# anabolic steroids
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anabolic-steroids/9132
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 24, 2000, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anabolic-steroids/9132 "2000-03-24T05:32:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2000, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anabolic-steroids/9132/1 "2000-03-24T05:32:00Z")
Are anabolic steroids illegal? My roommate says that they are, but I don’t know. I know they are prohibited in most professional sports (and all college sports), but can you do time for possession of steroids?
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### Author:  [@Thing\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_1)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2000, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anabolic-steroids/9132/2 "2000-03-24T17:04:00Z")
Anabolic steroids are controlled substances. In grad school we needed a special license to order some testosterone for an experiment. It is illegal to posess them without the proper paperweork.
John
* * *
Then he got up on top
With a tip of his hat.
“I call this game FUN-IN- A-BOX”
Said the cat.
-The Cat in the Hat
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### Author:  [@KalEl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KalEl)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2000, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anabolic-steroids/9132/3 "2000-03-25T00:46:00Z")
Spooje, your roommate knows of what he speaks (by the way - do I want to know how you got your name?). You can in fact do time for possession of anabolic steroids, although the violations and likely sentences vary from state to state. I’ll tell you - between the organ failure, shrinking testicles, and jail time, it’s hard to look good anymore. Really, though, penalties are increasing because the drugs are so damn dangerous to users over the long term. If the jail doesn’t scare you, the whole death thing should.