If the substance works in horses to give them an extra dose of power and speed, why not try it in humans as a muscle relaxant. Of course, via online, without a prescription or medical control. This is what gangs dedicated to the illegal sale of thymosin beta 4, one of the drugs that is currently being sold on the internet under the label of “sports pharmacies”, have thought, despite the risk. Most of these substances in this dangerous and illegal market promise to gain muscle and lose fat. And if one of these drugs from the peptide family, so sought after by those who want to build muscle, causes gynecomastia (breast enlargement and secretion of milk), nothing happens. In the same virtual letter, a medicine designed for women who suffer from this disease after childbirth is added. This way the milk is cut off and… problem solved.
The online trade of such dangerous substances ingested without any medical control “is the daily bread on the Internet”, denounces Rafael Areñas, third vice-president of the Official College of Pharmacists of Madrid. A business that has adopted the slogan “renew or die”. These online “sports pharmacies” have been converted. They started decades ago with the sale of anabolics, steroids and other doping substances and now in their new “menu” they have very successful drugs created to attract a very young audience (mainly men) who are looking for the perfect body in record time in the gyms. And for that a miracle is needed, which is what is promised here.
To make things easier (it’s the latest innovation), “medications can now be taken orally (drops), which opens the door to the club for those who are afraid of syringes”, reveals Areñas. And the most worrying thing is that consumers are not aware of the risks they take when they buy these uncontrolled substances online. The most demanded products, from the peptide family (MRSA, GHRP, EPO, growth hormone…), “can cause diabetes, impotence, gynecomastia, hepatitis, kidney and liver injuries, thrombosis…” warns Areñas . Many of these substances are not even yet reviewed by the drug agencies.
The Civil Guard has various investigations underway – most of them based on complaints submitted by pharmacists in Madrid – to unmask the gangs behind these portals. “They don’t stop increasing!” exclaims one of the researchers. In these investigations – we are talking about a serious public health problem – it is found that the postal addresses of these “sports pharmacies” (they claim on their portals that they are physically based in Spain) are false. “Some of the addresses (there are also some from Barcelona) are of plots where there is nothing built or of large warehouses that have nothing to do with the activity in question, and the telephones pretending to be Spanish are also invented ”, reveals an agent of the Civil Guard. The added difficulty for investigators is that the organizations operate with total impunity from other countries.
The main gateway to these websites (they disappear as quickly as they flourish) are gyms. Word of mouth among the customers of these places is the best propaganda. The customer profile is male, very young, who wants to get in shape, not to mention build muscle, in record time. And here appear these fake “pharmacies” with the appearance of legality to make everything very easy for them.
The concern of the police forces and health authorities is the ease with which these “sports pharmacies” find their audience. Body worship is at its peak. This makes it very easy to attract customers willing to buy the products, “and even more so if they are sold from portals that look like pharmacies”, adds this agent. “But these portals are not pharmacies, this must be made very clear so that no one makes a mistake”, repeats Rafael Areñas. Another front that complicates the work of researchers to put a stop to these portals is to be found in the influencers who promote these substances as “miracle products”. The cocktail could not be more perfect and dangerous.
