Self-administration of steroids is not illegal in the UK

Officers of the UK will be not able to stop athletes importing steroids to the UK, when they come to participate in the 2012 Summer Olympics. However application of steroids is banned in sports, personal usage of these medications is not illegal in the UK. Just distribution of steroids is considered to be illicit in this country. Thus, if a person wants to import quantity of anabolic steroids which is evidentially large, he/she will not be allowed to do it.
Before Olympic Games took place in Australia, Canada and China, governments of these countries changed laws linked with import and usage of steroids at least temporally. But the British government refuses to change steroid legislation for the 2012 Olympic Games.
Ironically, while the government of the UK doesn’t want to make personal usage of steroids criminal, Britain sportspeople are banned for lifetime, if they administer anabolic steroids. When it comes to the WADA Code, sportspersons who use prohibited preparations are banned for two years.
The Olympic minister Hugh Robertson claims that it is necessary to have a universal policy related to sentencing. This minister insists on at least 4 years or even longer.  Although this minister is supported by the British Olympic Association, the UK Anti-Doping Agency doesn’t agree with such harsh sanction. Andy Parkinson, the CEO of the UK Anti-Doping Agency, confirms that some sanctions must be softened.
The Olympic minister acknowledges that there are different opinions in sports and it’s not well but he doesn’t ask Andy Parkinson to resign.
The spokesman for Hugh Robertson has stated that any sportsperson can have steroids in his/her luggage, when he/she arrives to London. But the quantity of steroids should confirm that he/she has them just for personal intake. The spokesperson has noticed that it is not illegal for a sportsperson to administer steroids under laws of the UK but if any sportsperson is caught taking banned medications, he/she will be punished under anti-doping laws.
The UKAD noted that they would cooperate with border control officials. Information about sportspersons will be utilized by anti-doping officers.
5, 000 drug test, including 1, 000 blood tests will be conducted by the International Olympic Committee.