Steroid Use

Steroid Use

It is amazing what athletes will do to get that extra edge on the competition and achieve higher levels of performance. Many people to not realize the long-term effects that come from decisions they make early in their lives. These effects can become very clear late in life to a person who uses steroids.

Steroids became available to athletes during the 1950's, but the use didn't become very apparent until Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson tested positive for steroid use after winning the gold medal for the one hundred-meter dash in the 1988 Olympics (Francis, 45). Today, a fifteen year old can walk into his local recreation center and find those who can or can hook them up with someone who sells steroids. Steroids are very attractive to young adults and seem very harmless. Most of the time, however, they do not know the dangerous consequences steroids can have on their bodies and their minds. Though steroids cause a relatively insignificant number of deaths in our society, the banning of steroids is justified because steroids have many side effects not known to the uninformed user.

Some advocates of steroids believe that steroids should be legal. They feel this way because it is the decision of the user to take the drug, and that steroids are not causing a problem in society. Millions of people, causing many deteriorating effects on their bodies, consume alcohol and cigarettes but laws restricting their use are much more lenient. Some people say that the wide spread use of steroids among athletes is forcing the young athletes to use steroids, even though it is against their standards. This is because they know they cannot compete at the level against their opponents who are using steroids to go to the next level of performance. Many people claim that this is how competition is supposed to be. Racecar drivers are out there every day, pushing themselves to the limit. They are taking that corner a little bit faster, putting themselves in danger just a little bit more. This is no different from the risk football players, wrestlers and weight lifters take when they decide to use steroids to take them to the next level. They are the people who justify steroid abuse because of these reasons, claiming that their use in sports and other activities are just the added element that an athlete needs to boost their performance.

There has not been, however, any definite medical research to prove that steroid abuse relates to severe medical conditions (Cowart, 33). Only the warnings that come from users that are currently dealing with medical difficulties those most likely have been a result of steroid use. These people are living proof of the harmful effects of steroids. Cigarettes and alcohol are major contributors to thousands of deaths each year (Cowart, 47).

In addition, the physiological and psychological dependencies caused by steroids are most of the time consistent with steroid abusers (Silverstein, 61). These problems cause personal problems with the user as well as with the family and friends of the user. Once a young user sees the results in his body from the steroids, there is no turning back. When athletes see the performance advantages that they have gained, they will soon want to take more steroids because they will get used to the level they have obtained. These addictions can also lead them to lose interest in friends and family because they are concentrating only on their physique and their athletic improvements. One of the worst results of steroid abuse is "roid rage." Roid rage occurs when a user is cycling on and off steroids (Lukas, 29). This creates a psychological rollercoaster that can lead to