Here’s the deal. You want to know the answer to this question: are prohormones legal in the US. Which is an important question. After all, you don’t want to break the law, do you?
Good. Because if you did, you’d be in the wrong place. But more on this later.
Before we start, there are a few things you should know…
Firstly, when we talk about ‘prohormones’, we mean a whole group of products and compounds that include designer steroids, precursors to steroids and compounds that convert to anabolic hormones in the body. For more details, read this.
Secondly, none of this is legal advice and should not be taken as such. This site focuses on prohormones and supplements that can be bought and sold legally. We’re based in the UK and have different laws when it comes to designer steroids and prohormones. If you want to know more, check out our guide.
Otherwise, keep reading…
So Are Prohormones Legal in the US?
Ok, Ok I was getting to that.
In late 2014, a guy called President Obama signed a law called the Designer Steroid Control Act (DSCA). This change to the law banned the manufacture, sale, distribution and possession of a whole range of compounds and products.
Some of the banned products included Prohormone-Expert.com favorites like Epistane, Halodrol (4-chloro-17a-methyl-androst-1,4-diene-3b,17b-diol) and Superdrol. This ended Superdrol’s reign as the best legal steroid in the USA.
But I digress.
Obama’s new prohormone law also went further to say that any product considered similar or to have similar effects to the list of banned prohormones were also illegal and subject to similar controls and enforcement.
As if this wasn’t enough, enforcement of the law passed from the generally fluffy cuddly FDA (Food and Drug Administration) to the big mean DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration). Buying and selling prohormones became a federal offense.
Overnight.
The fines are also hefty: $1000 per infraction. However each bottle or container of banned product counts as a separate offense. Buy a truck-load and you’d be screwed.
The change to the law is fairly broad in that:
“The absence of a product from the list shall not constitute evidence that the product does not contain an anabolic steroid.”
So, if a product is being sold as if it is a steroid or is a derivative of one of the 25 banned prohormones (check out the full list here) you are breaking the law in the US.
Are There any Prohormones Still Legal in the US?
Although there is a long shopping list of banned prohormones in the US, all is not lost. There have been (and will continue to be) a couple of alternatives.
For example, compounds like SARMs (Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators) were never really ‘legal’ in that it wasn’t possible to sell them as supplements in the same way as herbal ‘testosterone boosters’ in the US.
Instead SARMs were sold as ‘research chemicals’ or ‘experimental drugs’ but bought by bodybuilders and used accordingly.
However this was always going to be an unsustainable position and in 2016, SARMS started to vanish from sale.
The FDA position seems to be that these are drugs and not supplements and the sale of them as such would be illegal.
So don’t expect to see them back on the shelves any time soon.
The take home of this is that science moves pretty quickly and new compounds are being developed all the time.
Government is slow and clunky and will always play catch-up to nimble supplement companies intent on developing the latest wonder supplement.
What about other prohormones? Here’s the thing: As I wrote above, governments are clunky and slow to catch up. Add to this is a highly mobile and nimble supplement industry in the US.
In recent years, alternative prohormone formulas have appeared which are currently available but tread the fine line between what is legal or illegal. Some retailers are willing to supply a limited range of new and modified products including Arimistane – legal for now – and others.
While these supplements are available legally from suppliers like this, they might not be forever.
Is Arimistane a US Legal Prohormone?
Ok, first up, Arimistane (Androst 3, 5-diene-7, 17-dione) is not a true prohormone or designer steroid.
It doesn’t behave in the same way as prohormones or steroids in that it inhibits estrogen rather than increasing anabolic hormones such as testosterone.
You may recognize Arimistane from our post on effective PCT as it’s often used as part of post cycle therapy for prohormones.
Arimistane or ADD was initially missed out of the ‘Great 2014 Prohormone Witch Hunt’ due to the fact that it doesn’t increase testosterone or mimic its effects and isn’t similar to any of the Congress ‘Big 25’ hit-list.
ADD is different to traditional prohormones in that it doesn’t convert to testosterone or any other anabolic hormone. That’s how it stayed legal while everything else got banned.
Instead it reduces estrogen levels which can increase muscle growth. It has also been shown in some studies to reduce cortisol (the stress hormone) which has a catabolic (muscle eating) effect.
So ADD works but it reaches the destination of muscle gains through a completely different route to the likes of Halo and EPI.
However in mid 2018, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) started to get shirty about Armistane being present in sports supplements (more on this here)
This has resulted in a number of ADD products being pulled from shelves including RED-PCT supplied by Red Supplements. However you can still buy Arimistane in the U.S. legally and over the counter, if you know where to look.
Summary: There Aren’t Many Prohormones Legal in the US
Don’t be an idiot. If you live in the US and want to use prohormones, you need to be smart or else wind up in federal court and a criminal.
And broke.
Some new prohormone formulas are available from a limited number of US suppliers though its not clear how long this will last.
SARMs were being used as an alternative for a while, but the increasing risks of buying and selling these in the US are making it harder and harder to find them.
As of July 2018, Armistane is on the FDA hit list which could mean seeing this vanish from shelves. Alternatives are out there such as RED-PCT 2.0.
There are also herbal supplements which can have mild effects (but in no way mimic steroids).
Jack
P.S. We update this post as more information becomes available. If you think it’s out of date or we missed anything, let us know! None of this is legal advice and we’re not lawyers.
