Bigger Stronger Faster Page #13

Instead of paying somebody on the

black market $500 or $600 for a kit.

CHRIS:
Or, if you have enough

money, you can get it legally.

This is the annual convention

for the anti-aging medicine-

Booth after booth of all the

taboo performance-enhancing drugs.

Stanozolol- hey, that's

what Ben Johnson used.

Nandrolone- isn't that what

Shawne Merriman got caught with?

Oh, and human

growth hormone-

They say Marion Jones

was taking that.

Human growth hormone

usage

has been rampant in baseball

and other sports.

CHRIS:
Athletes use

H.G.H. because it works

A lot like anabolic steroids.

And the best part is,

there's no way to test for

it. Here's how you get it.

First you go to your

anti-aging doctor.

Now the doctor might

not be a medical doctor.

Like in my case-

he's a chiropractor.

And chiropractors

can't prescribe drugs,

but that's okay.

He just has another doctor

write the prescriptions

for him.

But be careful- prescribing

hormones for anti-aging

is a felony. So you can't exactly

tell your anti-aging doctor

that you're interested

in anti-aging.

Not to worry, though-

just use the words

"hormone deficiency" instead.

First thing, doc will want

to do a little physical.

BOTH:
Aagh.

Do you have people come to

you to try to get steroids?

Absolutely.

But prescribing steroids-

That's not what we do,

not at all.

Mm-hmm. But it kind

of is what you do

in a way,

in a different way.

CHRIS:
Next you're

gonna get a urine test

to check your hormone

levels for 24 hours.

That's a take-home test-

you know, scout's honor.

Send in the test and a week

later go get your results.

DOCTOR:
We got your

labs back here-

Urinary growth hormone

output.

CHRIS:
But here's the

thing- since the F.D.A.

has never defined what a

hormone deficiency really is,

Well, doc can pretty much interpret

the results however he wants.

You're a little bit low,

coming down.

I'm gonna bring those

levels up to optimal.

CHRIS:

Now it may seem strange

that the most controversial

drugs in America

are being prescribed

using take-home tests,

and in my case by a doctor

I never met,

but hey, at least I'm not

the one breaking the law.

Why don't you

just get it legally?

Um, I like getting it

the way I get it.

It's cheap

and I can get it

anytime I want.

And I don't think there's

any real reason for me to-

I mean, I don't want

to go to a doctor.

That's a pain

in the ass.

You ever worry

about getting arrested

or cops coming after you

or anything like that?

I'm not all that

concerned about it.

You can justify

anything to yourself.

And once you've

justified it to yourself

then you just think it's

cool. You think it's okay.

So in my mind

it's okay.

I pose the question

to people, say,

"hey, if you had

to take a drug

with the side effects-

known side effects

and the unknown effects

of the anabolic steroids

To keep your job

right now

and support your family,

would you do it?"

Maintaining an erection

is very easy to do

with the appropriate

chemical assistance.

Liquid Viagra

injected into the penis.

You inject this

in your penis?

Yep.

- Does it hurt?

- Um, not really.

CHRIS:
It's not just

athletes and porn stars

Taking

performance-enhancing drugs.

Just about everybody's

in on the action.

Probably the most common thing

is what we call go-pills.

There's probably

different kinds,

but dextramphetamine

is the big one.

They work wonders, they really

do, especially if you've been

out there a long time and

it's hard to stay focused.

What about you?

Yeah, they'll spin you

right up.

Many parents may not be

aware that their children

are taking a drug

by the name of Adderall

to improve their

academic performance.

Adderall is

a powerful stimulant

very much like cocaine

or methamphetamine.

It's not just for people

who have problems.

People who think completely

fine- I've taken Adderall

in college here and there

to write a paper.

And I said, "this is a

fun way to write a paper. "

Your test scores go up

and you're

doing homework faster,

so you can do more work.

All I did when I went to class-

my friends, should I talk to them?

Nope, hold on. And I'd

be doing all my work.

CHRIS:
And for every performance

there's a way

to enhance it.

So you take beta-blockers

to calm you down?

It actually doesn't

calm me down.

It prevents me

from getting nervous.

- Here we go.

- WOMAN:
I was in college

and I was having really really bad

problems with performance anxiety

and it was actually making me question

what I was doing in the first place.

A friend gave me beta-blockers

and I just couldn't believe it.

I felt like I could get up there

and do exactly what I wanted to do

and I wasn't hindered by

what my body was reacting to.

Blocking that adrenaline

goes a long way

towards enhancing

performance.

CHRIS:
So it's okay to

enhance your performance

if you're a pilot,

a porn star,

a musician

or a student,

but if your job is to play

professional baseball,

well, somehow that

makes you a cheater.

CHRIS:
Do you feel it's cheating?

Not at all.

Oh, no, certainly not.

MAN:
There is no

competition in music.

You know, this is

completely unlike sports.

What about

in an audition situation?

- Is there competition there?

- Yeah, there is.

And, you know, a lot

of people take 'em

and I don't see that

there's a problem with it.

Was there any sort of moral

bridge to cross when you did it?

Well, we're

in the porn business.

There's not a whole lot

of morals to begin with.

Amphetamines in baseball-

they actually take the same pill

- As a go-pill.

- Yeah, I've heard that.

In the clubhouse

they're called greenies.

And some in the game say

they could be

more common

than steroids.

In sports

you should play fair.

In war you shouldn't

play fair at all.

PILOT:
I've got some men on a road

And it looks like a piece

of artillery firing at us.

I am rolling in

in self-defense.

Shaq!

CHRIS:

In 2002 over Afghanistan

two American pilots

on go-pills

bombed a group

of friendly Canadians.

PILOT #2:
I hope that

was the right thing to do.

PILOT #1:

ME too.

REPORTER:
Four Canadian

soldiers were killed.

Doctors say the pilots'

snap judgment to open fire

Is typical of someone

on speed.

CHRIS:
The pilots were

charged with manslaughter,

But they blamed

their go-pills

and the charges

were dropped.

No other country

in the world

allows amphetamines

in their Air Force,

But in America

we require it.

TUTOR:
You know, America

is a very competitive place

and people will take advantage

of really anything they can

in order to help

themselves in that struggle.

I hate to say it, the

amount of beta-blockers

that they've got me on right

now- California traffic

- doesn't bother me anymore.

- Really?

STUDENT:
It's too easy

to get it from a doctor.

You say, "I can't

focus in class"

And the doctor prescribes

it automatically.

And when you got Adderall

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