The illicit steroid market, 'organized crime' and the diverging policies of Belgium and the Netherlands

Abstract

Due to a growing awareness of the consumption of performance and image enhancing drugs (PIEDs), and the stated adverse health effects that come with it, PIEDs have increasingly come to be viewed as a serious public health problem. A main concern of authorities is that the majority of PIEDs are not legally obtained through a physician, by means of a prescription, but rather are being illegally purchased on the black market. Sport officials and state authorities suggest that the illegal PIED market is being driven by economically motivated individuals and dangerous groups often associated with 'organized crime'.