tonight on "nightline," younger, stronger, leaner. from ceos to cops, it's the performance enhancing drug that can make men fitter, more energetic, even better in bed. but there may be a dangerous catch. why even police departments are testing their own for testosterone. chasing anna don days. massive johns, beady eyes and 200 pounds of coiled must is. our team ventures underwater in brazil to get close, maybe too close, to the most fearsome snake on earth. and, from punk rock beginnings to 65 million albums sold -- ♪ don't want to be an american it yotd ♪

>> their 18-year career has created a musical. tonight, we talk with the guys from green day. >> announcer: from the global roe sources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," september 21st, 2012. >> good evening, i'm terry moran. you have could call it the macho man's little helper. the latest performance enhancing drug to sweep the nation. banned in professional sports. testosterone injections have become a magic bullet for men looking for more energy, more muscles, even a better sex life. but for some, the side effects can be dangerously unpredictable. so much so that police departments nation wiwide are n cracking down on their own officers. here's abc's neal karlinsky. >> reporter: chris running has bulging biceps, two homes and

four businesses and still has time for walks on the beach and wine with his wife, rebecca. >> cheers. >> reporter: but he doesn't do it on his own. his secret, a little vial he injects into his leg twice a week. a tiny dose of testosterone. >> i wouldn't run four companies without this program. >> reporter: he is part of a new generation. a driven, successful man who doesn't mind shooting up to get an edge and stay young. in less than three years, he says testosterone has transformed him. stripping away 30 pounds of fat, building muscles that he never had and sharpening his mind to the point that he says he has an absolute edge over the next guy. >> successful business people want to be more successful. and i think if they knew how effective testosterone could be for them, to have even more of an edge, they would be all over it. >> reporter: t, as it is

sometimes been called, has moved from the drug of shame in sports to something marketed by some doctors as a virtual fountain of youth for middle aged men. prescriptions have doubled in the last six years. >> might have a treatable condition called low t. >> reporter: but there are possible side effects. blood clots, prostate cancer, impatience and aggressive behavior. and it's that last side effect that is setting off alarm bells in, of all places, some of the nation's largest police departments. >> it can cause you, basically, to make rash decisions. get angry. when you are talking about someone who is carrying a gun, that's a pretty dangerous situation. >> reporter: amy briton with "the star ledger" of newark discovered a startling case. 240 police officers and firefighters from 53 agencies tied to a jersey city physician giving out questionable prescriptions. in his first interview since the scandal, jersey city police chief thomas comey says his

officers were using testosterone to bulk up. >> when we looked at it, what we determined was, there was a health concern for these officers. we all sanctioned by this government to carry a weapon and potentially use deadly force so you'd like to make sure that that season impacted by a potential increase in aggression. >> reporter: his department is far from alone. we found police departments nationwide, which have begun a new series of drug the u.s.s. no longer just for marijuana and cocaine, but for testosterone and a variety of steroids. a amy brittain found a common theme. >> there was a need to feel stronger, faster, to feel better about yourself. >> reporter: testosterone is naturally occurring, which diminishes with age. but researchers we spoke to say normal testosterone levels fall into an incredibly vague thousands-point scale. in many cases, doctors are

putting enthusiastic patients near the top end of the scale. a hormone level that may feel good, but with uncertain long-term effects. in san francisco, dr. karron power is a believer in testosterone. >> atom by atom, it matches what your body would have made on its own. >> reporter: doctors say the bad press is unfair, but in a strange way, also driving and in. >> so, in that way, the press that the athletes shine on testosterone drives men into the clinic for various other reasons. >> reporter: the new england journal of medicine finds only about 2% of men over 40 should be getting any boost at all. it's a statistic that some t users strongly disagree with. >> you know, why not feel as good as you could possibly feel? i think this is quite as simple as that. at some point, do i have to take growth hormone because it will help me feel better and stay, you know, more fit and perform

better, whatever that might mean? whatever age i'm at? then, i'm certainly do that. >> reporter: a performance enhanced lifestyle, banned on the playing field, growing strong everywhere else. i'm neal karlinsky for "nightline" in california. >> testosterone. thank you, neal karlinsky, for that. next up, our team treld tree waters in the wilds of brazil searching for the biggest and most feared snake on earth, the anaconda. [ diana ] power was very important to me. we test-drove the camry, took it on the freeway, and it was just like -- this was the car for me. [ ryan ] it has stuff that guys like, like the rims and the sleekness to the body. and, then, had the bluetooth and the navigation that diana really wanted. [ diana ] and it was an se, so it felt really grounded to the ground. [ man ] grounded to the ground? yes, yes! grounded to the ground.

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and makes you less irritable. from this west virginia casino. they want marylanders to keep coming to west virginia... casinos like theirs. spending one hundred seventy million a year. question seven will keep those dollars at home. with a limited expansion of gaming that will mean... hundreds of millions for schools in the baltimore area... and across the state... according to the department of legislative services. and with independent audits required by law... question seven means millions for maryland schools. guaranteed. "nightline" continues from new york city with terry moran. >> the anaconda is one of the most fearsome beasts on earth. a giant snake that lives off its

own incredible strength. and rose to pop culture fame as the villain of a cult classic film. so, our team went knee deep into the remote waters of brazil to chase need snakes, aided by one man who has made it his life's work. here's abc's matt gutman. >> reporter: underwater, faced with the world's biggest and deadliest snake, the anaconda. those beady, lifeless eyes. the endless scaled form, over 200 pounds of muscle, sliding a few inches from my face. its head, the size of an anvil. it's the stuff of nightmares, horror movies and native myths. legend has it they drag off children and pelt pets in the . and to my horror, the legend has to be true. why do people fear them so much? >> well, there have been records of anacondas try to get

children. >> reporter: good reason. >> yeah. >> reporter: that's lawrence, who spent months tracking the world's biggest snakes, diving with them and filming them for nat geo wild's secret brazil series. a peek into the untamed world of brazil's savannahs. there, the dry season pushes animals to desperation. the feeding frenzies of the piranha, the cannibalism of the crock's cousin. it's a place where anacondas can bite off more than they can chew. lawrence took us on a journey to the anaconda's heartland. remote bonito. >> hey! bonito. welcome. >> reporter: we unloaded the boats. the stream cool and clear. i'm kind of hoping we don't find one so i don't have to go in the water. >> don't say that. come on, man.

