Though media attention increases, steroid use seems rare.

While anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing drugs receive increased national attention with the swirling Major League Baseball controversy, their use locally goes largely unnoticed, if used at all.

Though the U.S. government outlawed the use of anabolic steroids without a prescription in the 1980s, classifying them as a Schedule III controlled substance, very few criminal cases are prosecuted, according to Assistant District Attorney Allen Hale, also a former narcotics officer.

Since users don’t have the appearance of being intoxicated, law enforcement officers rarely approach a steroid user. Additionally, someone looking for a “high” or making some quick money on the street most likely wouldn’t care about steroids, Hale said. Anabolic steroids have a very specific purpose: building muscle mass.

“It’s a very closed society of bodybuilders who are interested in steroids,” Hale said.

For these reasons, if people in the area are indeed using and distributing steroids, it primarily goes under the radar. Hale said he couldn’t give an accurate picture of how widespread steroid use is within the circle of bodybuilders, he could only say prosecution for steroid possession or distribution is “very rare.”

However when Murfreesboro gym owner Bruce Michael “Batman” Wayne pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute GBL in 2004 and the DEA uncovered 280 gallons of the steroid substitute, Murfreesboro received national attention as a key link in the supply chain that led to the arrest of Pete Rose Jr. and the largest GBL raid in U.S. history. GBL, while used commonly for muscle building, also converts to GHB, otherwise known as the “date rape drug.” (Interestingly, Wayne did not appear at his sentencing and to this day remains a fugitive from justice.)

Personal trainer Greg Garrett says he has never had any direct contact with steroids in his five years of personal training in the area, but he knows some bodybuilders do use performance enhancers as a shortcut.

“I have assumptions, but I really don’t know for sure anyone who is using them,” he said.

While some jump to conclusions about muscular guys, this is not fair, says Garrett.

“You hear people say, ?that guy over there has to be on steroids,’ but do they know that for a fact?” he said. “They say ?look how big he is, he must be using,’ but certain people are just genetically programmed to be bigger, more muscular or carry more testosterone.”

One competitive bodybuilder says he has never come into contact with steroid use, but the stigma surrounding them is enough for him to avoid even being quoted in this story.

While anabolic steroids are proven to increase strength and muscle mass, the physical effects can also include elevated blood pressure, changes in cholesterol levels, increased risk of heart disease and heart attack and the possibility of liver damage. In males, steroid use can reduce sexual function and sperm production; in females, taking steroids can increase body hair and affect menstrual cycles.

However, some bodybuilders looking for every advantage they can get still take steroids either by mouth or by intravenous injection and argue the government should not prohibit them from taking the drugs. Kevin Lacy, another local personal trainer, says he sees this side of the argument, but also sees the dangers of legalized steroids.

“Many athletes contend that with controlled steroid use the benefits can potentially outweigh the health risks and they should be afforded the chance to use them,” Lacy said. “I say maybe, but what are we going to do with the other 99 percent of us who don’t have self control?”

Lacy said he doesn’t advocate extreme government control of Americans’ lives, but thinks regulating steroids is justified.

But with MLB and other sports, the effects of steroids reach beyond the physical aspects. The idea that a drug gives one athlete an advantage over another doesn’t sit well with baseball fans, says MTSU associate professor of marketing Dr. Don Roy.

“It goes against the ideals of athletic competition,” he said.

If fans perceive some in the game have an unfair advantage and the league isn’t taking steps to correct it, baseball could quickly lose a great deal of fans, Roy said.

“For a sport that’s such a part of our culture, to display such behavior is disheartening,” he said.

While some athletes looking for an advantage will no doubt continue to use anabolic steroids, the perception of unfair advantage added to the legal consequences will encourage them to keep the juice under the radar.