Our Call to Policymakers
The problem
Nobody knows how many men in the UK are using anabolic steroids. Nobody is tracking the health or criminal consequences. Nobody is offering users genuine medical advice on how to reduce harm.
The Crime Survey for England and Wales does not ask about anabolic steroids. UK police do not record steroid use in crime data. The NHS has no admission code for steroid-related cardiovascular events. The ONS does not report steroid-related deaths.
When a man seeks help for steroid use, the NHS has almost nothing to offer. Most GPs lack fundamental knowledge and have no clinical guidelines to follow. In a 2023 UK study, 80% of endocrine clinicians had treated steroid-induced hypogonadism, yet only 20% felt confident doing so.
Demand 1
Data Infrastructure
The Government should commission a large-scale national prevalence study of anabolic steroid use, including research into long-term physical and mental health outcomes, and build the data infrastructure to measure ongoing consequences.
Demand 2
Clinical Response & Safeguarding
NHS England should develop clinical pathways for the physical and mental health consequences of steroid use, underpinned by NICE guidelines and required inclusion in NHS clinical training.
Safeguarding: The Department for Education should update ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ to include anabolic steroid use as a recognised safeguarding concern, ensuring school Designated Safeguarding Leads are equipped to identify signs of use in under-18s.
Demand 3
Regulated Pathway
Possession being legal while supply and production remain criminalised has created a void in legislation. Users source compounds from the black market via social media with no quality control and no guarantee of purity or dosage.
The Home Office should commission the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to review the scheduling of anabolic steroids. The MHRA should determine which compounds may be dispensed. The Government should then introduce a regulated pathway through licensed pharmacies, substantially self-funding through margins on sales cross-subsidising consultations and blood work while remaining price-competitive with the black market.
Required safeguards
The current reality
0
Large-scale UK prevalence studies on steroid use
0
NHS clinical pathways for steroid users
0
NICE guidelines for steroid-related conditions
80%
Of needle exchange clients are now steroid users
80%
Of endocrine clinicians have treated steroid-induced hypogonadism
20%
Of those clinicians felt confident doing so