Increase In Ugls In The Uk

[element00]

http://www.shoutoutuk.org/2014/10/02/rise-of-the-underground-steroid-laboratories/

Article linking the rise in UGLs with importation laws. Not really rocket science, but does reflect how poorly considered legislation has direct consequences on AAS related harms

 

[Millard]

http://www.shoutoutuk.org/2014/10/02/rise-of-the-underground-steroid-laboratories/

Article linking the rise in UGLs with importation laws. Not really rocket science, but does reflect how poorly considered legislation has direct consequences on AAS related harms

I have been highly critical of this legislation for the same reasons since as early as 2011 . But who am I to question the wisdom of politicians?

September 28, 2011:

What impact will this have on steroid use in the United Kingdom?

The production of anabolic steroids by UGLs within the United Kingdom will likely explode accompanied by a concomitant increase in the use of UGL steroids by British bodybuilders. Bodybuilders will switch from pharmaceutical steroids to lower-quality UGL steroids.

Unfortunately, this seems largely at odds with the efforts at “harm reduction” by the government. The quality control standards of UGLs are generally inferior to those of legitimate pharmaceutical products (that have been legally obtainable over the internet prior to the current pending amendments.)

Source: https://thinksteroids.com/news/buy-steroids-internet-british-bodybuilder/

April 22, 2012, new amendment goes into effect:

Ok today British steroid law changed. This is GREAT news for UGLs in the UK. They could not have dreamed of such a windfall. Basically, the new amended law eliminates all competition from internet sources on the internet and/or outside the UK. It also gets rid of that "medicinal product" requirement which makes UGL steroids explicitly LEGAL to possess.

Source: https://thinksteroids.com/community/threads/british-ugls-business-booming-who-to-watch.134319644/

April 23, 2012:

The amended steroid law reflects the recommendations made by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (“ACMD”) last summer. The recommendations reflect a blatant disregard for the health and safety of anabolic steroid users.

The primary beneficiary of the new steroid laws are “underground labs” (UGLs) that illicitly manufacture anabolic steroids within the United Kingdom. In fact, UGLs could not have dreamed of crafting legislation that would have been any more beneficial to them!

The ACMD did a few things that will directly and dramatically increase business for domestic UGLs.

1. They recommended the removal of references to “medicinal products” in the old steroid law. Courts had previously interpreted this to mean that the possession of non-medicinal UGL steroids was illegal. The new law makes UGL steroids unambiguously legal to possess for personal use.
2. By banning the importation of steroids, the new law effectively eliminates ALL competition from internet sources or international sources.
3. The new law essentially directs bodybuilders to obtain their steroids exclusively from domestic sources i.e. underground labs if they wanted to follow the law.

Harm reduction organizations are warning Needle-Syringe Program (NSP) workers to be prepared for an increase in the number of bodybuilders who may suffer adverse consequences from the increased use of UGL steroids.

Source: https://thinksteroids.com/news/uk-bodybuilders-steroid-importation-criminalized/

Nigel Brunsdon, the director of Injecting Advice LTD and a planning committee member at the National Needle Exchange Forum, also predicted the rise of UGLs.

April 2012:

At last week's Welsh National Drugs Conference I spoke to Martin Chandler from John Moores University about the implications of this change. Who said:

This will cause a rise in home produced products by illicitly sourced raw testosterone powders, so we'll see a rise in underground products produced in the UK, this is likely to decrease the quality and increase the risk..... and this year in particular there is a crackdown on raw materials as the government have to be seen to be preventing the importation and production of anabolic steroids prior to the Olympics.

Source: http://www.injectingadvice.com/v4/i...eduction-practice/188-changes-to-steroid-laws

The amendment was little more than a token effort to appease the IOC and WADA before the 2012 London Olympics. And here we are 2-1/2 years later and it is still having long-lasting negative consequences for AAS users, harm reduction workers and law enforcement officials in the UK.

 

[element00]

Ha Millard should have known you would have been across this since its inception

 

[element00]

http://www.sg.unimaas.nl/_OLD/oudelezingen/dddsd.pdf

@Millard Baker not sure if you saw this work from David Nutt. He was the Chief Drug Adviser with the ACMD until he was sacked in 2009 by government for publicly advocating against the UK approach and promoting Harm reduction. He at one point, before his demise, identified that horse riding was more dangerous than taking ecstasy. Obviously something drug legislators don't want to hear. In the end he got the chop over his views on cannabis.

This article though rates a range of substances on a scale of harm. I haven't read it for a long time, but you can see AAS is well down the list. In fact it should probably rate even lower

 

[Millard]

http://www.sg.unimaas.nl/_OLD/oudelezingen/dddsd.pdf

@Millard Baker not sure if you saw this work from David Nutt. He was the Chief Drug Adviser with the ACMD until he was sacked in 2009 by government for publicly advocating against the UK approach and promoting Harm reduction. He at one point, before his demise, identified that horse riding was more dangerous than taking ecstasy. Obviously something drug legislators don't want to hear. In the end he got the chop over his views on cannabis.

This article though rates a range of substances on a scale of harm. I haven't read it for a long time, but you can see AAS is well down the list. In fact it should probably rate even lower

I remember the study but I was not familiar with the researcher and the politics behind his dismissal. Thank you @element00 for this!

The charts displaying the results and relative harm of various drugs are powerful:

 

[Millard]

I'll be spending time today learning more about Dr. Nutt. It's good to see he is active on the Internet with his own website:

http://www.drugscience.org.uk/

As well as social media:

https://twitter.com/ProfDavidNutt

 

[xupc]

AAS harm reduction in the UK is a joke. It is virtually non existant.

 

[xupc]

I remember the study but I was not familiar with the researcher and the politics behind his dismissal. Thank you @element00 for this!

The charts displaying the results and relative harm of various drugs are powerful:
View attachment 16771 View attachment 16772 View attachment 16773

Can someone link the study please?

 

[Millard]

http://www.sg.unimaas.nl/_OLD/oudelezingen/dddsd.pdf

Can someone link the study please?

It's in @element00's post that I quoted.