Scottish transgender activists are facilitating young people’s access to illicit cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers through underground networks, despite a UK-wide ban on these substances for minors. The group Trans Harm Reduction (THR) is at the center of the controversy, offering “harm reduction” services that include workshops on self-medication, sourcing recommendations, and supplies like syringes and needles.
A recent “Self-Med 101” session in a Glasgow bar covered costs, dosages, and “safe” administration, with hosts advising on websites for purchasing the drugs. THR maintains a private list of sympathetic doctors, a fund to subsidize buys, and peer-to-peer Signal groups for discreet distribution. Witnesses report no age verification, minimal discussion of risks like irreversible changes or side effects, and a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on minors.
This defies the UK’s temporary ban on puberty blockers from June 2024, made permanent in January 2025 by the Labour government following the Cass Review’s findings on harm. Supplying these to minors is a criminal offense in Scotland. Police Scotland is monitoring emerging trends and promises proportionate action.
Medical experts warn of severe dangers: “To have organisations that facilitate self-medicalisation with no clinical oversight is dangerous,” an anonymous Scottish doctor said, citing risks of stroke, heart disease, and early mortality from cross-sex hormones.This underground chain bypasses clinicians, exploiting vulnerable youth amid a black market boom.