Steroids Paper

* The word “steroid” comes with a stigma today, especially in professional sports. * I believe that this label is unfair and it is my goal for you all to believe the same. * I noticed from the audience surveys that only 2 of you believe steroids should be legal in professional sports. * This topic is significant because the majority of people do not know the benefits of legalizing steroids. * The 3 main reasons I believe steroids should be legal are: 1. you can never fully prevent steroid use 2. Steroids are not near as harmful when regulated and 3. Steroids can be used medicinally. * My first main point, which is the most important, is that you can never fully prevent steroid use. * In professional sports, players are always looking for an advantage; whether it is a new type of training, a different diet, or a performance enhancing drug. * All you have to do is look at the size of a football player in the 70’s and the size of a football player currently to see that athletes’ bodies have changed. * According to Carlos Frias from Heavy Pressure in 2009, the average offensive lineman now weighs 62 pounds more than they did in 1970, and the average defensive lineman weighs 34 more. * Although much of this has to do with modern technology and new diets, steroids have had a huge impact on these stats. * The inaccuracy and costs of drug testing is ridiculous; and players and steroid distributors are almost always a step ahead. * Many professional athletes ARE taking steroids and they are getting away with it. * A prime example of this, according to Steen in Sports and Drugs, is baseball player Ryan Braun. Braun is a Major League Baseball player that won the 2011 National League Most Valuable Player Award. * He recently failed a drug test for steroids and was supposed to get a 50-game suspension. * Instead, Braun’s legal team challenged the urine sample collection procedure and won because the urine sample was