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The Temptation of Performance-Enhancing Drugs andré douglas pond cummings* I. Introduction W hat has been the most dominant news topic in Major League Baseball over the past five years? To a person, average sports fans would most likely answer “performanceenhancing drugs” or the use of “steroids” by professional athletes.1 Names such as Alex Rodriguez, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Manny Ramirez, Jose Canseco, Brian McNamee, Rafael Palmeiro, and Andy Pettitte, not to mention Marion Jones, have dominated sports news in recent times.2 Congress has conducted highly publicized hearings that captured America’s attention, regarding steroid use by baseball players.3 The allure and availability of an easy chemical advantage for athletes has proved to be an irresistible temptation for many. This chapter attempts to describe three reasons that performance-enhancing drug use seems to predominate professional sports. First, the chapter explores why performance-enhancing drugs attract so much attention in the world of elite sports. Second, it examines the very real temptation that modern athletes face when it comes to steroids and performance-enhancing drugs, specifically why elite athletes break the law to enhance their performance. Finally, the law that forbids the use of steroids in the United States is examined. II. Steroids and Human Growth Hormone The “benefits” of steroid use are common knowledge, as are the negative side effects. “Anabolic steroids are synthetically produced variants of the naturally occurring male hormone testosterone.”4 Steroids can be taken orally, they can be injected intramuscularly, or they can be rubbed into the skin in the form of gels or creams.5 These drugs are often used in patterns called “cycling,” which “involves taking multiple doses of steroids over a specific period of time, stopping for a period, and 131 False Positives: The Temptation of Performance-Enhancing Drugs starting again.”6 Testosterone leads to increased muscle mass and increased power and strength.7 Human growth hormone (HGH) slows down aging factors and increases the ability for muscles to recover from overuse.8 The known negative side effects of steroid use are well documented. Although anabolic steroids are derived from a male sex hormone, men who take them may actually experience a “feminization” effect along with a decrease in normal male sexual function.9 Other documented effects include reduced sperm count, impotence, development of breasts, shrinking of the testicles, and difficulty or pain while urinating.10 Women, on the other hand, often experience a “masculinization” effect from anabolic steroids, including the following side effects: facial hair growth, deepened voice, breast reduction, and menstrual cycle changes.11 With continued use of anabolic steroids, both sexes can experience the following effects, which range from the merely unsightly to the life endangering, which include acne, bloated appearance, rapid weight gain, clotting disorders, liver damage, premature heart attacks and strokes, elevated cholesterol levels, rage, and weakened tendons.12 III. The Temptation With so many adverse consequences, why would any athlete use these drugs? Studies have proved that steroids can make you faster, stronger, and able to increase workouts without overtraining.13 Those athletes who choose to use steroids and HGH believe that the benefits far outweigh the risks. The benefits of being faster, stronger, bigger, bulkier, and more powerful, with the ability to recover more quickly, train harder, and return from injury sooner are just too appealing for many modern, elite athletes. Knowing that performance-enhancing drug use is widespread then,14 non-users of steroids or athletes who choose to perform naturally are basically presented with three undesirable choices when competing in high stakes athletics.15 These choices include (1) losing out to the biologically enhanced, either by being beaten on the field of play or being replaced in a lineup; (2) quitting the game; or (3) placing their bodies in peril by becoming users themselves.16 The Mitchell Report, an investigative study of steroid use in Major League Baseball, pushes this dilemma even further.17 In an age of biotechnical enhancements, many athletes feel constrained by the fact or by the belief that it has become impossible to compete or to compete on an equal playing field without the use of steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs.18 In the minds of many athletes, the choice to forgo performance-enhancing drugs amounts to unilateral disarmament, virtually guaranteeing that only those receiving a chemical advantage will succeed.19 Imagine that you are a naturally performing offensive tackle on a Division I college football team. You are a talented athlete and win a starting...

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