Carl still remembers the exact day that changed his life forever.

“Oct. 13, 2008, was the very first time I used steroids, but I never thought I would go this far with it,” Carl said.

Three years into steroid use, Carl thinks he, like so many other steroid users, is addicted.

“Anyone who is seriously committed is in some way addicted. I would like to say that I’m not addicted, but in some sense that would be self-deception,” Carl said. “I enjoy all aspects of steroids and never plan on permanently stopping.”

Debra Atkinson, personal training director at Ames Racquet and Fitness argues that steroid users experience effects similar to that of other addictive substances.

“Once they start, it’s like any other addiction,” Atkinson said. “It’s hard to give up that feeling if it works, and you don’t immediately see the down side.”

Becoming addicted is just one of the many risks involved with steroid use. Although rare, science proves that all users are at risk for the negative psychological effects of steroids.

“The psychological effects are highly variable,” said Harrison Pope, steroid specialist, psychiatrist and professor of psychiatry at Harvard University. “Most people who take anabolic steroids don’t get much of any psychological effects, but for reasons that are not well understood, a minority of people can get quite striking psychological effects.”

The effects range in type and extent.

“About one person out of 10 will get really quite uncharacteristically irritable and aggressive on steroids, and one person out of 10 will develop fairly pronounced depressive symptoms after coming off of steroids, especially if they’ve taken them for a prolonged period of time,” Pope said.

For users like Carl, the psychological effects are not even on the radar. Carl focuses primarily on his physical health and monitors it through frequent checks of his blood.

“Blood work is essential. I get it done every 12 weeks or so to make sure my health stays in check,” Carl said. “I use a private lab where you can schedule an appointment at one of their sites. They’ll take your blood and it’s completely anonymous.”

“I also get blood work done with my real doctor once or twice a year, so he doesn’t become suspicious and doesn’t start asking too many questions,” Carl said.

Although Carl uses steroids to his advantage for competitive purposes, not all sports have the option of using performance enhancers.

According to Mark Coberley, athletic trainer for ISU football, the NCAA doesn’t even allow the distribution of supplements to student-athletes.

“We provide carbohydrate-replacement drinks after workouts, but no other supplements are available from ISU athletics,” Coberley said.

Coberley said Iowa State never has problems with steroid use and it has been almost a decade since a case was reported.

“Approximately seven to 10 years ago, we had a player test positive for steroids due to a supplement he purchased on the Internet,” Coberley said. “He lost one year of eligibility and transferred to another institution to finish his remaining year of eligibility following his one-year suspension from the NCAA.”

The NCAA institutes year-round mandatory random steroids testing for Division I football players and those testing positive for substances receive a year’s suspension.

Carl appreciates steroids because they allow him to competitively compete in the sport he loves, powerlifting.

“Hard work will only take you so far,” Carl said. “Everybody has genetic limits. What steroids do is level the playing field and allow people with bad genetics to compete with the people with better genetics.”

Ryan Wagner, certified sports nutritionist at the Ames Nutrishop, thinks that regardless of steroid use, individuals who push their bodies to the limit deserve the recognition that powerlifting and other sports offer.

“Most of us [power lifters] go to a powerlifting meet or body-building show to see just how far the human body can be pushed,” Wagner said. “Regardless of if the person is using anabolics or not, the amount of hard work, dedication and technique that goes into it is at a higher level than most people will ever realize.”

Ruth Litchfield, associate professor of food science and human nutrition, thinks college students’ attitudes toward steroids may be influenced by exposed steroid users.

“College students’ attitudes toward steroids are influenced by athletes like Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez because professional athletes are very influential,” Litchfield said.

Litchfield thinks people take supplements with the idea that they can get the same effect as steroids, and Wagner argues that the confusion about both steroids and supplements leads to negative attention for many products.

Wagner stated that people have come in to the store confused about whether or not the store sells steroids.

“I think the biggest factor is simply that supplements are so widely misunderstood by the majority of the population,” Wagner said. “There is so much misinformation on the Internet, in magazine ads and in the gym that nobody knows what to believe.”

Misconceptions about steroids are widespread.

“One of the most common thoughts for most people is that if a product leads to gains in size and strength, then it’s obviously a steroid,” Wagner said. “This couldn’t be farther from the truth, but since most people don’t know any better, it is easily assumed.”

Carl argued that some supplements are just as bad, if not worse for the body than some steroids.

“Some supplements are awful,” Carl said. “There are some steroids available over the counter as pro-hormones that are essentially drugs that scientists created in the ’60s, but abandoned because they were too harsh. There are a wide range of reasons these can be sold legally.”

Carl, among other steroid users, is frustrated that these drugs and others including tobacco or alcohol can be sold legally as well, even when they are so harmful to the body.

“Alcohol and tobacco kill more people in one day than steroids have in their 50-plus-year history,” Carl said. “Also, they don’t have any positive effects like steroids do.”

Wagner also argues for the fact that the negative hype about steroids is unfair in comparison to alcohol and it is not backed by science.

“Granted, steroids can be extremely harmful to the human body if abused and used excessively, but this is no different than alcohol or other medications,” Wagner said. “In fact, certain anabolic steroids could be extremely beneficial to people of all walks of life including cancer patients, AIDS patients and post-surgery patients.”

Carl admitted he is more afraid of the legal consequences than the health consequences.

“At the moment, I am most afraid of legal consequences,” Carl said. “However, 20-plus years from now, I will need to start worrying about an enlarged heart.”

“I think people are definitely more afraid of the legal consequences,” agreed Jake Prater, vice president of the ISU Weight Club. “The health consequences are likely exaggerated, especially if someone is smart in their use. The legal consequences are possible serious jail time.”

Prater argued the United States places an unnecessary amount of attention on the legality of steroids.

“Steroids will get you similar jail time to hardcore narcotics, and we had a congressional hearing about steroids in professional sports. What a monumental waste of time and money that was,” Prater said. “It is indicative of the response legally speaking of this country to steroids. Would they have done this for some other kind of cheating in baseball? Would they have a congressional hearing on the corking of bats? I am not aware of steroids being a threat to our national health or a serious source of criminal action and violence like narcotics.”

Since there is a substantial amount of risk involved with steroid use, both physically and legally, Carl said that many individuals turn to him when they have questions about different drugs.

“I have done so much research and I do have so much experience,” Carl said. “I’m usually the person they come to. In a sense, it makes me proud to be the knowledge source because I feel like I can help keep them from doing something stupid.”

At Carl’s stage of steroid use, he will no longer see such dramatic changes in his physique ever again.

“You get to a certain point, and the drugs really don’t make a dramatic difference year to year,” Carl said. “At the most from here on out, I can only put on five to 15 pounds of muscle each year because I’m hitting my genetic limit.

“Strength sports are a lifetime commitment and a lifestyle choice for me, and if I want to reach my full potential and compete with the best, drugs are one of the many tools to help get me there.”