Survey finds sharp increase in teen use of HGH - News-Record.com: News

I thought all we needed was drug testing in baseball and this trend was going to reverse? SOB, they pulled another fast one on us.

I guess the youths of America were not following the example of A-Rod, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire -- if indeed any of them even know who these guys are or hold them up as role models anyway.

from News-Record.com:

Survey finds sharp increase in teen use of HGH

				Survey finds sharp increase in teen use of HGH NEW YORK — Experimentation with human growth hormones by America's teens more than doubled in the past year, as more young people looked to drug...
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"There's so much pressure on winning — it's tough for these kids to stay true to themselves," he said. "I can't change every kid's mind, but if I can do my part and other people do their part, we can beat this monster."

Tygart, who as USADA's chief oversaw investigations of Armstrong and Hamilton, noted that stringent testing regimens are an increasingly effective deterrent to doping among athletes in major pro sports and in INTERNATIONAL competitions.

"But most young athletes are not in any testing PROGRAM, and their chance of getting caught is zero," he said. "When left unchecked, the win-at-all-cost culture will take over and athletes will make the wrong decision."

Among the groups seeking to reverse the teen doping trend is the Texas-based Taylor Hooton Foundation, named after a 17-year-old high school athlete whose suicide in 2003 was blamed by his family on his use of anabolic steroids. Its staff has spoken to thousands of young people at school assemblies and sports camps.

Donald Hooton Sr., Taylor's father and the foundation's president, depicted teen doping as an epidemic fueled by widespread ignorance among parents and coaches. He estimated that more than 1.5 million youths in the U.S. have tried steroids.

Information about teen use of performance-enhancing drugs is readily available online. The Mayo Clinic, for example, provides a list of possible hazards and side-effects, including stunted growth, ACNE, liver problems, shrunken testicles for boys and excess facial hair for girls.

The clinic urges parents to check the ingredients of over-the-counter products used by their teens, and to be on the lookout for warning signs, including increased aggressiveness, rapid weight gain, and needle marks in the buttocks or thighs.

'via Blog this'

But at least we have testing in baseball going for us.

And an endless stream of 1-0, 2-1 games to replace the 5-4, 6-5 games and they still take 3-3 1/2 hours to play. Where's the benefit? Well the cash register is still ringing and franchise values are more pumped up than Barry, Sammy, Alex and Markie-Mark could ever hope to be.

Kids are using these substances for the same reason(s) it seems they always have -- not to improve their performance on a baseball field -- but to improve the chances of securing more glances from and getting in more pantses of the opposite sex. Some things never change.  I blame the Hollywood culture. These numbers will go down when they attack IT with the same vigor and energy they attacked baseball.