specific research.
Nowadays, it’s almost impossible to get into a pharmacy and buy a legally produced Anabolic steroid. Even prescriptions for medical purposes are hard to obtain, and require negotiation with doctors and pharmacists.
Basically, what you can buy legally, is nothing but testosterone based oral drugs for old men. This imposes illegal production of anabolic steroids, that are in constant demand by athletes and bodybuilders.
So, again, it’s pretty much all about the money- When there’s a demand for something, but it’s not offered legally, it turns into a billion-dollar illegal business.
Legal Production Of Anabolic Steroids
Before we tap into the illegal side of steroids in more detail, it is worth to mention that legal manufacturers do exist, as there are a couple of companies that produce steroids legally.
However, they do not offer a wide variety of options, but only the drugs used for medical purposes or research, that have been approved by certain institutions.
On the contrary, it is very likely that you will come across an imitation of these drugs- even for some easily accessible and less expensive testosterone-based substances.
Now let’s take a look at and plunge into the reality of the underground market for anabolic steroids.
How Are Steroids Produced?
The legal manufacturers do not offer the active substance, used as raw material for the production of steroids.
These companies either produce the raw material themselves, or buy from a supplier of raw chemical materials.
This leads us to a question- How do unofficial, unapproved manufacturers get the raw materials?
The answer? Mostly Chinese suppliers, that offer raw materials ranging from a good quality at a higher expense, to cheap, low quality materials, which are the most common choice of illegal manufacturers, with just one goal in mind- Profit.
Retail Marketing
If you go to any site that offers Chinese raw material, then write the name of an anabolic steroid in the site’s search engine, you will inevitably find more than 5 companies that offer raw material for the production of the given steroid.
These are companies that offer a variety of materials, and are managed by people whose names consist of an English first name, and a Chinese last name, for example: Mike Chang (That’s just a random name that we chose.)
We do not accuse Mike Chang from sixpackshortcuts of any illegal production of AS though his product did seemed creditable. So, in reality, most retail sellers don’t know anything about the quality of the raw material they are using, nor what the hygiene during the production of it is.
This leads us to the conclusion that purchasing a substance from a shady seller, who grants you results if you inject, is not really the smartest decision you can take. Most of the retail sellers DO NOT care about the end user and their experience with the substance, as much as they care about making a profit from each and every customer.
And that profit is HUGE. We’ll throw this here for you- The profit margin is way more than 5000%.
So, essentially, it’s not that hard to get into the underground of steroids if you have an initial investment, suppliers and some knowledge about chemistry.
However, we do not encourage you to get into that business, simply because it is dangerous and not worth the risk, due to the fact it’s something illegal.
Intermediate-Quality Manufacturers
At the intermediate level of steroid production, we observe manufacturers, who keep track of the quality of the raw material they use to produce AS.
Most of those brands refrain from sacrificing quality for quantity (Profit), compared to the retail low-ball sellers, and their production capacity is way bigger.
These manufacturers rarely tell you their true nationality, as in most cases they introduce themselves as an European or American company, while actually being Russian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Pakistani etc.
The Experts
At the top of the ‘Juice-chain’, we can see some of the biggest, most famous companies of the underground.
These are the manufacturers that have built a name for themselves, have an extremely high production budget and always keep the quality in check.
They either produce their own raw material, or source it from the top-quality suppliers in China. The top companies at this level of production originate from former socialistic countries like Ukraine, Romania, Russia and Moldova.
Other companies along the chain come from Americans, living in Europe or Asia, or Europeans, registered in Asian countries like Thailand.
They promote themselves as manufacturers of veterinary medicine or official pharmaceutical companies and rarely sacrifice quality for quantity, as we said earlier.
The products that these companies offer are the exact ones that the low-ball sellers try to imitate, and deliver to the market- However, these imitations are of low quality and almost never cause a loss of clients for the bigger companies that have proven themselves in all aspects.
The Dangers Of Using Illegal Steroids
Let’s talk about the dangers of using illegal steroids, purchased from low-ball or intermediate-quality sellers (We don’t include the experts here, because, as we said, they have proven themselves over the years, and the cases of bad customer experiences are rare, as most of them are caused by irrational dosage.)
Danger #1 – Infections
The low/non-existing levels of hygiene during production of these steroids can cause the solvent of the raw material to be full of bacteria, that often leads to serious infections at the injection spot.
Danger #2 – Raw Production
Often times, during the production of the raw materials or the steroids themselves, the substances get polluted with hard particles or other production fluids, that may cause toxic accumulations in the body, as well as local inflammations and other unpleasant side effects.
Danger #3 – The Use Of Different Raw Materials
Other dangers of using illegal steroids of unknown quality, include the use of different raw materials than the ones required for the production of a given steroid.
This leads to unexpected side effects and a totally different end result.
You may think these side effects rarely occur and may never happen to you, but in fact, they are not rare at all (especially if the user is not experienced), and when that happens, the consequences for your organism might be fatal.
We hope to have enlightened you on the dangers of using illegal AS, so if you happen to be a trainee who’s looking to get on a cycle- Think twice, especially if you are younger than 24 to 25 years of age and have no idea of the market.
Even though we wouldn’t advise you to use performance enhancing drugs, we cannot stop you if you’ve already taken the decision to do so.
If you’re going that road, make sure to gain complete knowledge of the expected effects and side effects of the substances, as well as finding a trusted manufacturer and seeking help from a doctor that is a professional in that area.
If you liked this article, take a look at the last part of the AS series- The effect of anabolic steroids on the female organism.
