Anabolic Steroids Should Be Banned

In 2013, 12 Major League Baseball players each received fifty game suspensions without pay for using performance enhancing drugs. Big names such as Ryan Braun and Alex Rodriguez were on this list. Testosterone, an illegal substance, is what is found in the performance enhancing drugs. Testosterone increases male characteristics such as body hair, aggression, deepening of the voice, and of course massive muscle growth (“Steroids” par. 1). Some professional athletes claim to use performance enhancing drugs to recover more quickly from injury; others take them because they have not seen the positive feedback in working out, without the use of the steroids. Steroids may be referred to as 'roids', juice, hype, or pump and they are

Summary Statement: In short we now know the history behind steroids; the different types admissions of

They are abused by both athletes and non-athletes in an attempt to “enhance performance and/or physical appearance” (“NIDA InfoFacts: Steroids (Anabolic-Androgenic)”, 2009). Steroids, typically taken orally or by injection, are used in “cycles” where a user takes steroids for a period of time, then stops for another length of time and then the pattern continues. Steroids are considered very dangerous, fickle substances that have the potential to mess up the user’s bodily functions if care is not taken while on them.

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

Ben Johnson was one of the first superstar athletes to be caught using steroids and was stripped of his 100m gold medal at the 1988 Olympics. He was eventually banned for life in 1993 for testing positive again (Richardson 2010). Performance enhancing drugs have become widely used since the 1970’s and have only increased in the numbers of athletes using the drugs to up their endurance and perform to their greatest potential. Professionals such as Barry Bonds, Jose Canseco, and Hulk Hogan have all been humiliated and are now seen as cheaters after being caught using steroids. It is too late to stop these sports fuelled on drugs because of the large number of athletes using, so why not consider drug use as a

Steroids have first known its way to sports trough the 1952’s Olympics. In Muscular Strength sports Soviet Union and other European countries were taking a significant lead over athletes from other nations including the U.S. At the time, the Olympic U.S team physicians doubted the success of the Union Soviet sportsmen, as it was their first participation ever in the Olympics Games and they were the closest rival to the U.S team which was dominating at the time (Union Soviet defeated America in the following Games). American physicians were investigating this unexpected good performance of the European athletes generally and Soviets’ specifically.

"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).

Throughout the history of athletics, humans have pursued new and innovative ways to construct better, faster, stronger athletes. Steroid use is one of the most popular choices among these athletes. Steroids, first created in the 1930s, are synthetic hormones that produce specific physiological effects on one's body (Center for Substance Abuse Research). Although the German scientists who discovered steroids did not intend its use for body building or creating better athletes, steroid use has developed into a controversial subject concerning the health of users and other moral issues. Overall, the use of steroids in athletics is physically and morally wrong because it essentially promotes the deterioration of the health of athletes and

The market for top performing athletes in sports in the 21st century is a competitive one. Athletes are pushed to, be stronger, an heal from injuries faster. With the pressure to do well and get picked up by a professional team of sorts goes without saying that hard work is a must to elevate ones professional athletic career, but what if one has reached a plateau or hit a wall in a training regimen and just can not seem to push through? When some athletes hit the proverbial wall when training they turn to steroids. Ruth Wood in an article titled Anabolic Steroids: A Fatal Attraction? Writes, “Anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) are drugs of abuse. Despite bans on steroid use, Olympic

Anabolic Steroids are commonly viewed as a miracle drug in order to increase muscle growth and definition, but what most users of the drug don’t know are the life altering effects that prolonged use can cause. When the drug was released in the late 50’s by scientists working for the Soviet Union, they had no idea what the lasting effects were going to be. At first the drug seemed to be almost a miracle, it helped the Soviet weightlifting team beat the American team by a long shot, but then the lifters began to experience certain bodily changes that were actually the onsets of horrendous life changing side effects that could have been prevented with further studies. Since that time, most states in North America and around have banned the distribution and use of the drug completely due to its adverse effects on the body, if caught using such drugs in professional sporting communities, it could land the athlete thousands of dollars’ worth of fines and they can even face up to five years in jail if they are found with the drug in their possession. On top of this, the risks involved can potentially alter the normal way of life for that athlete for the rest of his life, such risks include hormonal changes, cardiovascular problems, behavioral issues, and even problems with the reproductive system.

However, steroids are rightfully banned from all the major professional sport leagues. The use of anabolic steroids in sports should remain banned because of various health and ethical reasons. The long-term health issues that arise from the use of steroids are severe and detrimental. Moreover, steroids give athletes an unfair advantage. In turn, other athletes will also have to take performance enhancing drugs to still be able to stay relevant and survive amongst their competition.

Steroids were originally synthetic testosterone in the 1930s where scientists gave it to those who couldn't produce it. Then, it was later used in World War II where they found out that they could use it to gain weight and and improved performance. Then later they were used in the Olympics, mainly in wrestling, and then a scientist named Dr. Zeigler made it an official drug called anabolic steroids. In 1975, the Olympics finally put a ban to the drug.

In the past three decades, steroids has been becoming a serious problem more than ever in the athletic field. Steroids are anabolic drug "to build" growth hormones that include the androgens (male sex hormones) principally testosterone and estrogen and progestogens (female sex hormones). Steroids were first developed for medical purposes. They're used in controlling inflammation, strengthening weakened hearts, preventing conception, and alleviating symptoms of arthritis and asthma. Unfortunately research has shown that steroids have been abused in almost every kind of sport. Although steroids contribute to a muscular body, usage should remain illegal because they physically deteriorate and mentally destroy the body.

The practice of doping has been a problem for hundreds of years. While athletes were engaged in the practice of doping for many years nothing was done to curb this problem until after the 1960 Olympics (Catlin D. H., Fitch K. D. and Ljungqvist A., 2008). During the 1960 Olympics Games in Rome a Danish cyclists passed away as a result of doping. In response the International Olympic Committee created the IOC-MC. The job of the IOC-MC was to find a solution to stop athletes from abusing drugs (Lippi et al, 2008). The IOC also created a list of all banned substances. The list of prohibited substances included anabolic agents, certain hormones like EPO, Beta-2 agonists, stimulants, and many other agents (Lippi et al, 2008) Anabolic agents that were banned included anabolic steroids and the hormones that were banned were HGH and EPO (Lippi et al,

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