Oh, dearie me, bodybuilders at it again

Following on from the steroids worry, now it's human growth hormone. Wanna look buffed and ripped? Human growth hormone (HGH) is the stuff for the gym bunnies, steroids are so yesterday. The trouble is, as with steroids, nobody really knows what long-term, high-dose use of HGF will do to you. In the short-term it seems to do the same as steroids, i.e. you can train harder for longer and recover more quickly, thus eventually achieving that coveted look. Huge muscles, little fat and bulging veins so beloved of door operatives like the late Mr Moat. Once again, bodybuilders are proving themselves to be willing human labs, taking the drugs to get the effects they desire before any real research has come out about long-term use and side effects. And, as with other illicit/grey area drugs who is making the stuff and to what standards is unknown. So there are the risks as with steroids of dodgy gear coming out of dodgy labs with little regard for the end user's and the wider public's health. HGH has been implicated in the possible spread of CJD (Mad Cow disease) and as it's injected the usual risks of poor injection hygeine go along with it.

What should we do?

In the short term, don't ban it, regard it as a health not a criminal problem, get researching and if you are using it; make sure you trust your supplier and have a ready access to clean drugs and injecting equipment. Will this happen? Some of it might, guess which though?

BTW - this photo was uploaded from a generic site with no photo credit. No intention to suggest that the guys in the photo are using, have used any drugs.