Information from the YRBS and Monitoring the Future surveys shed some light as to how much of a problem anabolic steroid abuse is within Arizona. As mentioned earlier, Arizona ranked first among female abusers (5.3%)- with the next closest state reporting 4.6% (Wyoming). Among male users, Arizona ranked tenth overall with 5.9%. Overall, Arizona was above the national average of 3.9% by 1.7%, putting Arizona at 5.6% overall (rank: 3rd highest). Arizona's population, taken from the 2008 U.S. Census, was 6,343,952 people- with 437,733 people making up the ages between 15 to 19. Estimating the sample abuser rate of 5.6%, Arizona has a potential 24,513 anabolic steroid abusers between the ages of 15 to 19. With the population of 15-19 aged citizens growing at a rate of 13,233 people each year, it can be theorized that every year, 741 adolescents (aged 15-19) abuse anabolic steroids.

Arizona High School Athletes, Steroids, and the News
Given the statistics for Arizona's teenage illegal anabolic steroid use, it is not hard to imagine that there would be various news stories about the issue. In 2003, ten players from the Buckeye High School football team were caught using anabolic steroids. These players were not caught from a random drug test, but rather from one of the player's moms. At the time, no random drug tests were administered to athletes by any high school in Arizona. In 1990, the Paradise Valley Unified School District incorporated a random drug testing policy on their student athletes. Officials from the district reported that there have been zero positive results for anabolic steroids within the past five years. Now, in 2010, the Chandler Unified School District has also put a random drug testing policy into place.

There is also the problem of how the students are obtaining the steroids- surely they are not obtaining these steroids legally from a licensed physician, are they? In a four month investigation, ABC 15 in Phoenix wanted to see just how easy it was to obtain anabolic steroids. Through a hidden-camera campaign, ABC 15 learned of a local medical center's process through the eyes of a potential patient. Through repeated visits, the patient stated that he was in perfect health with only a desire to gain strength and increase muscle mass. The visit with the doctor then turned into a discussion about anabolic steroids and human growth hormone (HGH). From the doctor's visit, the patient then went to the in-house pharmacy clinic, where the prescriptions for testosterone, HGH, and other drugs were filled and given to the patient- complete with lessons on how to appropriately take the drugs. So not only are the adolescents actively trying to find sources anabolic steroids, but licensed physicians are willingly supplying these drugs- even though the patients are in perfect health and do not require the drugs.