Accused of doping? We know the law – and we know the scene.

Self-doping is a criminal offense under Section 3(3) AntiDopG only in organized competition. Anyone who uses performance-enhancing substances outside such a competition is not automatically committing an offense. What matters, however, is this: it is usually not the use that lies at the center of an investigation, but the possession, the quantity and the origin of the substances.

What is often punishable is not the use but the possession of certain quantities. If you exceed the non-minor quantity ("nicht geringe Menge") defined in the German Doping Agent Quantities Ordinance (DmMV), you face a criminal investigation. That threshold is reached faster than most people believe. Personal use does not automatically protect you from criminal liability.

Many standard commercial pack sizes already exceed the permitted thresholds. What appears to be legally available may be relevant under criminal law. Pharmacy or mail-order packaging is based on medical dosing, not on criminal law.

For testosterone enanthate, for example, only three 1 ml ampoules of 250 mg each are still considered a permissible quantity. Yet packs of five or even ten are commonly sold. Simply possessing one such standard pack can exceed the threshold.

The situation is even more serious with tablets. Many preparations are only sold in packs of 100, 500 or 1,000 units of 50 mg each. The threshold under criminal law, however, can be as low as 150 mg. A handful of tablets is enough to trigger criminal liability.

You need legal assistance immediately if you receive mail from customs, after a search, when items are seized as an "incidental find", when you are accused of trafficking, or once a criminal investigation has been opened. An early defense strategy decides whether proceedings are dropped or charges are brought.