Steroid Usage

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Steroid Usage

Why do so many people use steroids when there are so many health risks and side effects? Do people take steroids because they are not aware of all the risks? Not likely, steroids have been around since the 1930’s when Nazi scientists tried to invent drugs that would make German armies more powerful (Banks, Substance Abuse in Sport: The Realities, pg. 13-21). Though steroids were considered harmful and made illegal in 1991 (Berlow, Sports Ethics). Some side affects of steroids are baldness, high blood pressure, lowered sex drive, acne, nosebleeds, liver disease, kidney disease, and many more (Williams, Drugs and Athletic Performance, pg. 88-90). It may sound ridiculous and idiotic, to those who use steroids, with all the risks involved, but the temptation and pressures in using them are sometimes unbearable. In today’s society there are many pressures to be the best athlete and to look a certain way. Nobody wants to take second place, or look scrawny and wimpy. People want to be the winner and want others to turn their heads to look at them when they walk into a room. The fastest and easiest way to do that is to take steroids. People take steroids to be bigger and better at sports and also improve physical appearance.

In today’s athletics, athletes are getting bigger, stronger, and faster. Whether an athlete plays high school or professional sports, it is getting harder for athletes to compete at a high level with all the competition. When an athlete is not good enough to make the team or is on a team and does not play much the athlete will do just about anything to improve themselves. Many athletes spend numerous hours practicing and lifting weights trying to get better at their sport, and still they lack what it takes to make the team or be the best. Steroids are the solution to their problems and a way to make their dreams come true. If you were offered the opportunity to lose body fat, get stronger, add more muscle within six weeks and have more motivation to work out more consistently then you do now, would not you try it? Sure it is illegal and it is unfair for all the other athletes who do it the hard way, but most do not care. Many young men are taking steroids at a young age. Reports from the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission issued a report that steroid use increased 2.6 percent from 1997 to 1999. Also, a report from th...

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...unless they take steroids. Should the athlete take steroids and be a starter, or do not take steroids and never play?

In today’s athletics, nobody wants to watch a losing team. Whether the person plays on a team, or an individual sport. People want to see their team or favorite athlete succeed. Everyone is getting bigger and better at the sports they play. Some of the pressure that athletes receive is from the fans.

There are many pressures in society today. Some people take steroids so they will make the team or do better in the sport they play, and others just want to look good. The rest are pressured into taking steroids from there coaches, media, and even fans. Are taking steroids worth all of the risks involved? Well, for the people who take steroids they are worth all the risks. In athletics there is no second place; either you are a winner or you are a loser, and nobody likes to be a loser. There are many reasons people use steroids. Although steroids are not safe, people continue to use them. It is not right for people to use steroids, but as long as there are pressures to win, look good, and to get bigger and stronger there will be people using steroids.

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