Page 126 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 17 February 1993
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POISONS AND DRUGS (AMENDMENT) BILL 1993
MRS CARNELL (10.43): I present the Poisons and Drugs (Amendment) Bill 1993.
Title read by Clerk.
MRS CARNELL: I move:
That this Bill be agreed to in principle.
It is with pleasure that I present the Poisons and Drugs (Amendment) Bill 1993. The purpose of this Bill is to make it an offence for unauthorised persons to possess anabolic steroids. Anabolic steroids are synthetically produced chemical substances derived from the male sex hormone testosterone and are used for medical, performance enhancing and body image changing purposes. They increase muscle bulk, strength and power. They promote muscle development - that is the anabolic action - but cause associated androgenic changes, that is, the development of secondary sex characteristics.
Although researchers have attempted to separate the virilising, that is the androgenic, effects from the anabolic effects of increasing muscle mass, to date they have been unsuccessful. In layman's terms, this means that all the anabolic steroids have adverse effects in addition to the desired increase in muscle mass. Some of these side effects are minor, others are serious and irreversible, and in rare cases the effects can be fatal. In teenagers and young adults who have not completed growth, anabolic steroid use can close the growth plates in long bones and permanently stunt growth.
Other documented side effects include the shrinking of the testes, known in gyms as sultana nuts; the development of breasts, known in gyms as bitch tits, in men who have stopped taking the drug; high blood pressure; and abnormalities in liver function. In fact, up to 47 per cent of sportspeople using steroids have been found to have abnormal liver function. Liver tumours have been found, both benign and malignant. At least 36 cases have been reported, according to the Senate drugs in sport report released in 1990. Impotence and decreased sex drive have been found, as have baldness, changes in hair growth distribution, nose bleeding, severe kidney disorders, acne - the list goes on. If used in women during pregnancy, steroids can impair foetal growth and possibly cause foetal death. Steroids can also lead to psychological changes, causing severe mood swings or raid rages, as they are called in the gyms and nightclubs.
While this litany of potential consequences of anabolic steroid use has been well documented for some years, and popularised in books such as Death in the Locker Room in 1984, it appears that many steroid users do not acknowledge these adverse effects. The Senate Standing Committee on Environment, Recreation and the Arts in its 1990 drugs in sport report said:
The Committee also found the steroid users' attitude disturbing. It is disturbing because individuals who use steroids appear to value their present appearance and immediate prospects of success above their short and long term health and, indeed, their longevity. This results in a denial of the threat to health from steroids.
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