Anabolic Steroid Use by Athletes Essay

Steroids (anabolic) are a drug that was discovered and made by medical scientists in the last 1930’s to help with medical problems. The drug was made to help with many medical problems such as testosterone, growth, sexual functioning, and other medical problems such as helping people with HIV to help grow musical. It also helps with many other diseases. Like any other drug on the market people learn that the drug can be used for many other ways. Steroids can enhance athlete’s performance as well as bodybuilders and is used in almost every sport out there. The use of steroids has become a widespread problem. Steroid use has caused many help problems with the misuse of the drug and has caused the drug to be illegal for people to use them in

The competitive drive to win at all cost is fierce among athletes. Winning at all cost often includes using one of many performance enhancing drugs such as anabolic steroids. Many athletes use performance enhancing drugs, like steroids, to achieve higher goals and set higher records than other drug-free successful athletes. Although athletes are performing at higher levels when using such drugs, what is the cost? Finally anabolic steroids should remain banned from sports because their use results in many harmful side effects; because their use violates sports regulations, and because their use can cause death.

"Other countries caught on, and by the mid-1960's the use was common.  By the early 1970's almost three quarters of the athletes involved in middle-or-short distance running or in field events admitted to using steroids, and most of the weight lifters also used steroids" (Kuhn 191).  Finally in 1976, anabolic steroids were banned but professional weight lifters continued to use them (Kuhn 191).

The Olympics now have various organizations and committees delegated to testing for and eliminating the use of performance enhancing drugs. The most recent Olympic committee for the Games in Vancouver was partnered with the World Anti-Doping Agency, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, L’Institut national de la recherche scientifique — Institut Armand-Frappier, the United States Anti-Doping Agency, and LifeLabs to collect and test approximately 2450 blood and urine samples (“Anti-Doping Initiatives”). Their meticulousness and commitment was most definitely justified. Olympic athletes implicitly agree to a social contract of fair competition. Those athletes who take steroids have an unfair advantage over those who do not, and therefore these athletes are breaking this social contract.

Gym Candy, ‘roids, juice, pumpers, weight trainers, clear, beans and hype (Steroids and their). All of these words are slang for the illegal substance known more commonly as anabolic steroids and HGH (human growth hormone). The controversy surrounding anabolic steroids and HGH in sports has stormed to the forefront of the many problems that plague America today. Anabolic steroids are synthetic chemicals that mimic the effects of the male sex hormone testosterone. Some athletes seeking increased muscular strength and size abuse anabolic steroids (Ricki Lewis). According to Fox News, ¬¬¬5% of middle school and high school aged- children have or currently use anabolic steroids. 30 to 40% of college and professional athletes use steroids, as well as 10-20% of high school athletes (Ricki Lewis). Despite their illegality, law enforcement officials cannot devote more resources to policing steroid use and trafficking because they are still fighting the abuse of other illegal drugs that affect many more young people (McCloskey and Bailes). Many athletes looking to gain a competitive edge on all levels use anabolic steroids because of their muscle growth and muscle building benefits, but overlook the extensive list of sometimes life-threatening side effects that steroids may bring. I believe that athletes should not believe they have the right to take steroids to gain an even slight competitive advantage because it leads to a larger ethical problem

