Sammendrag
Use of doping agents in the general population in Norway received renewed attention when a governmental report was launched in spring 2012. For the first time doping was incorporated in a national drug policy and it was denoted as a germinating social problem. The use of doping agents among the general population is analyzed using qualitative interview data with people who have used anabolic steroids.
The first chapter provides a qualitative interpretation of the various entrances to steroid use. There are several main themes that describe recruitment to the use of doping agents. Common was how the body was shaped and defined on the basis of subcultural defined expectations. Rather than understanding the drug use as motivated by a social body pressure, one can also understand the dispositions as shaped by subcultural norms that largely legitimize and rationalize the use of steroids.
Using Kripos' statistics on drug seizures, internet content analysis and qualitative interviews, various markets for illegal doping is analyzed in chapter two. It seems to be organized around three key sales channels; Norwegian internet forums, private networks and foreign internet shops. The characteristic aspect of the doping economy seems to be a growing sale of products produced and manufactured domestically, and made available for sale via closed internet forums.
The third chapter describes informants' use of steroids and how they present their own practice as opposed to dominant negative stereotypical identities. Gathered around a set of narrative strategies, they drew symbolic boundaries around their use and expressed distance from prevailing cultural beliefs. This can be interpreted as an attempt to distance themselves from potential stigma and to portray their own use in a positive light. The interviewees' negotiations around their own risk may also be interpreted in this way.
Finally, in chapter four, the distance between available empirical evidence from population studies and the general opinion of the Norwegian public about the extent of illicit doping use, is discussed.
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