Research chemicals over recent years have become quite popular in many performance enhancing circles for two simple reasons; they’re highly available and fairly cheap. Even so a constant question remains, are they legal? Go to any of the research chemical websites and they will explicitly say “Intended for Research Purposes Only” and “Not Intended for Human Use or Consumption.” It seems pretty cut and dry and by these statements most assume these products are legal but are they really? The answer may surprise you as it is both yes and no.
Without question controlled Schedule III drugs are illegal to sell, even if it’s normally found in a tablet form. For example, Methandrostenolone, commonly known as Dianabol or Dbol almost always comes in a tablet form and is a controlled schedule III drug; however, it can come in a liquid form as well but due to the scheduled nature of the drug no one in their right mind would try to pass it off as a research chemical only; at least no one with half a brain.
In the United States the majority of the chemicals listed on a research site will fall into the category of what is known as a legend drug, meaning it is a prescription based medication. Many of these medications do not fall in the Schedule III category but this doesn’t necessarily mean they are legal to purchase outright without a prescription. These chemicals still carry with them restrictions as set forth by the law but the question remains, what if the chemical at hand is not intended for human use?
By law any chemical recognized by the U.S. as a drug or although not recognized by say the FDA, if it is intended for human use then it is in-fact a drug. For research chemical companies the main order of business is proving intent and intent must be met with more than a simple warning label or disclaimer on the host website. By the definition of the law “articles intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in man or other animals." Regardless of how you label the item it’s still a drug intended for its original purpose.
Even so, even as we understand the definition of a drug many research companies continue to sell their products without cause for concern by selling it in a more raw form and in some cases it is by this raw form along with the disclaimer that they are able to remove cause for concern. What one does with the product after it is purchased is of no concern to the seller so as long as the sellers intent was not for the buyer to consume the purchased chemicals(s). Obviously intent can be very hard to prove even with disclaimers on a website to aid in the process but when many of these research chemical sites are advertising on anabolic steroid based message boards, as they commonly do, the intent of the sell greatly changes. If you specify your product is not intended for human use but then advertise on a website to individuals who would be and only be using it for just that, then words and disclaimers do very little to sway the opinion of intent.
For several years such research chemical companies have gone largely unnoticed and have been of very little concern to the federal government but it may not always be that way; in-fact, we can say with certainty that it won’t be. There have been several arrest made in recent years dealing with such research based websites where intent was obviously to sell for human consumption or where chemicals had been mislabeled. But what about the purchaser, that’s what most are concerned with? Ordering research chemicals that will in most cases be delivered by mail could raise flags with postal and custom inspectors; questions may be asked. If an individual orders a supply of Tamoxifen Citrate and Liothyronine Sodium from a research company proving intent beyond simple human consumption is going to be very hard for a singular individual to do. It is true, law enforcement will have less interest in someone who purchases these items than pure anabolic steroids but concern can still exist. In short, for most they should be aware, as they are buying research chemicals for personal use the answer is simple; yes, that is against the law but for the individual who is doing so for true research purposes and who is purchasing from a company who truly intends that to be the purpose they are within the realm and safety of the law; in the end it will be up to you and your attorney to prove the true intent if such a time arises.