Famed writer Grantland Rice once wrote, “When the great scorer comes to mark against your name. He'll mark not won or lost but how you played the game” (World of quotes, 1). That buoyant attitude of selflessness and heart has slowly diminished throughout the course of time. Now, George Allen’s booming voice, former coach of the Washington Redskins, runs throughout head of America, “Only winners are truly alive. Winning is living. Every time you win, you’re reborn. When you lose, you die a little” (Harris, 67). It is with this frame of mind that athletes are pushed beyond the edge of reason. Although peer pressure and pressure from coaches are central reasons why one may use steroids, most users begin using in order to improve their self image or excel in sports. Ethics, integrity, and legality aside, some athletes will stop at nothing to attain “that extra edge”.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has written a list of banned drugs that all athletes are not allowed to use to enhance their performance. The list includes steroids that can be taken orally or steroids that can be injected by a needle into the abuser’s muscle. There have been thousands of athletes that have been banned from the respective sports because of doping (using steroids) while training and/or participating. Several doping scandals in the athletic world have unfortunately come up in the past. One example would be the steroid scandal of Marion Jones. She had won the 100 meter dash, 200 meter dash, and the 4x1 meter relay in the Sydney Olympics. Around 2005, there was an investigation to see whether she was doping or not. Marion denied ever using steroids before or during the Summer Olympics. But in 2007, she admitted in court that she lied to the investigators and two grand juries saying she had in fact used steroids during the Summer Olympics. Because of this confession, she was sentenced to six months in 2008 prison for lying to the prosecutors who were investigating her case. In an interview with Oprah, Marion Jones admitted that she most likely could have won in the Sydney Olympics without the use of steroids.

Anabolic steroids mimic the hormone testosterone in different way by injecting, ingesting, or applying via ointment . The main ways they work is,” All AAS exert both androgenic and anabolic effects. “Androgenic'' refers to the masculinizing effects, for example, growth of genital size, muscle growth, and male

Steroid is a name given to drugs that are manufactured from testosterone, a reproductive hormone found in men. Some athletes normally use anabolic steroids because these drugs improve one’s capacity to compete and train, yielding high results. Steroids work by reducing exhaustion during training, and also reduce the length of time an athlete needs to recover from exhaustion. In addition, steroids enable the growth of tissues and muscles in an athlete’s body by instructing the body to produce extra proteins. During the 1936 Olympics held in Berlin, the first rumors of athletes using steroids emerged. The problem of athletes using steroids was again reported in 1954 during weight lifting championships. The Soviet athletes recorded a very

Many Chinese athletes have been disqualified for illegal drug use. Similarly, a number of U.S athletes have admitted to using these drugs. Steroids have been found in athletes engaged in a variety of sports, including swimmers, golfers, baseball players, boxers, hockey players, and body builders (Burnsytn 234).

The synthesis of testosterone was first achieved in 1930s Nazi Germany, but the initial discovery was greeted with indifference Over the next few decades, however, athletes and their coaches (especially bodybuilders) began to realize and covet the performance enhancing qualities of these drugs. (Wikipedia)

This is a material world promoting material values, thus meaning that it should not be surprising to see individuals being willing to do everything in their power in order to make profits. Or should it? The sports community today is troubled by a series of athletes who have yielded to society's pressures and abandoned their principles with the purpose of taking performance enhancing drugs. It is difficult to determine if it would be normal for the masses to judge these individuals, concerning that they are actually one of the reasons for which these people have come to consider taking performance enhancing drugs in the first place. However, the only ones who can judge them are other hard-working sportspersons who have stood by their principles and who respect the idea of sport in general.

Anabolic steroids are synthetic derivatives of the male hormone testosterone. Most healthy males produce 2-10 milligrams per day of testosterone. Testosterone is responsible for

In today’s society in athletics, muscle mass and strength seem more important than in years past. It is believed that many athletes use anabolic steroids to increase their muscle mass and also their strength. Anabolic steroids are a group of synthetic hormones that promote the storage of proteins and the growth of tissue, sometimes used by athletes to increase muscle size and strength. Before the mid 1970’s the use of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) was used mainly by highly trained athletes especially those involved in weight training. Since then other athletes including those involved in recreational sports and non-competitive sports have started using the steroids. Steroids are also being used by many school age children

More and more, of our society views winning more important than itself. Success in competition brings status, popularity, and fame, not to mention college scholarships. Today’s athletes are looking for an advantage over the competition that will make them winners. Unfortunately, the drugs of today are caught up in the high stakes competition frenzy. Of this reality, teenage use of performance improved drugs is growing ever more popular. In colleges and in the professional league a lot of people are doing drugs and its ruining their health and life. Also, if some teenagers take performance drugs they are making them better than everyone else giving themselves an advantage over everyone else which is cheating, so why should they get money