Canadian track star Ben Johnson was denied his gold medal in the 1988 Olympics after he tested positive for anabolic steroids. This incident sparked worldwide attention to the extent of anabolic steroid use. To date, the International Olympic Committee has barred the use of seventeen anabolic steroids. Other organizations, including The National Football League, National Collegiate Athletic Association's International Amateur Athletic Federation, and the International Federation of Body Builders have followed suit. Athletes and non-athletes alike are still abusing anabolic steroids to excel in sports.

Anabolic steroids belong to a group of androgenic drugs. They are synthetic derivatives of testosterone and other male hormones. Most healthy adult males produce 2-10 milligrams of testosterone per day. Females produce trace amounts of this hormone. The hormone helps the body retain dietary protein, which aids in the growth of muscles, bones, and skin. They can also affect aggressiveness and sex drive. Steroids tend to mimic testosterone's body building traits, while minimizing the masculine effect. The adrenal glands in women and young boys produce very little testosterone.

Through the 1940's, scientists attempted to achieve the tissue-building effects without the masculinizing effects of testosterone. Dr. Kochakian, concerned with the possible misuse of anabolic steroids wrote, "All of the modified steroids still remain sufficient virilizing (masculinizing) activity to make them objectionable as therapeutic, especially in children and women." (Yesalis 34) The use of anabolic steroids wasn't introduced to the sporting arena until the 1940's and 1950's. The Russian weight lifting team won several medals in the 1952 Olympics, partly due to synthetic testosterone use. An American physician determined that US competitors should have the same advantage.

It is the increase in the production of testosterone in young males that precipitates puberty. The anabolic effect of testosterone during puberty includes deepening of the voice, increasing muscle mass and strength, and decreasing body fat. All of this takes place without exercise or training.

Michelle Smith, an Irish swimmer married a former discus thrower from the Netherlands. He was kicked out of his own sport for drug use. Michelle Smith won four medals in Atlanta, three of them gold. She never failed a drug screen. She managed not to be randomly tested for two years. She was confronted at her Country Kilkenny home and gave a urine sample. Her urine contained enough alcohol to kill her. It was suspected she added the alcohol to cover up the other drugs. She was and is still banned from sports.

Young people, who use cocaine, heroine, alcohol, and other illegal chemicals, know they are using drugs that are a risk to their health. They know they could get into trouble with the police and their parents. While young people who use steroids would not even consider using recreational drugs. They don't consider steroids a drug. Athletes who achieve muscle and strength gains with hard work and proper diet, without steroids, have health benefits that last a lifetime. On the other hand, cosmetic changes, musculoskeletal injuries, infertility, heart disease, stroke, prostate problems, and liver toxicity have been associated with the abuse of steroids.

Anabolic steroids can be taken by injection, by mouth, by skin creams, or patches. Steroids are often taken in six to twelve week cycles. The dosage depends on the sport, as well as the perceived needs of the athlete. Depending on what they want to achieve, athletes control how they respond to the drug and the physiological effect it has on them. Athletes often take far higher doses of anabolic steroids than have been given for therapeutic use or in clinical studies. Some athletes use 10 to 100 times the amount their bodies produce.

By 1958, physicians realized the drug had surfaced widely in the sports world. According to David Katz and Harrison Pope of Harvard University, "There may be a greater number of cases of anabolic steroid induced psychiatric illness in t

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Approximate Word count = 1984
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)