They go by names like Anadrol, Deca Durabolin, Dianabol, Sustanon and Primobolan. They are anabolic steroids, a once-nasty moniker that is slowly losing its sting.
In the wake of the recent declarations from several professional baseball players concerning steroid usage in the Major Leagues, these muscle-building agents are now taking center stage. A more important topic is being ignored: steroid usage by the American public, particularly young males.
Survey-based studies conducted by the National Institute of Drug Abuse estimate that 3.5 percent of all 10th graders used steroids in the year 2000, a figure drastically higher than the 2.0 percent in 1998. Recent reports suggest that number continues to rise, as young athletes, particularly male, seek to get bigger and stronger as fast as they can.
What these studies show is that, contrary to public opinion, steroid use is not just reserved for body builders and football players. Instead, high school athletes of all varieties are looking to get more muscle mass. The muscle is not simply to play better. They want to look good too.
Over the past two decades, steroids have been on the extreme end of the athletic supplement spectrum. Ever since doctors in the 1980s warned against steroid use and its harsh side effects, steroids have been marginalized as dangerous drugs that could ultimately cause one's premature death. In 1990, Congress amended the Controlled Substances Act to include steroids, making their possession punishable by imprisonment.
During the next decade, every good boy and girl in middle school health class learned that about 'roid rage and were instructed about steroids' perilous health effects, particularly such severe repercussions like impotency, premature death via cancers and organ failure. Although still taught in schools, this message is losing its effect for one principle reason: the need for young males to become better looking and more athletic.
For most of my high school years, I was a pretty mediocre athlete. I had a relatively successful stint with football at the junior varsity level, but I declined to play varsity football because I was too small to start. I didn't, however, stop focusing on becoming bigger and stronger. After I stopped playing football, I still hated my appearance. I was too small, too flabby. The only muscle-building substances I took were protein powders and creatine. I never even considered taking steroids because of their horrible reputation.
Times are changing, however, as is steroids' reputation. More and more studies are finding that an adult male, if educated and scrupulous in his consumption, can actually utilize steroids with minimal side effects while benefiting in the form of increased muscle mass. Books such Anabolics 2002 or The Steroid Bible teach how to cycle with combinations of steroids and how to maximize muscle gain with only limited side effects, for example acne and higher cholesterol.
While many of these studies' findings are the subject to debate and some come from very disreputable sources, their effect has nonetheless been to dramatically alter the attitudes of today's male. Recent interviews with professional athletes have yielded some full-fledged endorsements of steroids. They rave about gaining 15 to 20 pounds of muscle in a single offseason, without any negative side effects.
Young American males are noticing such endorsements, as they desperately seek bigger and leaner bodies. Haunted by memories of failing to make the team or failing to get the girl, a lot of guys are hitting the gym and consuming all kinds of supplements in an effort to get bigger and stronger. I am part of the above demographic. Having arrived on campus as a 155-pound freshman, I enter my senior year 25 pounds heavier. I am fully twice as strong as I was three years ago.
I've never really been tempted to take steroids, mainly because I've been successful gaining bulk without consuming anything more dangerous than a protein shake. It took a hell of a lot of effort though. Working out regularly for three long years hurts. I sit and wonder whether if I were 16 years old and 155 pounds in 2002 steroids might seriously interest me. As most of America now knows, today's youth are willing to absorb a lot of pain and discomfort in order to achieve a better body.
I stopped taking creatine because of its main side-effect, severe cramping. If I didn't drink enough water before I went to bed, I would wake up writhing in agony with my calf muscle seemingly glued to my hamstring. I was willing to endure the cramps for a full year, however, and I halted my usage mainly because I read studies that questioned creatine's effectiveness, not because of the cramping.
Because steroids are so commonly linked to sports-related scandals and unfair performance enhancement, most people forget that it is only because of their health risks that steroids are illegal.
The performance-enhancement part doesn't bother the average consumer, it appeals to him.
Nick Christie is a Trinity senior and an associate sports editor for The Chronicle.
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