Oh please.
They are perfectly safe to use if you have good connections to get pharmaceutical grade, manage the doses and ancillaries.
Nothing quite like a 12 week 750mg Test E, 300mg Deca stack, (pinning 1x a week)kicked off with 4 weeks of Dianabol at 30-50 mg everyday.
Really, unless you are incredibly unlucky or incredibly stupid, the only side affect you will have is acne.
And the gains, and the feelings of godlike energy (the feeling of having several times more testosterone in your body than when you were 16 is delicious), are worth it. Just don't cycle too often, or do something stupid like blast and cruise.
Also, for your first cycle, just do Test E, 500 mg is fine, for 10 weeks, and see how you do. Different people have different sensitivities. Also, never use underground lab/veternary grade stuff. Inside the USA it is very difficult to get real pharmaceutical grade, but in many other countries the pharmacies will give you whatever you want.
Of course, HCG, post cycle therapy (clomid/nolva), and ample recovery time are necessary.