HD39 - Anabolic Steroid Misuse Among Minors
Executive Summary: House Joint Resolution Number 88 of the 1988 Session of the Virginia General Assembly requested the Department of Health Regulatory Boards to study the use and misuse of anabolic steroids among minors. The Department was specifically requested to: • determine the extent of the use and misuse of anabolic steroids among minors and the prevalence of a black market for such drugs in the Commonwealth; • determine ways in which youth and their parents can be apprised of the dangers of such drugs; • determine the extent, if any, to which coaches are aware of or condone anabolic steroid use among minors, and; • recommend ways in which the use of anabolic steroids may be regulated. The Resolution observed that while high school athletics have long been an accepted feature of the extracurricular offerings within the system of public education, competitive stresses have led in recent years to the use of dangerous substances in the effort to improve athletic performance. Among these substances are anabolic steroids, the misuse of which may create harmful short- and long-term effects on the health of the athlete. Anabolic steroids may be legally prescribed for a small number of accepted medical purposes. However, the demand for these drugs outside the legal framework has led to a black market for the illegal importation of anabolic steroids manufactured abroad and to the underground marketing of counterfeit drugs of unknown composition and potential for harm manufactured in the United States. These facts -- coupled with documentation that athletes may self-prescribe and administer (orally or by injection) dosages many times greater than medically recommended -- create grave concerns. Upon receipt of House Joint Resolution No. 88, the Director of the Department of Health Regulatory Boards appointed a special task force to conduct the requested study and to report findings for further consideration. The Task Force on Anabolic Steroid Misuse Among Minors appointed by the Director consists of two members of health professional regulatory boards (Board of Medicine, Board of Professional Counselors), a practitioner of sports medicine, law enforcement officials (a Commonwealth's Attorney, and a representative of the Virginia Department of State Police), a practicing hospital pharmacist who recently served as a member and Chairman of the Board of Pharmacy, and two school officials (one public and one private) concerned with high school athletics. This document is the resulting Report of the Task Force on Anabolic Steroid Misuse Among Minors to the Director of the Virginia Department of Health Regulatory Boards. |
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