PARK CITY, Utah (AFP) — Gym rat and filmmaker Christopher Bell argues passionately for legalizing anabolic steroid use in his documentary film "Bigger, Stronger, Faster," although the brawny bodybuilder insists he does not use the drugs himself.
"It's a hormone that your body produces naturally, so it's a mystery to me why it's so demonized," Bell said at the Sundance Film Festival, where his film premiered this week.
He compared its use to military pilots using "go" pills (dextroamphetamine), musicians using Beta blockers to stem stage fright, or students using Adderall to help them focus.
"I don't think it should be sold over the counter, but it should be legal," he said in an interview with AFP.
Use of performance enhancing drugs by his two brothers however provoked a moral crisis that he explores in the film, and which he also hopes will "start a conversation about steroids."
All three siblings grew up admiring wrestler Hulk Hogan, actor Sylvester Stallone and former Mr. Olympia Arnold Schwarzenegger -- household names whose impressive, muscular physiques were chiseled with the help of illegal steroids.
The trio dreamed of wrestling or bodybuilding fame, and like their childhood heroes, Bell's brothers eventually turned to illegal steroid use.
"In America, we're addicted to winning," explained the film's producer Alex Buono. "We're a country that defines ourselves as the biggest, strongest and fastest," he said. "It's about what you'll do to win."
Bell added: "Widespread steroid use in this country is a side-effect of being American."
"Bigger, Stronger, Faster" debuts as the issue of steroids use by America's sports icons -- and athletes efforts to conceal their illegal drug use -- has become a raging issue across the United States.
Athletics star Marion Jones last week was sentenced to six months in prison for lying to authorities when she said she did not take steroids, as well as for her role in a check fraud scheme.
US baseball home run king Barry Bonds faces charges of lying to a grand jury for denying taking performance enhancing drugs, and former American football standout Dana Stubblefield had similar charges filed against him Friday.
Last week, US lawmakers warned Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig and union boss Don Fehr to implement tougher doping test rules in the wake of a new doping scandal, or have Congress impose them.
And more than 90 players were linked to banned drugs in a report by former US Senator George Mitchell last month, following a 20-month investigation.
That level of scrutiny is fine for the pros Bell said, but not for the casual athlete.
"If you're playing sports and it's against the rules, you should be punished, but if you're just an average Joe who wants to (dabble in it) to improve their body image, it shouldn't be illegal," he said.
Critics say this a slippery slope. Even a psychiatrist in the film suggests that doping for image is often a symptom of poor self-esteem and should be treated, not condoned.
He noted that the word steroids even has seeped into popular US vernacular, pointing to the promotion of "SUVs (Sport Utility Vehicles) on steroids."
He observed: "You wouldn't advertise a sedan on cocaine."
World Anti-Doping Agency spokesman Frederic Donze told AFP: "Are more athletes going to use (performance-enhancing drugs) because they suddenly become more available? I don't know. Drug-testing in sports is improving, so maybe not."
"But for governments around the world, doping is a public health issue," he said.
Bell lamented: "Instead of throwing our athletes under a bus and demonizing steroids, maybe we should reexamine this 'winning at all costs' attitude, this clash between doing the right thing and being the best."
He accused authorities of "digging up skeletons instead of moving forward" with more education, drug-testing in sports and research into the effects of anabolic steroid use.
In the film, he suggested there was little evidence to back widespread claims of serious health woes linked to steroids because the outlawing of casual steroid use has curbed scientific research into its effects.
Since filming, Bell said his older brother still struggles with an "addiction" to steroids.
His younger brother, however, he said, stopped using steroids in order to have a second child with his wife.
Recently, he also broke a California state power lifting record, overcoming his fears of losing his strength if he stopped using steroids.
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