Anabolic Steroid Abuse Linked To Fraud and Weapon Possession But Not Violence

Researchers from Sweden looking into the link between anabolic steroids and crime found some interesting results. Of the 1440 people who took part, 214 people (all but 3 men) with an average age of 20 years tested positive for anabolic steroid use. Those who tested positive for steroid use were about twice as likely to have been convicted of a weapons offense and one and a half times as likely to have been convicted of fraud. People taking part in this study were referred for testing from inpatient and outpatient clinics as well as from centers for treatment of substance abuse, police and customs stations.

When anabolic steroid users who had been referred for testing by a substance abuse clinic, were excluded from the sample the statistical link between steroids and fraud disappeared. Suprisingly, no significant difference between users and non users with convictions for violence was found. In previous research anabolic steroid use has been strongly linked to aggressiveness, feelings of anger, irritability and hostility and acts of violence.

Klotz, Fia, Mats Garle, Fredrik Granath, and Ingemar Thiblin. "Criminality Among Individuals Testing Positive for the Presence of Anabolic Androgenic Steroids." Archives of General Psychiatry. 63(2006): 1274-1279.

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