The History of Steroids: The Legal and Illegal Usage of Steroids

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Recommended: Steroids—Should we allow steroids in sports or not

The use of steroid by athletes has been a controversial issue for some time. One can argue that the usage is totally wrong and it is against the morals and the rules of the games. Although steroids boost up the process of muscle building and endurance, it also has complications in the long run. Those that cheat their way by using and or abusing such chemicals can have serious health defects. A real athlete should work his/her way with hard work and the correct training to build that endurance and strength needed. In such case, is the usage of steroids ethically correct?

First of all, what are steroids? “Steroids are a group of compounds derived from testosterone or produced synthetically to stimulate tissue repair and body growth”. Although the word steroids automatically translate into a form of sports and physical fitness abuse in our brains, it is not always used for such and it is not always the case. Steroids are used in many ways besides physical endurance, strength, speed and the ability to perform longer. “In general society, firefighters and police officers use them to better handle the daily rigors of their jobs. Bouncers and military personal use them to better prepare their bodies for combat”. For daily life people steroids are helpful and can be beneficial for the type of career or job that they have. It can help them perform jobs that require their maximum potential in order to save the lives of other people.

Steroids were first used with good intentions to help those who suffered malnutrition after WWII. In Germany, there were many people who suffered the physical effects of the devastating war, soldiers in particular. To relieve the suffering, steroids were given to them so they would be able to build body weig...

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...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.

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