st catching up with antibiotics as the most abused class of drugs prescribed by doctors even though they cannot cure one single condition. All steriods can do is supress the bodies ability to express a normal response. Sometimes suppression will give the body a chance to heal itself, but more often causes permanent damage. Doctors, by law, cannot prescribe anabolic steriods for the purpose of athletic enhancement, and possession of these steriods without a prescription is a felony, but today there are an estimated one million current or former illegal-steriod users in the United States (Nichols 1). So why would an individual choose to break the law and ignor the consequesces, both physical and legal, of using steriods?From the time children are old enough to join a little league team, parents, coaches, and society in general, thrust the talented young athletes into early sports development programs, glorify the youngsters for willing to risk their bodies in order to win, demand that they aspire to greatness at any cost, and pass on the vision that winning isn't everything, it's the only thing! Thus, by the time these youngsters become teenagers "juicing" is a frequent topic of discussion. They are now subjected to peer pressure and self justification for using steriods. They fear their performance will not be as good as it could be and therefore will diminish their self-esteem. Some student athletes can feel so pressured to succeed in their sports because they are constantly told that taking risks in sports is essential to success, that if you are really good the pros will draft you and you will make millions. Just pick up any sports magazine or watch commercials. Do you see skinny, wimpy looking athletes promoting a product? No. You see good looking, muscular and well built athletes leading you to believe that if you buy this product you can play as well, and look as good as they do.Society demands and rewards great athlet...
