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Drug testing in high school athletes
Consequences of steroids in sports
Drug testing in high school athletes
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Steroids in sports have always been frowned upon due to It being considered cheating by many individuals. There are many opinions on the topic of steroids in sport to either it should be completely banned to having lots of drug tests. Others might disagree and say having too many drug tests will cost too much and should only have tests during the season and not in the off-season. Either way you look at it would still be considered cheating. However, limiting steroids use from a professional could also potentially be another solution. If I licensed physician would allow for the use of steroids under his watch, would be a much safer alternative and still allow the athlete to perform in the sport but in a much safer manner. Many people think steroids …show more content…
Even though if steroids did completely get banned, there will still be people who would try to get them somehow, and take them. Alcohol became illegal in the 1920s, and people were still bootlegging drinks, it wouldn’t be any different with steroids. People will try to get wha t they want, it is human nature, that is why people have goals. To some, it can look like a bad thing, but to another, it looks like as if they are doing good. So even when taking steroids, it should be based on the individual’s beliefs. If uneducated on steroids, but still want to take them for their benefit, the physician could help them and answer their questions and prescribe the right supplements to meet the individual’s goals. The legal consequences would be out of the equation, if there were a physician. Drug tests are not cheap, and cannot test for every single drug due to the number of steroids available. It would cost way too much for anyone to afford, and just wouldn’t be worth funding for. For one individual, it would cost roughly 50-150 us dollars per type of test, multiplied to the number of steroids out there. Assume there are 20 types of steroids, just as a small number to get a
Anabolic steroids have become an epidemic amongst athletes since the 1950's when a Swiss company by the name of Ciba Pharmaceuticals introduced what was to become the most popular anabolic drug for athletes called methandrostenolone. “By this time, the era of the steroid athlete was well underway and world records were being shattered and re-shattered with remarkable regularity.” (Oklobdzija & Weyrauch, 1989, para 3) From then on, there have been many cases throughout professional sports where athletes are reported or caught using anabolic steroids.
Professional athletes, throughout history, have been exalted for their outstanding abilities and achievements in sports. Unfortunately, many athletes have turned to anabolic steroids in order to give them an edge, a boost their athletic performance. Starting with the 1954 World Weightlifting Championships, where the Soviets unexpectedly dominated their lifting classes with the use of steroids, it has become increasingly popular among athletes to cheat with the help of this drug. Although the appeal to steroid use is evident when observing how it increases someone’s athletic abilities, many users fail to consider the detrimental side effects of the drug. Also, in my opinion, athletes should be expected to perform based upon their natural abilities, opposed to abilities enhanced by anabolic steroids. Ultimately, anabolic steroids should continue to be illegal in professional sports due to their major health risks and the unfair advantage they serve players.
Steroids are illegal in the US, and banned from baseball, however in the past they have not been suspected to be such a big problem. Therefore, Major League Baseball has failed to properly address it with preventative measures. In the 2001, the Major League Players Association’s contract with Major League Baseball protected players on the 40 man roster against testing. As for the minor leagues, testing only occured in-season, and was restricted to some players. Many players use in the off season and know how long the drugs will remain in their bodies (anywhere from 2 weeks to 18 months). If tested positive, they receive a warning about the hazards of the drug and are not punished at all. Five to ten percent of minor leaguers tested positive, and which fails to account for users not tested, those who used out-of-season, and those who found measures around the test. In the majors, some suspect that 50% of players use steroids and some, such as Jose Canseco, as hig...
...gal, both in society and in sports.”(Monroe100) She argues that the legalization will actually benefit costs and their usage. “Also, making steroids legal would end the law-enforcement costs and efforts associated with steroid use.”(Monroe100) This may seem like the right solution but would it really help? Making it legal would only increase its usage and may encourage more people to abuse them. Those who oppose to this idea believe that it will increase the chances of violence and temper loss. “Do you think that steroids should be legalized? I don’t because you can die from them and you might lose your temper easily and could be dangerous.” This is a reasonable approach. With all the muscle that steroids can produce in the human body, it would be dangerous to have millions of people going around the world beating up each other for any problem that they might have.
