WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley today introduced legislation that would add dehydroepiandrosterone, or DHEA, to the list of anabolic steroids that are classified as controlled substances under the Anabolic Steroid Control Act. The legislation was introduced with Senators John McCain of Ariz. and Dick Durbin of Ill.
DHEA is a steroid precursor that the body converts into more powerful steroid hormones like Andro and Testosterone, which are banned substances, after it is ingested.
“Just a few years ago
as Major League Baseball and its steroid policy were coming under increasingly heavy fire, the top medical advisor to the League turned the tables on lawmakers. He referred to DHEA and accused Congress of failing to write a zero tolerance steroids policy into federal law,” Grassley said. “We must make every effort to put potentially dangerous steroids behind the counter and protect unsuspecting consumers.”
In 2004, Congress passed and the President signed into law the Anabolic Steroid Control Act, which added 18 anabolic steroid precursors to the list of steroids that are classified as controlled substances.
DHEA is banned by the Olympics, the World Anti-Doping Agency, NCAA, NFL, NBA and Minor League Baseball, but it was not included in the Anabolic Steroid Control Act and is available over-the-counter to anyone, of any age, without a prescription.
Like all steroids, DHEA has a number of potential long-term physical and psychological effects, including heart disease, cancer, stroke, liver damage, severe acne, baldness, dramatic mood swings and aggression.
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