ger, the main reason athletes take them is “because they know their competition is taking them and they don’t want to give away an advantage.” (723). Many beginner and intermediate bodybuilders, for example, who hear that the champions are using steroids, believe that they too can make enormous gains by taking these drugs. Studies done, however, on the effect of steroids do not bear this out (et. al.). Steroids have their greatest effect on size and strength only when the athlete has plateaued-that is, made about as much gain as possible without the use of drugs. Trained individuals respond to steroids much better than untrained ones. Gains are also maximized if training very hard during the period of steroid use. In either case, athletes (trained or untrained) who fear each other’s competition are none-the-less putting themselves at great health risks (Schwarzenneger 724). The second cause of steroid use is the need for a more desirable physical appearance. Over the last ten years, the use of drugs in sports has become epidemic and their use is not only limited in top athletes. It is now being used by non-competition athletes for a quick and easy body image make-over (Meoreira de Araujo 5). An alarming statistic is about the age when people start to use these drugs. A review conducted at a Michigan high school (Buckley and Yesalis 1988) reported a 3 percent use rate-5 percent of the males and 1 percent of the females use or had used anabolic steroids. What is more, Buckley and Yesalis also found that over two-thirds of the users initiated steroids when they were sixteen years old or younger and improvement of “physical appearance” was the main reason for 90 percent of the users (Meoreira de Araujo 5). According to General Barry McCaffrey, Director of the White House Drug Policy, the fear is that America’s children will emulate the athletes in the big-time leagues who develop giant...
