Anabolic steroids work. And they work damn well. Some of the more popular drugs include: methyltestosterone, metandienone, nandrolone, testosterone esters and stanozolol. Recently, nonsteroidal alternatives to anabolic steroids have been developed that selectively activate the androgen receptor in either muscle tissue or bones.

These so-called selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs) are currently undergoing late clinical trials (IIb) and will be prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency from January 2008. Their entirely synthetic structures are barely related to steroids, but particular functional groups allow for the tissue-selective activation or inhibition of androgen receptors and, thus, the stimulation of muscle growth without the risk of severe undesirable effects commonly observed in steroid replacement therapies.6

Did you read that? Without the risk of bad side effects; then why on earth should they be banned? Should WADA ban cigarette smoking since that sh@# kills more people each year than the average population of an urban Chinese city?!?

Thevis M, Schanzer W. Synthetic anabolic agents: steroids and nonsteroidal selective androgen receptor modulators. Handb Exp Pharmacol, 99-126.