... injury like they can today. This is exactly what would happen if all drugs vanished from professional sports” (Hodnik, Josh.”Steroids in the NFL” VPX Sports).
The use of steroids in our society today is very common, that is with prescription. But that is not the kind of steroids I am talking about, I am talking about Anabolic Steroids. Anabolic steroids are a very sensitive issue in the world of sports today. Even though the side effects are life threatening, men and woman alike continue to submit their bodies to this illegal drug. Anabolic steroids are taken either through pills or injected directly into the blood stream with a needle. In 1994, 1,084,000 Americans, or 0.5 percent of the adult population, said that they had use anabolic steroids, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. Under Federal Law it is illegal to possess or distribute anabolic steroids for nonmedical uses. However, heavy demand has generated a black market with estimated sales of up to $400 million a year, according to a NIDA Research Report, Anabolic Steroids: A Threat to Body and Mind (NIDA July/August1997).
... as “roid rage”. This constitutes a more aggressively natured person, who is more subject to mood swings. A typically calm, intelligent person could be transformed into a crazed senseless being. The slightest upsetting factor could set them off. These mood swings and shifts tend to be temporary and cease after discontinued use of the drugs, but some of the other effects are lasting, and can be extremely devastating. Less harmful, but important as well is the fact that steroids are banned by nearly every athletic organization, and if it is determined that an athlete used steroids, all medals, trophies, prized and glory can be stripped away. Athletes who train with the use of steroids are taking a huge gamble. Although steroids can have amazing results, and seem to be the greatest thing on earth, they also hold a cornucopia of terrible things in store for the person who uses them irresponsibly. They must evaluate for themselves if the potential physical prowess that they could attain through the use of steroids is worth the possibility of the devastating side effects. They must also keep in mind the consequences that they could encounter if they do use steroids, with are an illegal
Americans today tend to believe that there are only a select few in sports who are users of steroids. However, according to Julian Savulescu, "20.3% of professional athletes said they have tried drugs or steroids to improve their performance in the game" (3). At this high percentage, about one in five athletes are considered "cheaters". Jacob Beck believes that "using steroids is not cheating if a whole generation of the best and most promising athletes have been doing it" (5). There is no reason to continue trying to catch steroid users when so many athletes take them. All major league sports are filled with steroid use to some extent. It is impossible to have a perfectly "clean" sport without eliminating a good percentage of its players. Since steroids already have a major presence in major league sports and there is no way to ever completely get rid of them, steroid use should be legalized. By legalizing steroids, athletes would no longer have to worry about unsafe or risky suppliers; with prescriptions from doctors, steroids would be safe for the athletes, and users would be less likely to abuse them. Also, the playing fields for all sports would be more equal than they have ever been in a long time. By creating an equal playing field, sport records would be more meaningful and there would be much fewer arguments for cheating or an unfair record. With an increase in muscle strength, there would be fewer injuries and more quality performances, which would make fans more inclined to go to a game knowing there was going to be a great display of strength and athleticism.
The use of steroids in sports shouldn’t be allowed because it is considered cheating. It shouldn’t be allowed for other reasons too. To start, they are dangerous to who ever uses them.Using steroids is equal to artificially boosting your testosterone levels. This will mess up the natural hormone balance. Men who abuse steroids convert testosterone into estrogen. They can lose muscle tone and develop breast tissue.
