The Steroid Scandal

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The Steroid Scandal
Have you ever imagined a game played with rules that were adjusted to one of the player’s likings and style and how unfair that would be to the other players? Alex Rodriguez was recently suspended for the entire 2014 season over accusations of taking performance enhancing drugs and having ties with the biogenesis clinic. Steroids have marked a low point in time for sport’s reputations as the steroid phenomenon carries on. Performance-enhancing drugs include any substance taken to perform better athletically. This term is referenced often and typically refers to steroid use in sports by professional athletes. Steroids are taken by swallowing or injecting into the muscle. Users take steroids on a schedule known as a cycle, in which they "stack" or "pyramid" their doses. Doctors may prescribe steroids to patients for legitimate medical purposes such as: loss of function of testicles, low red blood cell count, delayed puberty and debilitated states resulting from surgery or sickness. However, today athletes will go to many lengths to increase athletic ability, including: steroids, HGH, Amphetamines, and even animal or human organs. “The most common illegal source is from smuggling steroids steroid’s into the United States from the countries such as Mexico and European countries. Smuggling is easier because a prescription is not required for purchase of steroids”(Anabolic Steroids). Although steroid use has several great pros that make it seem like an excellent supplement to one's exercise routine, they also have some very serious side effects. For one, there are a great many psychiatric consequences involved in taking steroids. Many individuals report severe depression during and after stopping use (Chiras, 2005). ...

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...enon in sports. Some resolutions to this issue include not supporting teams and players that have previously taken steroids by not purchasing their teams or player merchandise. Another solution to this issue in sports is mixing up the times of drug testing throughout the course of a season, making sure the athletes do not know when the tests are coming. Steroids should not be permitted at all in sports and they should incorporate a zero tolerance policy so that if athletes are caught the first time they become banned completely. The game is played fairer and more even when there is a fair playing field and everyone abides by the same rules and guidelines set by the sport. This unleveled playing field has made sports much less interesting for the audience and has a negative impact on sports as a whole. The issue of steroids should be evaluated in sports immediately.

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