Anabolic Steroid Statistics
When you hear stories in the news about anabolic steroids, the stories of death and horror, rage and outright asinine behavior you’d think there would be statistics to back it all up. Unfortunately, for those who tell the stories, more often than not the anabolic steroid statistics don’t match up with the story at all. The anabolic steroid statistics often tell a very different story than what many want to hear. In fact, the contrast they create is often so vast it could easily make you question reports on any topic. However, when it comes to anabolic steroids, we understand this is an emotional topic for many people, and due to this fact the anabolic steroid statistics are often ignored in favor of a raw, emotional response. We want to take a look at these statistics, and from there you can decide if the emotional outcry is justified.
Anabolic Steroid Statistics – Number of Users:
The anabolic steroid statistics in regards to how many people are supplementing is a little unclear. There have been several surveys over the years, many of these surveys have the number between 1-2 million American adults supplement with anabolic steroids for the sole purpose of performance enhancement. However, other surveys often have the number closer to 6 million, and based on the amount of anabolic steroids moving through the U.S. market it could be higher than that. Either way, the anabolic steroid statistics make one thing very clear; the vast majority of the population is not using them. Even if the figure is closer to 6 million, that’s a drop in the bucket when we consider there are more than 300 million people living in the United States The next question would be, what to the anabolic steroid statistics say about the users? How many are dying, how many end up in the hospital and who are these people?
Anabolic Steroid Statistics – ER Visits:
While only a small segment of the total population, based on some of the purported anabolic steroid statistics in regards to the risk, you would think the number of people ending up in the emergency room would be high. On average, around 300 people end up in the emergency room each year due to the use of anabolic steroids. In most cases, this is due to an improper injection or injecting an anabolic steroid purchased from a low grade supplier that is infected with bacteria. It is rarely directly caused by the anabolic steroids themselves. To give you an understanding and an appreciation of this low number, let’s look at the common reasons for a visit to the ER in the U.S.
- Alcohol: 200,000+ per year
- Cocaine: 200,000 per year
- Marijuana: 120,000 per year
- Acetaminophen (Tylenol): 28,000+ per year
- Ibuprofen (Advil): 15,000+ per year
- Caffeine: 2,000 per year
- Anabolic Steroids: approximately 300 per year
Anabolic Steroid Statistics – Teenagers:
According to the United States government and organizations like the Taylor Hooton Foundation, the anabolic steroid statistics point to teen use being a wide spread epidemic. There is no way to deny this truth; teenagers have no business using anabolic steroids. The damage it can do to their underdeveloped androgen system is tremendous, and in some cases, irreversible. However, what do the anabolic steroid statistics say about teen use being an epidemic? Remember, it is this supposed epidemic that is largely responsible for prohibiting adults from legally supplementing. In a 2010 study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the NIDA found that the largest number of teen steroid users was high school senior’s. It was determined by their findings that 2% of all high school seniors did or had at one time supplemented with anabolic steroids. Perhaps more interesting were the other findings. The NIDA found that 71% of all high school seniors used alcohol, 43.8% marijuana and 42.2% smoked cigarettes. Teens should not supplement with these hormones, but the anabolic steroid statistics do not point to a wide spread epidemic. In fact, if anything it points to a need for parents to do a better job taking responsibility for their children.
Anabolic Steroid Statistics – Deaths:
As anabolic steroids have been labeled the most dangerous substances on earth, it stands to reason that the statistics should point to a massive amount of untimely deaths. These are not new substances, the first batch of commercially sold testosterone hit the market in 1937, and from there the market grew like wild fire. Since that time, there has yet to be a single recorded death directly linked to the use of anabolic steroids. There are those who have died with anabolic steroids in their system along with hard recreational drugs, and it is possible that the combination was more than they could bear. However, it’s likely those recreational drugs could have led to their death just the same. The truth is clear, the anabolic steroid statistics in relation to death does not produce a single result.
Anabolic Steroid Statistics – Who’s Using:
When we think about anabolic steroid users, we often think of athletes who have lost their way, raging lunatics and people who live in the shadows of society, the very worst of the worst. You’ve seen it in movies and on TV, the distressed athlete goes looking for anabolic steroids and meets up with a guy who looks like a murderer and rapist all raped up into one. The next time you see him he’ll be punching someone in the face, destroying his house and hurting those around him. More than likely he’s been kicked off his team, lost any hope of holding down a job and all those he loved have run for their life. After all, he’s now a monster. That’s all well and fine if it depicted the truth at all, but let’s see what the actual anabolic steroid statistics say about the millions of American men who supplement with anabolic steroids.
· More than 50% of all steroid users in the U.S. are married men.
· The average age of an anabolic steroid user in the U.S. is 31
- 98.5% of all U.S. steroid users are employed
· The majority of U.S. steroid users work in white collar jobs
· 71.4% of all U.S. steroid users have a post secondary degree
· Nearly 90% of all U.S. steroid users play no competitive sport
· The average household income of a U.S. steroid user is $70,00 per year, more than $20,000 greater than the rest of the population
· The failure to complete high school is one of the lowest among any segment of the U.S. population
The anabolic steroid statistics have largely shown us the average steroid user is a fairly normal human being. These are not individuals with deep criminal records, and they are not those you’ll find hanging out in a dark alley. They are every day Americans just like you, but they just so happen to be a little more muscular.
