MORE STEROID MADNESS

Steroid use in high-school has risen slightly over the past few years.
Statistics from National Institute on Drug Abuse Monitoring the Future Survey


As we look forward to the post-season release of the Mitchell Report and the blockbuster names he is believed to be ready to link to the Steroid Era, comes these two conflicting messages regarding the extent of the problem in sports and society.

Our local paper, the Daily Herald did a great article on Tom Lemming who scouts high school football prospects and publishes the Prep Football Report. Lemming estimates that between "15% to 20% of high school players use steroids to bulk up and that half of college and pro players use the stuff while pro football looks the other way."

Those are huge numbers at the college and professional level considering that they test for PED use. In fact the NFL was lauded for its strong steroids policy by Congress and the media when all the major sports were called to task for their policies and procedures regarding PED use is sports.

Now some in the national media did pick up on Lemming estimate for high school use and use their imagination and statistical hocus-pocus to extrapolate the 15-20% number nationwide without thinking that: 1) Lemming's number is his own personal estimate based on observation of presumably elite football programs and players. My guess is the use is higher among these programs for obvious reasons, but to then extrapolate these numbers across the board would be a bit misleading 2) by nature estimating numbers for underground or black market activities is inherently inaccurate by nature.

When we have reported numbers of high school athletes use of steroids running anywhere from 5-7% in some studies or surveys to as high as 20-25% in others, it becomes hard to get a firm grip on the extent and magnitude of the problem. Imagine if policy makers had to make decisions based on reported unemployment numbers that varied in magnitude from 5-25%. It would be impossible to make coherent decisions when the numbers are that uncertain.

To illustrate, the same day I read the Herald article, this appears in Time magazine.

Steroids: Not just for Athletes by Michael D. Lemoncik
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1671137,00.html

Anyone who follows the news probably has a picture of the typical steroid user: an elite athlete — a home-run hitter, say — trying to get an edge on the competition, or a high-school or college kid who wants desperately to get into the pros.


But while those cases make headlines, the stereotype turns out to be largely off base, according to a new study published online in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. In a web-based survey of nearly 2,000 self-prescribed steroid users (the stuff has legitimate medical uses as well, such as correcting hormone imbalances), it turns out that the typical user isn't a competitive athlete at all. He (and it's pretty much always "he") is a highly educated professional, about 30 years old, who doesn't participate in organized sports at all — and never has. He uses steroids to build muscle, increase strength and look good. And he does it, not as an easy, stand-alone shortcut to body modification, but as a supplement to a carefully planned regimen of diet and exercise. In short, says one internist: "They're gym rats."

So again, I think we need to get more accurate picture of the extent and nature of the problem before we make policy decisions. As we have seen however, some states have already taken action in some cases just to show that they were doing something, anything. It would be better for all concerned of the take EFFECTIVE action, then just taking action for the sake of appearances.

Maybe Bud Selig could enchance his reputation with the national media if he simply ignored the PED problem in his league a la the NFL commissioners present and past or if he pulled a David Stern, who dealt with his cheating in sports scandal and simply changed the rules of the game ex post facto rather than punish those who knowingly broke the rules.

Stern's reaction to punishing those 20 some odd refs who knowingly cavorted in casinos counter to the NBA's rules should have been similar to what baseball did to Pete Rose, instead we say oops, the rule was bad, we'll let them slide and simply change the rules. And the "guardians of the integrity of the game" in the media, who would have crucified baseball, cheered him on. What sort of parallel universe are we living in when this kind of stupidity and hypocrisy goes unchecked?

To mimic Denzel Washington's character Joe Miller in "Philadelphia" (1993), "Now, explain it to me like I'm a four-year-old."

Graphs from National Institute of Drug Abuse:





Judging by these graphs, maybe we should be much more concerned with high-school kids using ecstasy. On a positive note, I saw the first PSA on methamphetamine use on TV this week, so maybe the folks who are charged with fighting drug abuse amongst our nations youth are actually reading some of their own data and attacking the problems in areas that are truly a problem rather than tilting at windmills.