‘Gain with no pain’: Anabolic-androgenic steroids trafficking in the UK

Abstract

Anabolic-androgenic steroids are performance and image enhancing drugs (PIED) that can improve endurance and athletic performance, reduce body fat and stimulate muscle growth. The use of steroids has been studied extensively in the medical and psychological literature, as well as in the sociology of sport, health and masculinity. From the late 2000s, the worldwide trade in steroids increased significantly. However, trafficking in steroids remains a largely under-researched criminological phenomenon with a few notable exceptions. Currently in the UK there are only small and fragmented pieces of information available relating to steroids trafficking in autobiographical accounts of professional criminals. Drawing on original empirical data, the purpose of this article is to provide an account of the social organization of the steroids trafficking business in the UK. The trade in steroids is decentralized, highly flexible with no hierarchies, and open to anyone willing to either order the merchandise online or travel to producing countries and obtain steroids in bulk from legitimate manufacturers. The patterns of trafficking of this specific type of substance are patently conditioned by its embeddedness in the gym/bodybuilding scene and this greatly affects relations between actors in the business. In the steroids market, one typically encounters a multitude of individuals likely to drift between legality and illegality, online and offline, use and supply.

Social media markets for prescription drugs: platforms as virtual mortars for drug types and dealers

“…prescription drugs as part of multi-drug enterprises, whereas others specialize in the sale of specific prescription drugs only (See Pearson and Hobbs, 2001;Antonopoulos and Hall, 2016;Salinas et al, 2019).…”

Illicit pharmaceutical networks in Europe: organising the illicit medicine market in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands

“…The offline ethnography was primarily conducted in a gym in the Northeast of England in which the use and trade of anabolic steroids is widespread. The gym setting presented the opportunity to acquire knowledge regarding the 'illicit' use and supply of performance and image-enhancing drugs (PIEDs), predominantly anabolic steroids, as well as a number of other pharmaceutical products (see Antonopoulos and Hall, 2016). Further observations and interviews were conducted with a range of consumers, suppliers and professionals outside of the gym setting, who predominantly reside in two urban areas in Northeast England.…”

“…In gym and bodybuilding subcultures in the UK the demand for steroids and various appetite suppressants and supplements is high, and there is evidence suggesting a large counterfeit market in operation. The market for anabolic steroids in the UK has in some respects moved online, particularly for those consumers who are not embedded in the gym and bodybuilding scene and do not have access to suppliers offline (see also Antonopoulos and Hall, 2016). Other factors contributing to the demand for various illicit medicines include the privatisation and individualisation of healthcare practices, and pharmaceutical drug diversion for recreational purposes and prescription drug misuse (see .…”

Bodybuilding and Fitness Doping in Transition. Historical Transformations and Contemporary Challenges

“…The use of PIEDs has increased, internationally, since the late 1970s and onwards (Bates and McVeigh 2016;Antonopoulos and Hall 2016). Previously seen more or less exclusively as a problem within elite sport, the use of doping and the doping market has 'spread' to gym culture, to male bodybuilders, then female bodybuilders, non-elite athletes and more recently among what are perceived to be regular gym goers and fitness enthusiasts Hanley Santos and Coomber 2017).…”

“…Thus, fitness doping seemingly presents a challenge to public health on a global scale. Although recognised in research, the worldwide trade in, and use of, doping substances, in general and in contrast to the continual refinement of anti-doping organisations and work, has continued to increase over time (Antonopoulos and Hall 2016). Furthermore, despite the predominant role played by the Internet concerning the distribution of PIEDs, little is known about the online availability and global distribution of doping products in contemporary societies (Pineau et al 2016).…”