Shortcut to The Rambo Look

By Anastasia Toufexis

Adolescence can be a trying time -- particularly for the teenage boy. He is exultantly proud of his newfound sense of masculinity, but his body, alas, remains an embarrassment. Where are those flauntable biceps and triceps? Earlier generations of frustrated youth sought salvation in Charles Atlas' body-building exercises or strenuous programs of pumping iron. Many of today's teens, however, are subscribing to an ominously simpler solution. Explains Dr. Robert Willix Jr. of Fort Lauderdale: "Before, the 97-lb. weakling on the beach turned to weight lifting. Now he turns to steroids."

Until recently, the drugs were considered mainly the bane of competitive sports and body building. But the alarming fact is that steroids, which are synthetic male hormones, are increasingly being abused by teenage boys for cosmetic reasons. A report last month in the Journal of the American Medical Association revealed that 6.6% of male high school seniors -- and perhaps as many as 500,000 adolescents nationwide -- have used steroids. Nearly a third of the students surveyed took the drugs to acquire that brawny look. Declares "Ian," a 5-ft. 6-in., 115-lb. 17-year-old from Boston, who has been popping pills for three months: "I'm sick of being small. I want to be bigger."

From early childhood, boys learn that the ideal man looks something like Mr. Universe. "Watch Saturday-morning television, and you'll see all these huge, abnormally muscled beings on cartoons and kids' programming," notes Chicago osteopath Bob Goldman. "Conan and Rambo are the heroes." So are sports stars, some of whom -- like Olympic sprinter Ben Johnson and Seattle Seahawk linebacker Brian Bosworth -- are known to have taken the steroid shortcut. Scrawny youngsters, some only 13, eagerly pay between $50 and $400 to black-market dealers for a six-to-13-week cycle of pills and injectables that could turn them into Hulk Hogans. "It takes years to build up a body like that," brags "Rick," 17, pointing to drug-clean weight lifters at a gym outside Los Angeles. "Steroids are quick." Used in conjunction with training, the drugs stimulate cellular processes that build muscle.

But the drug-enhanced physiques are a hazardous bargain. Steroids can cause temporary acne and balding, upset hormonal production and damage the heart and kidneys. Doctors suspect they may contribute to liver cancer and atherosclerosis. Teens, who are already undergoing physical and psychological stresses, may run some enhanced risks. The drugs can stunt growth by accelerating bone maturation. Physicians also speculate that the chemicals may compromise youngsters' still developing reproductive systems. Steroid users have experienced a shrinking of the testicles and impotence. Dr. Richard Dominguez, a sports specialist in suburban Chicago, starts his lectures to youths with a surefire attention grabber: "You want to shrink your balls? Take steroids."

Just as worrisome is the threat to mental health. Drug users are prone to moodiness, depression, irritability and what are known as "roid rages." Ex- user Darren Allen Chamberlain, 26, of Pasadena, Calif., describes himself as an "easygoing guy" before picking up steroids at age 16. Then he turned into a teen Terminator. "I was doing everything from being obnoxious to getting out of the car and provoking fights at intersections," he says. "I couldn't handle any kind of stress. I'd just blow. You can walk in my parents' house today and see the signs -- holes in doors I stuck my fist through, indentations in walls I kicked." Chamberlain grew so despondent, he recalls, that he "held a gun to my head once or twice." Others have succeeded in committing suicide. Warns Aaron Henry, 22, a St. Charles, Mo., drug counselor whose adolescent dependence on steroids drove him close to physical and mental ruin: "When you put big egos and big dreams together with steroids, that's a nasty combination."

Despite such horror stories, teens deny that the dangers apply to them. Willix recalls that after one session in which he warned students to avoid the drugs, two 15-year-olds came up and said, "We hear what you're saying about steroids, but could you tell us which ones to use?" Rick of Los Angeles takes 40 mg of the chemicals daily, but insists, "I'm being careful. I'm taking what I think a doctor would prescribe." Has he seen one? "I will when I'm 18."

Once on the drugs, adolescents find it hard to get off. "People say, 'I'll just take them for three months until I get the look I want, and then I'll quit,' " explains Adam Frattasio, 26, of Weymouth, Mass., a former user. "It doesn't work that way." Bulging biceps and ham-hock thighs do a fast fade when the chemicals are halted. So do the feelings of being powerful and manly. Almost every user winds up back on the drugs. A self-image that relies on a steroid-soaked body may be difficult to change. Chamberlain has a friend, now 29, who has been taking steroids for more than a dozen years. Says Chamberlain: "His mind is so warped that he said he doesn't care if he dies, so long as he looks big in the coffin."

With reporting by Naushad S. Mehta/New York and James Willwerth/Los Angeles