Drug Free Olympics
Kids on steroids willing to risk it all for success
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Kids on steroids willing to risk it all for success By Jacqueline Stenson MSNBC contributor updated 3/3/2008 10:31:21 AM ET
In a nation where the Super Bowl is the most-watched night on television and professional athletes in a range of sports rake in millions of dollars in salaries and endorsements, it's not hard to see why many kids grow up idolizing athletes. Some sports stars may deny they are role models for a younger generation, but a new study suggests quite the contrary. Among students in grades 8 through 12 who admitted to using anabolic steroids in a confidential survey, 57 percent said professional athletes influenced their decision to use the drugs and 63 percent said pro athletes influenced their friends' decision to use them. Eighty percent of users — and 35 percent of non-users — said they believed steroids could help them achieve their athletic dreams.
willing to take extreme risks to reach sports stardom or other athletic goals. The survey found that 65 percent of steroid users versus 6 percent of non-users said they would be willing to use a pill or powder, including
dietary supplements, if it guaranteed they would reach their athletic goals even if it may harm their health, and 57 percent of users versus 4 percent of non-users said they would take a pill or powder even if it may shorten their life.
chair of health and exercise science at the College of New Jersey in Ewing. "This study shows that adolescents are willing to take those risks."
involved more than 3,200 students in 12 states, most of them from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New Mexico. Other states included Iowa, Wisconsin, Connecticut, Missouri, Ohio, Colorado, New York, Minnesota and California.
boys and .8 percent of girls) — about 50 students in total — reported using anabolic steroids, according to results published in the January issue of the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. That's lower than more nationally representative research, such as the government's National Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which found in 2005 that 4 percent of kids in grades 9 through 12 reported steroid use.
age, especially in boys, with almost 6 percent of 12th grade males reporting steroid use. Users say they'd take drugs to excel even if it shortened their lives Some students reported using other dietary supplements to boost their game or physical appearance. Of all students surveyed, 17 percent said they had used supplements such as protein powders, creatine and amino acids to gain body mass. And 35 percent said they had used supplements such as fat burners, high-energy drinks, ephedra and caffeine pills in an attempt to lose weight. The more supplements kids took, the more likely they were to also use steroids. The sports world has been rocked by steroid scandals in recent months. In December, for instance, the Mitchell Report implicated more than 80 professional baseball players in the use of steroids. And last fall, sprinter Marion Jones admitted to lying about steroid use and returned her five Olympic medals.
in sports though. In the new survey, 57 percent of steroid users and 12 percent of non-users said they believe pro athletes have the right to use steroids. And 60 percent of users and 29 percent of non-users actually thought using anabolic steroids for athletic purposes is legal. Role model? Hoffman blames lack of education about the dangers of these drugs as well as the influence of elite athletes who use steroids. "I believe there is an inherent responsibility of being a role model," Hoffman says. "Whether they want it or not, it comes with the territory."
national programs to counter steroids in youth sports, says the new study confirms
what he has seen anecdotally. "Sports role models are very powerful in a young kid's life," says Goldberg, who is head of the division of health promotion and sports medicine at the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland. "The mindset is that if [a pro athlete] had to use that, then maybe I should use that."
and Learning to Avoid Steroids (ATLAS), he is trying to educate kids that there are alternatives to steroids, such as sports- specific training regimens and diets that help athletes gain muscle naturally. Red flags Don Hooton wishes he had known about the warning signs of steroid abuse. His son, Taylor, 17, killed himself in 2003, six weeks after discontinuing steroid use.
steroids," says Hooton, who lives in Plano, Texas. Taylor, a high school baseball player, worked out three times a day, gained 30 pounds of muscle in 90 days, developed acne on his back and started having 'roid rages. "He would just fly off the handle for seemingly no reason," says Hooton. The Hootons knew something was wrong, but they didn't know what. And they actually praised him for his muscle development because they thought it was the pure result of all his hard work at the gym. They didn't realize it's impossible to naturally gain so much muscle so quickly.
the family is working to raise awareness of the dangers of steroids in youth. Because teens are still developing and already have raging hormones, experts worry that steroids — which, among other possible effects, may shrink testicles, raise cholesterol, promote liver tumors, spur breast growth in males, and shrink breasts and deepen voice in females — may be particularly dangerous for them. The foundation also is pushing for more drug testing for steroids in schools. New Jersey and Florida are already doing testing, and Texas and Illinois are making plans to test. "We need a random testing program not to put a kid in jail but to give them a chance to get caught," says Hooton. If kids face the threat of getting caught and being kicked off a team or losing a scholarship, they might think twice before using steroids or other performance- enhancers, he says.
reliably detect human growth hormone, for instance, which is believed to be catching on with youth athletes as it seems to be with adults.
