Steroid and Performance-Enhancing Drugs: Not Just in America's Society
Marc Schexnayder
Through his Mitchell Investigation, former U.S.
Senator George Mitchell is quoted as saying, “For more than a decade there has
been widespread illegal use of anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing
substances by players in Major League Baseball” (Mitchell, 2007). Illegal
steroid and performance enhancing drug use has not only affected baseball
players. Athletes from around the world have been using illegal substances
to get an edge over their competitors since the turn of the twentieth century.
Steroid use not only affects the athletes, but also those who look up to the
athletes and consider using these illegal drugs as well. Steroid and
performance-enhancing drug use has escalated into a worldwide issue, and has
proven to affect communities as a whole.
Steroid Use and its Dangers
Despite what many may think, steroids and performance
enhancing drugs have more effects on one’s body than merely to enlarge muscle
mass. Anabolic steroids are prescribed by doctors to treat problems such
as “delayed puberty and other medical problems that cause the body to make very
low amounts of testosterone” (Poore, 2007). Research has shown that
individuals who are not athletes take these illegal drugs to increase muscle
mass and also to increase physical attraction. Some that inject steroids
into their bodies also claim one of their reasons for using the drug is to
increase their own self-confidence, especially when it comes to attracting a
partner.
Those who use these illegal supplements suffer
consequences from their actions. For men, steroids can shrink one’s
testicles, expand breast size, and reduce sperm count. For women, steroids
can deepen one’s voice, decrease the breast size, and increase body hair (WebMD,
2007). In both men and women, taking too many anabolic steroids to
increase athletic performance can cause “roid rage,” resulting in an outburst of
aggressive behavior, stunt growth, heart attacks, or even death. This is
apparent with professional wrestler Chris Benoit.
Canadian Chris Benoit, one of the more recognizable
wrestlers in the World Wrestling Entertainment, received drugs from
medxlife.com, which is an online business in Florida that sells steroids, HGH,
and testosterone. I believe these steroids ultimately led Benoit to
experience “roid rage” over a period of a few days in late June of 2007, which
resulted in the killing of his wife, son, and finally himself (Fish, 2007).
Benoit’s steroid use not only played a part in his life, but also will continue
to play a role in the lives of those who began using steroids when they looked
up to him. Benoit is only one of many athletes whose drug use has not only
negatively impacted their own lives, but have also indirectly impacted the lives
of their fans who continue using steroids.
Steroids Taint Sporting Events and
Leave Doubt in Viewer’s Minds
Not only is steroid and performance enhancing drug
use dangerous, but these drugs also taint sporting events and leave doubt in
viewers’ minds. One example includes the Mexican soccer men’s National
team. Two players, Salvador Carmona and Aaron Galindo, tested positive for
norandrosterone, a metabolite of the anabolic steroid nandrolone (Associated
Press, 2006a). The two asked for permission to play again, but the Mexican
Soccer Federation maintained its one-year suspension. These two men are setting
a bad example because millions of kids look up to these players. Steroid
use will continue to grow internationally if athletes continue to try and get an
edge over their opponents.
Soccer has not been the only sport that has been
given a bad reputation because of illegal drug use. The Tour de France has
been the center of attention since American cyclist Floyd Landis tested positive
for high levels of testosterone. Cyclists from all over the globe have
been using these drugs since the turn of the 20th century. The
Associated Press explained how two Frenchmen, the Pelissier brothers, “admit[ed]
to using chloroform, cocaine, aspirin and ‘horse ointment’ to boost [their]
performance” in 1924 (Associated Press, 2006b). Because illegal drug use
has been a part of cycling for the past 80 years, the trend is continuing, and
it does not seem likely that this drug use will be brought to an end in the near
future.
Another consequence to athletes using illegal
substances is that fans of these athletes are starting to doubt whether or not
their accomplishments have been tarnished. This is no different with
American Olympic gold medalist Marion Jones. Jones admitted her guilt
after years of denying her use of steroids, which is why so many of her fans
felt betrayed. Jones claims she “did not know she had used the banned
drugs until she stopped training with coach Trevor Graham at the end of 2002”
(Tedford, 2008). Both Jones and Landis’ actions will undoubtedly cause the
public to not only think these two are guilty, but will question whether other
athletes’ accomplishments are tainted by illegal drug use.