>> reporter: you get to defend yourself with that and i have this. >> no, this is not what you think. >> reporter: and our date with an anaconda approaches. what are we looking for? >> if we see a thick branch that swims, that's the anaconda. >> reporter: we found the stream where just months before, lawrence found this monster. >> the head was giant. as thick of a dive tank. that was a dinosaur. it was a snake that when i look at it, i say, "wow." >> reporter: our local guide is tracking these waters for 50 years and seen these snakes take down a capybara. watch in this video. an anaconda crushes the capybara's bones and begins to swallow. but they only feed a few times a

year. >> they feed off pigs, dogs, chicken. so, the natives don't like them. >> reporter: soon enough, they spot one. >> there's a small one. ready? >> reporter: no, i'm not ready. this is insane. but seeing them in the brush isn't good enough. when the boat gets too close, the anaconda launches itself into the water. we follow it for a few seconds -- but with the flick of its tail, it's gone. what's your face nation? you keep coming back here. you dive with them. >> i think it's a monster, 26 feet. >> anaconda is one of the most charismatic and fay mouts animals from here -- >> reporter: charismatic? >> oh, absolutely. you look into his eyes and he's strong. like the indigenous people, they believe they're not a snake, they're an entity. a lot of myth relating anaconda to the creation of the world. >> reporter: what about that tongue? >> yeah, sometimes it's scary,

like, when it's here. >> reporter: we hop in the zodiac. >> 50-foot anaconda. >> reporter: minutes later, we spot it. >> see the head? >> reporter: a giant, closer to 17 feet. it's now tense as we get into the water. >> even if he's under your legs, don't move. >> reporter: no matter what, don't move? >> freeze. >> reporter: the first was quick and illusive, but watch this one. all 17 feet of it slithers from its snoozing place. under water, you see the giant head coming towards us. we're holding our breath that this anaconda keeps coming. i reach out my hand, tiny, compared to that massive body. between them, they have 40-years plus experience filming

underwater. their shots are steady, calm. mine? frenzied. but the anaconda isn't. it's calm. dissolving effortlessly through the murk. and silently, the giant disappears. i'm matt gutman for "nightline," bonito, brazil. >> wow. "secret brazil" premieres sunday, september 23rd. thanks to matt and the anaconda. just ahead, we hang out with the guys of green day.

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the . they've won five grammys, sold over 65 million albums, kept themselves on the cutting edge of rock for 18 years and even inspired a hit broadway musical. so, what could be next for green day? how about releasing three albums back-to-back, and going on the town with abc's t.j. winick.

♪ do you have the time >> reporter: from underground punk, to serious pop commentary on the state of america. ♪ welcome to a new kind of >> reporter: green day has been blazing their own musical trail for 18 years. ♪ don't want to be an american idiot ♪ >> reporter: with 65 million albums sold, it's been quite a journey for billie joe armstrong, mike dirnt and tre cool. this is the rock star moment, isn't it? >> 20 minutes ago in my hotel room is probably a better story. >> reporter: we kaugd a ride with the try owe this past saturday on their way to play new york's irving plaza. the scene of their first headline show in the city, all the way back in 1994. how do you keep it fresh? there are musical acts that break up because they can't stand each other anymore. >> when we're not on stage, we're hanging out. >> reporter: once teens playing punk rock, they are now men.

>> i'm all of your dads. >> reporter: all around 40, all with chirp. you're all parents, right? >> apparently. >> reporter: can you be crazy punk rockers? >> i think it's good to be honest to your children, let them nope who you really are and, yeah, be real. >> my younger son is a guitar player, so, we have a good language that we can speak with each other through music. i don't think a lot of parents really have that. >> reporter: while they may have more responsibilities now, green day continues to reinvent rock stardom. ♪ >> reporter: this tuesday, they release "uno." the first album in a trilogy. in november, two months later, they unveil "dos. in january, tres. >> we're doing the short

attention span of the can sure and how things go from snooki and j-woww to all of a sudden, insanity workouts and stuff like that. it just -- the way we look at it, we're part of that culture. we're part of having sort of attention deficit disorder. >> reporter: some might consider the staggered triple release a risky move. but for green day, it's nothing new. consider 2005's "american idiot." the rock opera turned broadway musal, now considered by many, the seminole album of the decade. the music was a condemnation of an ambivalent america led by george w. bush. >> we didn't know if people were going to agree with what we had to say or not. it was a bold statement and we made it. you know, it's better to regret something you have done than something you haven't. we don't go by what the trends are, and i think that's what's created our longevity. >> reporter: on saturday, the band played with abandon for

over 2 1/2 hours straight. ♪ whipping the crowd into a frenzy with a mix of old favorites and new releases. incredibly, after all these years, all three consider this the most creative time in their careers. >> we brought everything back into what it's all about to begin with and that is writing a good song. >> reporter: name an award, and they've probably won it. including five grammys. despite all their success, green day has never lost the enjoyment or the innocence of taking the stage for the very first time. is it more difficult on some nights than others? >> as long as we get nervous before we play a show, i think that's the key that we care about what we're doing. and you want to bring everything you have and leave nothing left on the stage every night. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm t.j. winick in new york. >> green day.