The Major Issues
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Steroids are illegal
Steroids have adverse side effects
Steroids have severe health risks
Steroid use creates an uneven playing field
Steroid use by elite athletes influences the children
who look up to them as hero’s.
• Steroid use has spread down the sports ranks all the
way to little league baseball.
What are Steroids?
• Androgenic Anabolic Steroids
• Synthetically produced testosterone
• Medical Names
– Durabolin, Equipoise, Winstrol
• Street Names
– Gym Candy, Roids, Pumpers, Stackers and
Arnolds
Why do people abuse steroids?
• To Improve physical
performance
• To gain a competitive
edge
• To become stronger
• To improve self-esteem
• To lose weight, burn fat
and increase muscle
Dangers in Steroid Use
Dangers for Men:
Even though anabolic steroids are derived from a male sex
hormone, men who take them may actually experience a
"feminization" effect along with a decrease in normal male sexual
function (Miller, 1988). Some possible effects include:
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Reduced sperm count
Impotence
Development of breasts
Shrinking of the testicles
Difficulty or pain while urinating
Erectile dysfunction
The Mitchell Report
• Former US Senator George J. Mitchell created
a report known as the “Mitchell Report” in
2007.
• It reported the athletes that have used
steroids in Major League Baseball
• 89 players was tested positive with steroid
abuse.
The Asterisk
• is used whenever a record
is broken by a player who
has used steroids or
Performance-enhancing
drugs to differentiate that
record from the records of
non-steroids users
Punishment in 2002
1st Offense – Counseling
2nd Offense – 15 days
3rd Offense – 25 days
4th Offense – 50 days
5th Offense – 1 Year
Punishment in 2008
• 1st Offense – 50 games
• 2nd Offense – 100 games
• 3rd Offense – Lifetime Ban
The Other Side of the Fence:
Why Choose Steroids?
• Offensive Production (OPS)
Additional annual salary of $2, 085,438
• Players on steroids are able to play more games
• Players on steroids hit more homeruns
• Banning steroids delivers a blow to the nation’s free
market economy
Statistics about Adolescents
• Today in America over one million teens use
steroids
• Highest adolescent user group consists of high
school football players
• Abuse starts as early as the 7th grade
• Up to 12% of high school athletes use steroids
at some point
• Since 1991, steroid abuse has doubled among
teenagers
References
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Baskin, Jon. “Steroids, Baseball, America.” March 2011.
http://www.thepointmag.com/2011/essays/steroids-baseball-america
Eckstein, Robert. “Will Baseball Ever Be The Same.” June. 2007
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2005-03-15-steroids-mlb-cover_x.htm
Feng, Rogers. “Pros and Cons of Steroid Legalization.” 5 April 2009.
http://plateautimes.com/articles/182
Jenkins, Chris. “Players Admit Steroids Changed Baseball.” 15 March 2005.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2005-03-15-steroids-mlb-cover_x.htm
McCallum, Jack. “Steroids in America: The Real Dope.” 11 March 2008.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/magazine/03/11/steroids1/
Robinson, David. “The Pros & Cons of Steroids.” Feb. 2011
http://www.criticalbench.com/pros-cons-steroids.htm
Schmidt, Michael. “Inside a Tempting World of Easy Steroids.” 11 April 2009.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/12/sports/baseball/12steroids.html?pagewanted=all
Williams, Kyle. “Steroids are a Bigger Deal than Baseball.” May 2008.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/magazine/03/11/steroids1/