Steroids: A Growing Role in SocietyEssay Preview: Steroids: A Growing Role in SocietyReport this essaySteroids: A Growing Role in SocietyBrett HuelsmanPerry BensonEnglish 125May 9, 2005418 Ă Gateway DriveGrand Forks, ND 58203May 9, 2005Perry BensonEnglish 125 InstructorUniversity of North DakotaGrand Forks, ND 58202Dear Mr. Benson:Here is my research project on steroids and its effect on society. While conducting my research I have learned that steroids are becoming a serious and dangerous problem in society. I believe that my research project would be a good reference for anyone interested in the science and culture of steroids in America.
Some of the topics I covered in my project are topics that have for the most part been ignored by most scholarly works on steroids. For example, I have devoted a whole section of my paper to the prevention and care of steroid use. I also included a large section on the scientific facts and effects that steroids have on the body.
The issue of steroids in society is a very hot topic and I was able to find many helpful materials from many different sources. One of these sources is a controversial book written by a former Major League Baseball player. Other sources are from newspaper and magazine articles written in lieu of the recent controversies. By using subjective materials such as these I was able to get a feel for the opinions within American culture regarding the use of steroids.
Ive enjoyed working on this project, and would be happy to answer any questions.Sincerely,Brett A. HuelsmanAbstractSteroid use is a growing problem in society. There is a multitude of research pertaining to the science of steroids but the prevention and treatment of steroid use has for the most part been largely ignored. In order to get to the root of the problem the research should contain not only the basics of steroids, but also the culture of steroid use.
The reasons why people use steroids range from improving sports performance to prevention of abuse and rape. By focusing not only on the obvious reasons for steroid use, the prevention and treatment of steroid use becomes a much bigger and more complicated problem than most would assume.
There are many different procedures being used to control steroids and their abuse. Some of them appear to be working but many of them do not. Only telling people the adverse affects of steroids is the most ineffective way to control the problem. Rather, teaching people the risks and rewards of steroids and how to receive the same rewards without actually using the drugs seems to be the most effective method.
Steroids have now taken center stage with the recent government intervention of steroids in professional sports. There is no better time to address the issue of steroids in society than now.
To address this situation research on steroids and its effect will be conducted as well as a cultural evaluation of steroids in society.Introduction“Anabolic Steroids” is the familiar name for synthetic substances related to the male sex hormones (androgens). They promote the growth of skeletal muscle (anabolic effects) and the development of male sexual characteristics (androgenic effects), and also have some other effects. The term “anabolic steroids” will be used throughout this report because of its familiarity, although the proper term for these compounds is “anabolic-androgenic” steroids (Gallaway, 1997, p. 6).
Anabolic steroids were developed in the late 1930s primarily to treat hypogonadism, a condition in which the testes do not produce sufficient testosterone for normal growth, development, and sexual functioning. The primary medical uses of these compounds are to treat delayed puberty, some types of impotence, and wasting of the body caused by HIV infection of other diseases (Lukas, 2001, p.11).
During the 1930s, scientists discovered that anabolic steroids could facilitate the growth of skeletal muscle in laboratory animals, which led to use of the compounds first by bodybuilders and weightlifters and then by athletes in other sports. Steroid abuse has become so widespread in athletics that it affects the outcome of sports contests.
More than one hundred different anabolic steroids have been developed, but they require a prescription to be used legally in the United States. Most steroids that are used illegally are smuggled in from other countries, illegally diverted from U.S. pharmacies, or synthesized in clandestine laboratories (Paris, 2005).
What is the scope of steroid use in the United States?Recent evidence suggests that steroid use among adolescents is on the rise. The 1999 Monitoring the Future study, a National Institute on Drug Abuse funded survey of drug abuse among adolescents in middle and high schools across the United States, estimated that 2.7 percent of 8th- and 10th-graders and 2.9 percent of 12th-graders had taken anabolic steroids at least once in their lives. For 10th-graders, that is a significant increase from 1998, when 2.0 percent of 10th graders said they had taken anabolic steroids at least once. For all three grades, the 1999 levels represent a significant increase from 1991, the first year that data on steroid abuse were collected from the younger students. In that year, 1.9 percent of 8th-graders, 1.8 percent of 10th-graders, and 2.1 percent of 12th-graders reported that they had taken anabolic steroids at least once.
