The current state of Supplements, SARMs and new medications in Australia
Australia is a bit of a nanny-state. We have some thing that might be normal for us, like RBT, stop and search under “reasonable suspicion” and the laundry list of quite harmless(And in some cases, extremely medically useful) medications. However, if you tell these things to residents of many other countries, they’d be quite shocked.
While we don’t want people to get get away with driving under the influence, we do take serious issue with the restriction of life improving medicines when they’re banned due to a knee-jerk reaction, rather than serious inquiry into the scientific data behind these substances.
We take the stance that various SARMs, such as LGD 4033, RAD-140 and MK-677 have been thrown into the basket of being a schedule 4 substance from fear and ignorance, rather than a well thought plan to keep people safe and healthy.
Testosterone Replacement Therapy(TRT), although is clinically prescribed, has such a narrow and extreme definition for “needing” it by the AU government that actually acquiring it due to ageing, injury or mild to moderate hormone deficiency is almost impossible.
And this is just the start we are currently looking into peptides, CBD oil, marijuana and a number of other products that anecdotally have been spoken about positively for decades but for some reason has been ignored or actively discouraged by the authorities.
What does the science say?
SARMs were designed as a medicine to help people, and as such, their side effects have been well followed and studied.
If we look at LGD, various studies have looked at the side effects and found that it was well tolerated, had no serious adverse events occur from it’s use, and the side effects that it did have, went after use stopped.
If we look at another commonly used SARM “MK677”, it too has been through many trials and studies looking at their effects on the human body, this one shows that most common side effect was increased appetite(in a SARM used for bulking), mild swelling and muscle pain, as well as a slight change in cholesterol. In short, it was considered to be well tolerated by humans, while showing no serious adverse health effects.
The worst thing about prohibition: It doesn’t work
In the alcohol prohibition era of the USA, a term was coined: Bootleggers and Baptists.
Many people found it quite funny, that the bootleggers were just as supportive of the prohibition as the law; the baptists. They liked the prohibition due to them creating a black market where the price would soar, and legitimate regulation was nowhere to be seen.
Being in the supplement community we’ve learnt that nearly everyone either has been or knows someone who’s been burnt by a shady company. They either send them dodgy products that might “feel” like it’s working for a few minutes until , or they just take the money and run. Making these supplements a scheduled 4 substance hasn’t actually made it harder to get them. Anyone who doubts that could open a new tab right now and search “buy SARMs Australia” and see the proof before their eyes.
The only thing that it’s done is to make it more dangerous to the consumer, and line the pockets of criminals.
Will less regulation help?
A lot of people may see the issue of dodgy suppliers and think “with less regulations, things will get even more chaotic”. While we can see why people would think that, the data shows otherwise.
If we take a look at countries with serious drug problems, such as Portugal in the 90s, we ask ourselves how can we solve this issues. 131 people died in that small nation annually from drug use alone. Over 40% of all heroin users have HIV, and that number was ever growing as the drug trade was booming. The “crackdown” method, we’ve seen and fail all over the world did even less to help the problem. Often a more dangerous drug trade means a more profitable one.
Then they did something in 2001 that surprised and horrified both the law the and drug dealers. They decreased regulation on drugs. No more jail time for drugs possession, increase support to make sure those who bought and used drugs did it safely. Open and honest discussions from the government, to the people about the real effects of all the drugs that neither side took the time to look into the effects of.
In just 7 years, drug deaths dropped from 131 to 20. Crime dropped significantly.
The bottom line is, looking at the data of these substances, and communicating the risks and dangers of them to the public, instead of creating an unregulated wild west for scam artists, is the only way to allow the Australian public to have a healthy relationship with medications.
What can you do?
The most important thing we can do is educate. The people who
We plan on petitioning various officials, using the voices of those who have actually educated themselves about the facts of modern day supplements in an attempt to cause the pressure for change.
By filling out the form bellow you can make your voice heard, saying that:
“I, as an Australian Citizen, Condemn the outrageous criminalization of medicine such as SARMs including LDG 4033, MK-677 and RAD-140, and the use of Testosterone Replacement Therapy by the Federal Government.
We demand a serious inquiry by the Australian TGA into the actual side effects of these treatments, and for the regulations to be changed accordingly.”