Thursday, January 17, 2008

Contrarian views on the steroids hysteria

Bioethicist Norman Frost "says, as he has for many years and virtually alone, that the maelstrom [over steroids in sports] is nothing more than 'the hypocrisy, bad facts, inconsistency and moral incoherence of anti-drug hysteria.'" Read why.

Meanwhile, Kuff cites testimony from yesterday's hearing to question the "performance enhancing" part of "performance enhancing drugs," suggesting:
it may be that the main benefit is quicker recuperation time for injured players, something I daresay the public might consider a good thing. Maybe the best way to go here, instead of doing the War On Drugs writ small, is to really pursue the research, and if it turns out that the risks far outweigh the benefits (if there even are any), to push education of that at every level of competitive sports.
Kuff recognizes that the "off with their heads" approach will probably prevail, but for my money I think his suggestion represents a wiser path.

4 comments:

Michael said...

We should see if Lyle Alzado has a different opinion. Oh, wait, we can't. He's DEAD.

Gritsforbreakfast said...

According to Wikipedia, Michael:

"In the last years of his life, as he battled against the brain tumor that eventually caused his death at the age of 43, Alzado asserted that his steroid abuse directly led to his fatal illness, but his physician stated it could not possibly be true."

JT Barrie said...

Actually steroids are a wonderful tool for athletes - on an occasional basis. It's the over reliance that trains the body to function with them in your system. Ultimately it gives you very little additional advantage over consistent training - and it lowers your body's ability to recuperate on its own. BTW, antihistamines also work this way for treatment of allergies. Sadly the little oomph that is gained [up to 3%] can mean the difference between winning golds and not making the finals.

Anonymous said...

It has been reported that Lyle Alzado's tumor was one commonly found in gay, HIV positive men. Also reported that he was a silent partner in a gay club in California, as well as being a closet bi-sexual.