world cracks down harder on doping. "It's not just about [pro athletes]," Hooton says. "It's about our kids. It's about Taylor and hundreds of thousands of kids." © 2011 msnbc.com Sponsored links 
Powered by the largest news staff in Northeastern Oklahoma Visit tulsaworld.com for coverage of news, business, sports and entertainment. “Steroid inquiry widens to teen athletes” by: DAVID SCHULTE World Staff Writer Thursday, April 24, 2008 Tulsa and state undercover officers are investigating whether suspected steroid dealers are selling performance enhancement drugs to high school students. Mark Woodward, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Bureau of Nar cotics and Dangerous Drugs Control's office in Oklahoma City, said agents have received a significant number of calls in recent months from high school coaches concerned about rapid gains in weight and strength among their players. Woodward would not name the schools or coaches, but he said they were in large and small districts. An affidavit filed last week in Tulsa County District Court says the state drug agency and Tulsa Police Department have been investigating the illegal use and distribution of performance-enhancement drugs in the Tulsa area for approxi mately three months. Area high school coaches said in interviews this week that the possibility of student-athletes using steroids is a legitimate concern. "I would not be surprised if it hit the high-school age," said Allan Trimble, the head football coach at Jenks High School. "To me, it's like any other controlled substance. It's available, and in some people's eyes, you might get an advantage from using it." Performance-enhancement drugs can improve strength, muscle mass and endurance, and they can aid in recovery from injuries. However, they can also increase the risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer and psychological problems. The cost of testing: Danny Rennels, the executive secretary of the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association, the governing body of high school sports, said public schools are not required to test athletes for steroids. The biggest reason is cost, which varies among testing companies, he said. Rennels and high school coaches estimated that steroids tests would cost between $55 and $90 per student. "That's a large amount of money to test every student," Rennels said. Coaches have instead learned to identify signs of steroid use among their athletes. Common signs include sudden aggressive behavior, swelling of the forehead, acne on the chest and back, and increased blood pressure. Broken Arrow: Broken Arrow High School has perhaps the most thorough school substance-abuse policy in the state, largely because steroids are included in its drug testing of students in grades eight to 12 who participate in activities, said Keith Isbell, the school district's chief communications officer. The district also has an "under reasonable suspicion" policy that allows it to require drug testing of athletes. The criteria for suspicion of using steroids and other performance-enhancement drugs include unusual increase in size and strength. Several Broken Arrow High School students were arrested in a June 2005 steroids sting that involved a coach at Webster High School in Tulsa. The students were involved in bodybuilding, not in high school team sports. No charges were filed against the students, whom police never identified. The coach, Scott Wayne Moody, later pleaded guilty to three felonies, including the unlawful delivery of anabolic steroids. Jenks: Jenks High School requires a mandatory drug test at the start of the season for all of its more than 800 athletes, but the test does not detect steroids, Trimble said. The district also requires athletes and their parents to sign a nine-page consent form that gives the district the right to test for steroids if coaches suspect their use. Trimble has had three football players tested for steroids within the past five years. "We had a couple of kids that I thought got big in a hurry and had the attitude to match," he said. "I had some concerns. "Fortunately, they came back negative." A first violation of the district's drug policy would bar the athlete from participating in sports and other secondary activities for 30 school days. If an athlete tested positive again for steroids, an 18-week suspension would be imposed. Trimble said that if public school funds ever became available to require mandatory testing for steroids, he would support it. "Those drugs can kill people like any other drug," he said. Tulsa: Travis Hill, the football coach and athletic director at East Central High School, started a substance-abuse program about eight years ago but soon abandoned it because of litigation issues. Because East Central was the only school in the Tulsa district to have a drug-testing policy, parents could challenge the fairness and validity of any positive test, he said. Today, if Hill suspects that an athlete is using steroids, he consults the student's parents and provides some form of counseling. Even if he had significant evidence to believe that an athlete was using steroids, Hill would not conduct a test without the parents' permission, he said. Union: Steve Dunlap, the athletic director at Union Public Schools, said his district also does not test for steroids or any other drug. As with Tulsa Public Schools, Union officials believe that education is the key to preventing students from using any form of drugs. "If a coach believes that they have somebody taking something, we would contact the parents and go from there," he said. Bishop Kelley: Private schools may have more resources than public ones to test students for illegal drugs. Bishop Kelley High School officials gave approval in February for the testing of all students for drugs, including marijuana, opiates and Ecstasy. If reasonable suspicion exists that a student is under the influence of any other drug, a specific test for that drug can be performed. David Schulte 581-8367 david.schulte@tulsaworld.com Copyright © 2011, World Publishing Co. All rights reserved R.A.F.T. 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