Rick Collins

About the author: Rick Collins is a bodybuilder and criminal defense attorney in New York state who has defended dozens of clients involved with the use and sale of anabolic steroid products.

The medical establishment's characterization of steroids as dangerous is a scare tactic promulgated to preserve the "purity" of athletic competition. Past studies concluding that steroids are ineffective at promoting muscle growth and cause irreversible side effects are not credible and were based on faulty methodology. While there are health risks associated with steroid use, particularly for women and adolescents, recent research indicates that adverse side effects, such as liver damage and psychiatric problems, have been highly overstated. Forty years of steroid use by athletes provides no evidence of a serious health crisis or epidemic of steroid-related...