Legalizing the Juice, a college paper Options

[bigpoppaproppy]

April 22, 2004
Eng 108 - McMorris
Research Paper –Final Draft



Legalizing The Juice


I believe steroids should be legal to possess and use. Steroids, like many other substances, have been unfairly given a bad rap by the government because of undereducated sources, mal-informed studies, and other reasons. When the topic of steroids is brought up during discussion, the most common conception is of a big muscular freak with veins everywhere, a receding hairline and shrunken reproductive parts. However, the truth is that steroids, when used properly, are a safe tool in the handbag of a lifter. They are not a magic drug, automatic win or unfair advantage. They are simply a hormone that happens to be beneficial to lifters.
Steroids are a hormone that only becomes dangerous when abused. Comically
enough, health risks were not even one of the main reasons discussed when steroids were banned. Steroids work in quite a simple way. Steroids increase the rate of protein synthesis in the body, which is basically how muscle is built. This is one reason they are not simply magic, but rather just an effective supplement. They take a current body process and speed it up, helping to achieve quicker muscular hypertrophy and shorter recovery times between workouts. However, in order to put this to use, the user must drastically increase their protein and overall caloric intake, and often must structure their diets much stricter than a natural athlete. Steroids, like most supplements, work at their best and safest levels when cycled properly. By cycling properly, and avoiding extreme doses when on, a subject can avoid the two main causes of negative health effects. More often than not negative health side effects come as a result of repeated, dangerously high doses. Tom Prince, an IFBB professional bodybuilder, recently underwent a kidney operation at the age of 34. In an article on Prince from this month’s Flex Magazine, Greg Merritt states, “Prince’s kidneys failed…primarily because of the painkillers and bodybuilding drugs he took in large doses for many years” (Flex Magazine 91). The blame for Prince’s kidney failure was not placed simply on the fact he took steroids, or the steroids themselves. Rather, the blame was to place on the numerous cycles of ever-increasing doses he was taking. Prince himself admits “I definitely could’ve taken a whole lot less over the years” (Flex Magazine 93). In a 1996 study, researches found that when anabolic steroids were administered at 600 milligrams per week for ten weeks(close to six times natural replacement dose) virtually no side effects were observed. As the studies show, side effects although possible, are typically minimal with responsible use. This is why it is recommended to anyone planning to use to have at least 1-2 years of intensive study of steroids down before using. This helps to ensure that those who adhere are amply knowledged to safely cycle. By educating yourself on what you will be using, you can run a responsible cycle with no more side effects than you would get normally with any medication.
Simply classifying steroids as an illegal substance does little to control their
distribution and use. Steroids were officially made illegal with the passing of the Federal Anabolic Control Act on March 1, 1991. According to the American College of Sports Medicine’s official statement on steroids, “Since 1991 steroid use by males has been stable.” With 1991 also being the year the steroid ban went into effect, this shows that illegality has done nothing to curb use. When a law put in place 13 years ago whose purpose is to stop use has done nothing to lower use, you must question the effectiveness and necessity of the law. Many opponents of the law are quick to point out failures of other government laws such as prohibition and drug laws. According to most, energy would be better spent in education on the subject. Instead, the passing of the law has pushed the steroid supply into the black market, which creates an uncertainty over who is buying and at what quality. Instead of having steroids be legally available only to responsible adults through and in accordance with regular testing and advising of their doctor, they instead reside on the black market, available to teens everywhere. Summarizing, the control act has pushed steroids underground to a booming black market, made the practice less safe and more available to teens, and has done nothing to slow down use by adults. So now we have regular, non-criminal citizens hastily buying steroids overseas on the black market, using dirty and tainted steroids improperly, and being jailed alongside crack dealers.
Also, it hampers the attempts of people in medical need to obtain them. Hormone replacement has been shown to be an effective treatment for the elderly. However, in fear of the Control Act, many physicians find it difficult to prescribe steroids to needy elderly patients in fear of violating the act. Also, there is a large economic loss to the nation. According to one website, and verified by other sources, “heavy demand has generated a black market with estimated sales of up to $400 million a year!” (www.steroids.com).
Like with many things, the media has been used like the powerful tool it is to negatively influence public opinion on steroids. As Rick Collins states in his article from Muscular Development,
“The mainstream media have thoroughly vilified these hormones for several decades. The use by mature adults of any amount of anabolic hormones to enhance physical appearance is invariably labeled anabolic steroid "abuse" and, consequently, the average American lumps the athletic steroid user into the same depraved category as the heroin or cocaine user.”
The media has widely overblown the reported side effects as well. They have touted stories from unfounded research and anecdotal claims, while ignoring the other side of the issue. Even at the time of the banning, the media (and courts) chose to ignore input from numerous important sources. “Many witnesses who testified at the hearings, including medical professionals and representatives of…the FDA, DEA and the National Institute on Drug Abuse-recommended against the proposed amendment…Even the American Medical Association repeatedly and vehemently opposed it…” says Rick Collins, a leading authority on steroids in America.
Steroids are a natural hormone whose benefit has been put to use by many athletes and non-athletes alike. The athlete gets no special treatment, no increased skill and no magic fix to their game. They simply get an increased rate of protein synthesis and a larger grocery bill. Steroids are a supplement, a simple tool. Like any other product on the market today, they are safe when used properly, dangerous when abused. To single them out against some government agencies wishes, and without a full understanding, is unfair and downright harmful. Teen use is up, adult use is the same, product quality has
decreased, education and research have worsened, and needy elderly patients now cannot get what they need. Time and time again the government has banned substances because of public perception rather than scientific proof, and steroids are just another casualty in this battle.








Works Cited:

American College of Sports Medicine. Official Statement on Steroids. <www.acsm.org> 20 April 2004.

Collins, Rick. Esq. The Anabolic Steroid Control Act: the Wrong Prescription. Muscular Development. April 2002.

Collins, Rick. Esq. Legal Muscle: Anabolics in America. Legal Muscle Publishing. East Meadow, NY. 2002.

S. Bhasin, T.W. Storer, N. Berman, et al.., The Effects of Supraphysiologic Doses of Testosterone on Muscle Size and Strength in Normal Men. New England Journal of Medicine. 4 July 1996. 1-7.

Steroids dot com. <www.steroids.com> 20 Apr. 2004.

Steroid Information dot com. <www.steroidinformation.com> 15 Apr. 2004.