The potential dangers associated with performance enhancing drugs have been openly discussed for many years, with numerous qualified, respected voices showing their dismay at the growing trend among athletes to risk their health in pursuit of athletic glory. As a sport where building strength and size is the aim rather than a means to improve performance, bodybuilding receives its share of negative press concerning steroid usage among its athletes. With bodybuilders it is apparent who is using and who is not as, with steroids, the physique takes on a distinctive look, one unattainable without chemical assistance. Bodybuilders, therefore, are often singled out when the media decide to report on the “evils” of drugs in sport. However, almost all sports have some level of drug abuse, as people become increasingly competitive and require an edge over the competition; a situation that is spreading like wildfire. 

Although medical authorities and researchers are increasingly studying the effects of steroids and reporting on their negative consequences, the potential dangers of these drugs have been known since the early 60’s. One man who has received wide commendation for his pioneering work as a bodybuilding promoter, trainer, role model and advocate of healthy lifestyles is Dan Lurie. Dan was also one of the first men to openly talk about what he perceived to be the dangers of steroids. Back in the 60’s and 70’s, when he was heavily involved in bodybuilding promotion through his magazines, Dan spoke out about the steroid-related damage he says he witnessed among some of his closest friends. A man before his time, Dan says he could see the harm steroids would cause the very population he had spent much of his life trying to help. In this interview, Dan discusses his thoughts on steroids and provides some poignant examples of the potential problems they pose.              

Q: What impact are steroids having on the sport of bodybuilding in your opinion Dan?

They are killing the sport and making freaks. The only reason why these shows are successful is that all people want to see the big freaks. They don’t necessarily want to look like that, but they do want to see these guys.

Q: Why do you think bodybuilding should become natural?

Number one, when you exercise you do so to improve your health and looks. You do not do it to commit suicide and to end up with cancer and kidney failure. People who use these drugs often cannot even have children. It is like saying, “take cocaine, it is good for you.” We know what cocaine does.

Q: If steroids were to be removed from bodybuilding, what improvements would we see?

You used to have guys who trained two or three days a week and they were good, but now you have guys who train 14 times a week – they often train seven days a week. Come on, you have to get a life and do other things. I think you would see more desirable-looking physiques if drugs were to be removed, and the competitors could go back to training less as they would need the extra rest. The physiques would be more attainable.

Q: Has all this extra training made the physiques any better in your opinion?

Oh sure they have improved as there is now more competition. There are more people competing today than ever before. Those today have a more freakish look. The natural look is a much better look in my opinion. You take someone like Steve Reeves who never took steroids. He was not the biggest guy in bodybuilding, but he had the most desirable body, one that men looked up to and that women loved. If you show one of today’s guys physiques to a woman they get turned off, show them a physique like Steve Reeve had and it is a different story.

Q: Were steroids used back in the 50’s?

No, not really. Not until the 60’s and 70’s.

Q: When they did come onto the bodybuilding scene was there a noticeable difference in how the physiques looked?

Nobody really knew who was taking what. But the bodybuilder did all of a sudden get much larger. There were also many bodybuilders who died from steroid use.  Not only those who competed in bodybuilding, but those who lifted weights to get stronger: wrestlers and other sports figures. Now what is bad is the fact that women are using steroids, children in high schools are using. Also those who are much younger: children under 13. People at that age do not really know the bad effects of steroids. They figure that if they take steroids they will be bigger as athletes, but they do not know the dangers. 

Q: In your opinion Dan, what are some of the main dangers of steroid use?

Death. Other than that you have the famous people who have had kidney transplants, liver problems. One of the best guys to listen to on the dangers of steroids is Steve Michalik who was a tremendous Mr. America in his time. He exposed the dangers of steroids. They almost killed him.

Q: You have also had involvement with pro wrestling legend Superstar Billy Graham. I understand he had some steroid-related problems.

Billy Graham was an old, old friend of mine, and steroids almost killed him as well. He will tell anyone who listens about this. He got into very bad shape. One of his fans gave him a liver so he could have a transplant and he pulled through. But he is crippled today. He was one of the best-built athletes around. He did not have to go into steroids though. He got caught up. He was like a guy who has never touched alcohol who hangs out with those who do. Eventually they might have just one drink and get sucked in.

Q: And the same thing could apply to steroid use?

That is right. They get sucked in. They do not know what they are taking. 

Q: And Superstar had a great physique before he took steroids?

That is right. He entered my shows and I even managed him for a while when he was wrestler. I published a wrestling magazine.

Q: How did his attitude change when he started taking steroids?

He was an extremely bright guy. He could have been a movie star as he had a mouthpiece on him that allowed him to talk to anyone - a bright, good-looking guy who went the wrong way. He became aggressive. 

Q: So steroids contributed to his downfall in many ways?

Of course: he tells of how steroids almost killed him and that he is lucky he is alive today

Q: Do you know the details surrounding the death of Lyle Alzado?

Lyle was a famous football player who eventually went onto play the Oakland Raiders. He used to buy his equipment from me when he was a kid. He went onto make movies. Steroids eventually killed him as he got brain cancer at a young age (42). They tried to hush it up at the time, but when he wrote his book he said he was on large doses of steroids. These guys do not know when to stop.

Writers note: although there is no medical proof linking Alzado’s steroid use with the brain cancer that killed him at age 42, he was convinced in the months leading up to his death that steroids were to blame. Alzado was reported as saying that his steroid use made his behaviour erratic bordering on crazy and that his steroid use was extreme. He estimated he spent $30,000 per year on steroids and growth hormones.

Q: What are some of the common side effects of steroid use that you have personally witnessed?

Steroids users typically get very angry. They fight with their partners; they have fistfight with their friends. They actually become different people. It is like when someone is drunk. They wake up the next day and do not know what they have done. I used to lecture at schools on the dangers of drugs and steroids. To build a good body you would not eat rotten food, you would eat good foods.

Q: When you lectured on the dangers of steroids, how did people respond to your message?

People were very supportive. I have anther example. One of my famous bodybuilders, Mr. America Don Ross, got caught up in steroids. He competed in a few of my shows in Chicago and he went into wrestling later on. But he never took steroids in the beginning. However, he wanted to look big and they eventually played a part in his death. He looked healthy on the outside, but was all decayed on the inside. It is like someone who has smoked for most of his or her life. They might look okay on the outside, but their whole body is decayed with cancer.

Q: Many people take steroids and they are reality in all sports today. Why are you so opposed to them?

Steroids are very bad, just look at some of the examples I have given you. They were discovered back in Germany where Hitler wanted to create a master race. His doctors were experimenting with steroids at the time. In one of my early 70’s issues of Muscle Training Illustrated I had the dangers of steroids mentioned right on the cover. I told the athletes not to get involved, how they (steroids) are killing people. People would come into the gym and say, “these are not steroids; they are vitamin pills.” The figured if they took these “vitamin pills” that built huge muscles they would get the best results. They did not know they were steroids. At the time (in the 70’s) they were given another name. People would come in and sell them to the different gyms. They were bought in Mexico. I had a famous bodybuilder from Europe, whose name I can’t tell, who would come in with a couple of suitcases full of steroids and when he was finished in America he would go home with over $100,000 in cash. This guy said he never took them himself, but it was one way for him to make a lot of money.

Q: In the 70’s, did steroids become more popular?

Yes, even Arnold took them. He said that he was under a doctor’s care, but I was told that today he suffers health problems. I have no proof of this though.

Q: What message would you give to those who are considering steroid use?

If you want to be healthy, train and eat right, but do not take steroids. If you want to commit suicide take all the steroids you want.