PUMPED101 said:
it just to bad they don't start airing specials about cocaine and heroin, look how many peoples lives those drugs have fucked up, but they rather point the finger at people who use steroids because it is the "hot" issue right now
BINGO, you are exactly right. lately, the shit has hit the fan with steroids and nutritional supplements in general. the whole ephedra ban, MLB testing, and BALCO incident have made steroid demonization en vogue with the media.
to take your point a bit farther, how often do you see specials portraying alchohol use and smoking in this light(not to offend anyone here, just making a point). both of those drugs kill hundreds of thousands and ruin countless lives yet, since they are used in the masses, it makes them morally "ok". believe me, i love the USA and am proud to be American, but the cultural bias of drugs here sickens me. we live in a pharmaceutical society....you take a drug for a headache, you take a drug to help you sleep, you take a drug to get over an infection, you take a drug to get rid of acne, you take a drug to prevent getting pregnant, etc........all is fine and dandy unless you take an "evil" drug called steroids to increase your vitality, self confidence, appearance, and mood. why are they evil, because
1."they have no benefit other than for cosmetic use"....but its ok to get oftentimes dangerous plastic surgery to look better because its done by the masses. what about taking accutane to look better. it is very hepatoxic yet its ok because, like above, it is used by the masses.
2."they make you violent towards others"....well, because this falsehood keeps being used as a reason, it gives assholes to lose their temper if they take it. in addition, the demographic of people who use them, naturally are the most aggressive in society. thirdly, if a woman loses her temper and blows up, she is simply losing her temper and getting angry. when a man using anabolics loses his temper, it MUST be from the drugs because men dont get angry....no wait a second(rolls eyes).
3."they are cheating"......cheating whom, nature? if they are used by athletes, one could potentially make a case for it, but two issues arise from this. first, performance enhancing "supplements" have been used dating back to the first olympics in greece. is it fair, then, that the major world powers can provide supplementation, nutrition, and workout regimens light years above other countries? second, is it really cheating when your peers are already doing it and it must be used to put you on their level? in a perfect world, every single athlete on every single level of sports would be subjected to the same tests olympic athletes are for their given sport but it is obviously impossible to do so.
for the recreational bodybuilder, how is he cheating, though? contrary to the medias belief, you dont simply take it and swell up and look like Arnold. it still takes the hard work in the gym and the nutrition to work up to that.
4."they are detrimental to ones health".....that is why they were used in a medical context for so many years then? if this is the case, please show me the studies where it shows that it CAUSES cancer, CAUSES ones kidneys to shut down and CAUSES cirrhosis of the liver. granted, when abused, it may exacerbate such problems, but it has yet to be shown to CAUSE any of the above problems. dont get me wrong,they are not free of side effects(especially in regards to fertility, natrual testosterone levels, and lipid profiles) but as with any drug, caution must be used having full knowledge of the drug is necessary to avoid complications inherent with their use. on the topic of health, it still cracks me up that steroids are so evil,even though they only affect the user, while smoking is deemed acceptable behavior, despite the FACT that second hand smoke kills those around you, in addition to oneself....lol, what a fucked up society we live in.
I could really go on for awhile here, but i just needed to vent after watching that Fox(more like faux) news special. as with any drug, caution must be exercised with its use, but making steroids/prohormones illegal is only going to cause more problems(example...prohibition) than what this drug originally provided. just my .02, for now