Operation Raw Deal
Operation Raw Deal, which is the codename for an
international investigation, has seized huge amounts of anabolic steroids, and
have identified hundreds of thousands who have been caught receiving these
illegal drugs. Quite a few athletes have been linked to this
investigation, including boxer Evander Holyfield and a few Major League baseball
players. Most of the activity has occurred in the United States, but eight
other countries are believed to have been involved in this operation. This
is just the tip of thoe steroid’s iceberg, and as DEA spokesperson Rusty Payne
mentioned, “This is not a case with a beginning and an end . . . This is a huge
initiative” (Peter, 2007).
Ways to Improve Steroid Testing
It’s not a good thing when nine countries are
involved in a steroid scandal, but the fact that the governments are taking a
step in the right direction shows some promise. One way to improve steroid
and performance enhancing drug testing, in my opinion, is to impose stiffer
penalties to those found guilty. This will cause some of the users to
think twice before sticking a needle into their bodies. Another way to
help with the steroid testing is to randomize the tests. In most sports,
athletes know exactly when they are getting tested, so this gives them enough
time to contact their “doctors” to help them become clean. This shows that
although their tests may be negative, the truth may not come out. Steroid
testing is not as efficient as it should be, and if the testing does not become
more rigorous, steroid and performance enhancing drug use will only get worse.
As previously discussed, athletes from the United
States are not the only ones that use these illegal substances.
International athletes use these drugs to get an edge over their opponents just
as American athletes do. However, some of the fans of those who take these
illegal supplements are still supporting their favorite athletes. For
example, Louis Castillo, a professional football player for the San Diego
Chargers, is on the cover of the Spanish version of the World’s most popular
video game, NFL Madden. Castillo has tested positive for steroids before
he was chosen to be on the cover of the game. It is obvious that as long
as their favorite athlete is succeeding, and their favorite team is winning,
some will overlook other negative factors. This shows similarities with
American fans in that as long as athletes are successful at their job, fans are
willing to look past the fact that they take illegal substances.
World Anti-Doping Agency
The WADA, World Anti-Doping Agency, led by the
international Olympic committee, was originated in Switzerland in 1999 to help
eliminate steroid use. In 2004, the World Anti-Doping Code was founded
right before the start of the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. For the
first time, this code implements the rules and regulations of anti-doping in
governments issued for all sports (Wikipedia, 2008). However, there has
been some controversy over WADA. The National Football League refuses to
use WADA to help with their HGH testing because the executive director of the
National Football League Players Association is quoted as saying, “I have no
confidence in WADA or their kits. I have my doubt about WADA and their
history” (Wikipedia, 2008). WADA tests discover when HGH is being used by
athletes, but only 23-36 hours after its use. However, this would help the
NFL because they currently do not have any type of test kits that detect when a
player is using HGH. If the NFL and other multi-billion dollar industries
begin to enforce more ways of testing for illegal drugs, then this will only
benefit them in the future.
It is obvious that not only the United States, but
also international communities have been dealing with the problem of steroid and
performance enhancing drug use for some time now. However, the governments
of these nations are starting to realize that steroid use is a major problem,
and have set up some investigations/committees to help with this situation.
I believe this is a start, and the governments should not let up until the
situation is minimized. I do not think steroid use is going to go away
completely, but if the governments continue to make positive strides to try and
stop this, I believe we will see the light at the end of the steroid tunnel.
References
Anabolic Steroid Abuse (2007, June). Retrieved April
7, 2008, Web site:
http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/anabolic-steroid-abuse-topic-
overview.
Associated Press (2006, February, 23). Mexican soccer
upholds steroids sanctions. from
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/world/2006-02-23-mexico_x.htm
Associated Press (2007, July, 25). Tour de france --
doping timeline. from
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/tdf2007/news/story?id=2947903
Fish, Mike (2007, June, 27). Steroids discovered in
probe of slayings, suicide. from
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=2917133
Mitchell, George J (2007, December 13). The mitchell
report. Retrieved April 7, 2008, Web site:
http://assets.espn.go.com/media/pdf/071213/mitchell_report.pdf.
Peter, Josh (2007, September, 24). 'Roid raids. from http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=jo-
steroids092407&prov=yhoo&yype=lgns
Poore, Ralph (2007, July, 16). Anabolic steroid
abuse. Retrieved April 7, 2008, Web site:
http://www.peacehealth.org/kbase/topic/special/za1277/sec1.htm.
Tedford, Deborah (2008, January, 30). Olympian's
career tainted by steroid allegations from
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15026895
Warner, Jennifer (2007, October, 12). Most steroid users are not athletes. Retrieved April 7, 2008, Web site: http://men.webmd.com/news/20071012/most-steroid-
World Anti-Doping Agency (2008, March, 29).
Retrieved April 7, 2008, Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Anti-Doping_Agency.