There are two ways people can be tested: urine and blood samples that will then be sent to a lab (“Olympic Games”). If the person being tested gets her or his positive results back there will be many consequences to follow. In a public high school, if one tests positive for steroid use he or she experiences the following consequences: suspension from activities for eight weeks, they must receive counseling, parents have to be contacted, and then they have to test negative on all other random drug tests given. In a private high school, if one tests positive for steroid use he or she experiences the following: meeting with parents and school administration, take a second drug test, and if they test positive on that one as well, they get taken out of the school and it goes on their record (Stinchcomb). Of course, people have come up with ways to try and trick the drug tests, and sometimes it does work. There are three ways that people try to trick the tests: tampering, which means people put household products in their urine to try to make it harder to detect the steroids, water loading, which is drinking tons and tons of water to water down the drugs and try to flush them out of their system, and finally, popping vitamins, which flushes out the toxins in their bodies
My issue over the concern of athletes have been struggling with the usage of steroids has widely spread among athletes and others; not only do steroids give an athlete a hard times but it’s also an unfair advantage to the other athletes and what they’ve accomplish. “Besides making muscles bigger, anabolic steroids may help athletes recover from a hard workout more quickly by reducing the amount of muscle damage during the session” (“Steroids in Sports”,2005). Now a days steroids are everywhere as an athlete. Many males and female young athletes preferably take it because they want to look and feel good when it comes to impressing someone and trying to become someone they look forward too. Young teens and adults try to cheat themselves in the career of their dreams. When it comes to a sport, teen athletes are not aware of what type of consequences may happen to them at the time. It may come to the time where it’s too late to take care of. In other cases, some athletes may like feeling the aggressive they get when they take drugs such as steroids. Athletes shouldn’t take steroids as the harmful health effects of the anabolic steroid in population wise. Many people have had their lives ruined by the use of illegal steroids and yet the desired effects are overwhelming that people tend to forget about the results and consequences that may effect. Athletes on steroids believe taking steroids will enhance their performance, strength, and size without having to put necessary work. These benefits, however, are associated with much short-term and long term risk.
Steroids are being used more commonly today in normal people's lives. They are also being used so athletes can become stronger, but they have many consequences that follow the advantages. Most people believe that steroids are a false measurement of an athletes ability, and others believe that steroids are good because athletes can become stronger and make their sports more exciting to watch. This is a very important issue today because athletes today are using steroids to gain an unfair advantage over the other athletes.
Steroids became an option to athletes in the Olympics and other major sporting events during the 1950’s. But this use of steroids among athletes only became widely apparent when Canadian sprint runner Ben Johnson tested positive for steroid use after winning the gold medal for the one hundred-meter dash during the 1988 Olympics (Francis, 45). Now a skinny fifteen-year-old can just walk down to the local gym and find people who either sell or know how to get in contact with those who sell the drug that will make him envious of his friends. Steroids are an attractive drug. While steroids seem harmless to the unaware user, they can have a risky effect. Most of the time whether the users are new or experienced, 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 a lot of side effects not known to the uninformed user.
Currently it is an estimated that at least 6.67 percent of high school seniors in the United States have tried steroids, which is 500,000 males between the ages of 17 and 18 (Anabolic Steroids). The pressure of steroids on teenagers is constantly drilled into their heads because they associate increased strength with perfection. Teenagers are under immense pressure to be perfect. Kids are pressured to do well in school, sports, and any other activities that they are participating in. Anything other than the best is unacceptable and failure which strikes and leads to disrespect. Failure has the sole purpose of tearing people from their self confidence and lending them to be insecure, questioning their abilities and themselves. It does not help that kids have role models that choose the easy way to accomplish their goals. It also sends a message to those who admire them that taking certain sacrifices to reach self-goals and standards are very much acceptable. Hard work and determination has become something of the past when it is possible to do the same amount of work and receive results faster if you just take a couple risks. Steroids should not only be banned from sports, but athletes who are found to have used steroids should receive a more distinct and severe punishment. No matter how it is said or defended steroids truly are cheating. Steroids are becoming a substitute for hard work and determination.
Overall, 1,463 young athletes died between 1980 and 2005”(NY Daily News). This is a terrifying statistic and will only continue to rise. On the other hand, Radley Balko, senior writer and investigative journalist at The Huffington Post, participated in a debate about steroids in 2008, he said “As we've seen with government bans on consensual activity -- from alcohol to gambling to cocaine to prostitution -- prohibitions not only don't work, they make the activity in question more dangerous by pushing it underground” (The Huffington Post).... ...