Local pharmacist Johan Moolman said he is gravely concerned about the increase in the number of school children and young adults that turn to using steroids.
The main ingredient in steroids is testosterone that enhances muscle building, said Moolman.
According to Moolman, who has two pharmacies in the area, he noticed the increase over the past year. He said it’s mostly high school boys and university students who buy steroid paraphernalia such as syringes and needles and who openly admit to him that they use steroids. They either want to perform well in sport such as rugby or look good in general. Some of them are ignorant about the dangers and illegality of using the substance and they come into his pharmacies asking to be injected, which Moolman said they refuse to do. Almost all of them say they get it at the gym or from gym instructors.
Moolman said the most popular brand seems to be Deca, which is intended for medicinal use. However, he has not come across a legitimate prescription once in his 14 years of practice. The substance has to be administered under strict supervision of a specialist and never to enhance the physique or build muscles, he said.
“The containers in which the children bring it to me neither have expiry date, company names, contact details nor South African registration numbers. This is a breach of South Africa’s very strict medicine laws. In our country it takes about ten years for a medicine product to be approved. These steroids clearly are obtained on the black market,” says Moolman.
According to him some of the symptoms that parents can look out for are increased aggression, rapid hair growth, sudden increase in body build, depression and acne. The dangers of using steroids include death, sterility, severe depression that could lead to suicide and heart failure.
“What we also see is that these ruthless suppliers start supplying the user with a plethora of other drugs such as cancer medicine to counteract the side-effects of the steroids. These cocktails could be dangerous in itself.”
According to Ross Faragher-Thomas, Managing Director of Virgin Active South Africa, “Since the launch of Virgin Active globally, there has been a zero-tolerance approach towards the use or sale of banned performance-enhancing substances in our clubs, with severe consequences for anyone caught doing so.”
Virgin Active has partnered with the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport (SAIDS) in an on-going nationwide anti-doping education and awareness campaign in the form of workshops. The campaign is designed to educate personal trainers and fitness staff about the negative health consequences of using banned performance-enhancing drugs and has stimulated debate and heightened awareness among the staff.
Virgin Active has put up a series of awareness posters in clubs nationwide to take the drug-free sport messages to members and their families. “The hot-mail line (zero.tolerance.virginactive.co.za) we have in place also makes it easier to report suspicious activities in our clubs,” he said.
“Virgin Active’s lease agreements with tenants and club rules and regulations clearly state our intolerance of substance abuse. As a company, we are vigilant about monitoring any sign that any member or staff member is breaking this code of conduct. This vigilance over the years has included the services of an independent undercover investigative team to monitor the clubs nationally for any signs of unlawful activity or behaviour,” he explained.
“We don’t hesitate to terminate memberships and employment should anyone be in breach of the code of conduct. Depending on evidence gathered, we may hand over evidence to the police,” said Faragher-Thomas.
