According to the Czech police, there has been a sharp increase in the number of young people taking steroids over the last few years. Experts say that social media and the pressure to achieve the “perfect body” play a significant role.
Police statistics show a marked increase in the number of intercepted postal items from abroad containing banned athletic performance-enhancing drugs in the last couple of years. While in 2020, the customs administration registered only one such case, in 2022, there were 41 cases and so far there have already been 36 this year.
The police are trying to target distributors. For example, they recently busted a criminal group that was importing anabolic steroids from China and selling them, says the director of the National Anti-Drug Division, Jakub Frydrych:
“The distribution was taking place mainly in Prague and the Central Bohemia region, but also via the Internet and mail order.”
Even though police officers investigate dozens of cases related to steroids every year, according to Frydrych, their actual use in the population is many times greater.
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Authors: Anna Fodor, Patrik Salát