The Development of Anabolic Steroids in Sports

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In 1935 German chemist Leopold Ruzicka synthesized the first human usable injectable version of testosterone which changed sports from that point forward. The two who synthesized the human usable hormone, Butenadt’s and Ruzicka received a nobel prize for their work testosterone. A few years later in the 40’s testosterone-propionate, a specific form of testosterone, was first used by the soviets to improve athletic performance. This led to the Soviets dominance in the olympics in the 60’s. From then on the evolution of performance enhancing drugs expanded exponentially and in turn the use increased dramatically. Other athletes began to follow in the Soviet Union’s steps by implementing performance enhancing drugs into their training regimen in order to compete with the soviets. In 1972 the olympic community first implemented drug testing to check for higher testosterone levels to try and combat the use of PED’s. In turn that led to the creation of fast acting hormones that leave the system quickly due to a short half life of 24 hours or less that would allow an athlete to pass drugs tests easily with pre notice of a drug test. The protocol of having untestable drugs in your system and drugs to block testability allowed most athletes to use PED’s worry free with the same effects as long lasting drugs. This lasted until the 90’s when most of the drug using athletes were caught after WADA improved their drug testing and it revealed the olympic powerhouse Germany's long term drug protocols in their olympic athletes. In 1990 the Steroid Control Act was passed which classified Anabolic steroids as a Schedule III drug which made it equal to Opium and Morphine. The FDA, the AMA, the DEA and the NIDA all did not agree with ban and thought ...

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...in, Jack. "Salon." Saloncom RSS. Salon, n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.

Bailey, Ronald. "Steroids Are Not as Dangerous as Many Experts Claim." Drug Abuse. Ed. Tamara L. Roleff. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2005. Opposing Viewpoints.Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.

11. If anything is abused it is going to be dangerous. Steroids though are no more dangerous than binge drinking alcohol and smoking packs of cigarettes. These are not really drugs either they are substances that are naturally produced in the body or are designed to mimic those natural hormones. Many believe that steroid use is very small in reality it is all throughout sports and there has not been many problems considering the abuse.

"History of Steroids." RSS. Steroid.com, n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.

Quinn, T.J. "Pumped-up Pioneers: The '63 Chargers." ESPN.com.., 1 Feb. 2009. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.

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