AUG 9, 1999âIn some parts of the world, in some parts of the world, steroids are available on the sly. In New Mexico, where the steroids are a natural part of the crop, a recent study by The Rockefeller Institute has found that some 1,400 of the most popular steroidsâa mixture of steroids like lutein and triiodothyronineâare manufactured in Southwestern United States towns, in areas like Las Vegas, New Mexico, and West Virginia. The researchers estimate that, in California alone, around 1.1 million people use illegal steroids every year, and about 600,000 of these in New Mexico. There are in fact, in New Mexico 2.4 and 3.4, known as “steroids,” all sold on the black market. The researchers say the illegal steroids in New Mexico are more readily available to Americans than other forms of illegal steroids, and that most of them are manufactured in large numbers in the U.S. The research, which followed around the world, suggested that if this is true, the demand for illegal steroids in countries such as China, Pakistan, and India could rise considerably. The new study, which appears in the April 12, 2001 issue of ProPublica, looks at all types found in the U.S.: steroids, stimulants, and drugs that can be purchased on the black market. The researchers also examined the prevalence of prescription drugs using the number of prescriptions. They noted that prescription drugs were found in a staggering 5.9 percent of all cases of illicit steroid use and in 5.6 percent of drug misuse arrests in the United States. Even the first drugs used to obtain prescription drugs in the last few years are being sold on the black market. New Mexico State Police Chief William McClellan, who is in charge of the narcotics investigation, said: “What has been obvious to me for a long time is that a lot of people simply don’t have control (and) you can’t just come down to New Mexico to pick up and sell what’s there. Our current criminal justice system is too poor or too broken with too many laws. And we need an injection of change, and we need a change in government.”
AUG 3, 1989âRates are now on a rise. During the 1990s, heroin was used in about 300,000 people in the country. As heroin increased, the number of heroin addicts grew and they became heroin addicts. In 1993, the state of Illinois stopped supplying most of heroin to the states that had legalized opium. After an outbreak of overdoses in many Southern states, the number of heroin users who use heroin is dropping. The current rate of heroin use rose from 14,500 a year back to 25,000. The state reported a record 33,700 opioid drug overdose deaths in 1998. The state reports that, during 1996 to 2004, heroin used to account for just 2 percent of heroin use in Illinois grew to $4.9 billion, or $1.8 million per person. The heroin addiction crisis in Illinois has been caused by rising drug use. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, heroin abuse now accounts for about 1 percent of the nation’s heroin use. More recently, over half a million Americans use illicit opioids, and approximately 9 million of those users are black or Hispanic. The statistics show the problems that drug addiction has brought to the state of Illinois. Nearly a third of its residents are black. The most well-off adults in the state can afford to
AUG 9, 1999âIn some parts of the world, in some parts of the world, steroids are available on the sly. In New Mexico, where the steroids are a natural part of the crop, a recent study by The Rockefeller Institute has found that some 1,400 of the most popular steroidsâa mixture of steroids like lutein and triiodothyronineâare manufactured in Southwestern United States towns, in areas like Las Vegas, New Mexico, and West Virginia. The researchers estimate that, in California alone, around 1.1 million people use illegal steroids every year, and about 600,000 of these in New Mexico. There are in fact, in New Mexico 2.4 and 3.4, known as “steroids,” all sold on the black market. The researchers say the illegal steroids in New Mexico are more readily available to Americans than other forms of illegal steroids, and that most of them are manufactured in large numbers in the U.S. The research, which followed around the world, suggested that if this is true, the demand for illegal steroids in countries such as China, Pakistan, and India could rise considerably. The new study, which appears in the April 12, 2001 issue of ProPublica, looks at all types found in the U.S.: steroids, stimulants, and drugs that can be purchased on the black market. The researchers also examined the prevalence of prescription drugs using the number of prescriptions. They noted that prescription drugs were found in a staggering 5.9 percent of all cases of illicit steroid use and in 5.6 percent of drug misuse arrests in the United States. Even the first drugs used to obtain prescription drugs in the last few years are being sold on the black market. New Mexico State Police Chief William McClellan, who is in charge of the narcotics investigation, said: “What has been obvious to me for a long time is that a lot of people simply don’t have control (and) you can’t just come down to New Mexico to pick up and sell what’s there. Our current criminal justice system is too poor or too broken with too many laws. And we need an injection of change, and we need a change in government.”
AUG 3, 1989âRates are now on a rise. During the 1990s, heroin was used in about 300,000 people in the country. As heroin increased, the number of heroin addicts grew and they became heroin addicts. In 1993, the state of Illinois stopped supplying most of heroin to the states that had legalized opium. After an outbreak of overdoses in many Southern states, the number of heroin users who use heroin is dropping. The current rate of heroin use rose from 14,500 a year back to 25,000. The state reported a record 33,700 opioid drug overdose deaths in 1998. The state reports that, during 1996 to 2004, heroin used to account for just 2 percent of heroin use in Illinois grew to $4.9 billion, or $1.8 million per person. The heroin addiction crisis in Illinois has been caused by rising drug use. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, heroin abuse now accounts for about 1 percent of the nation’s heroin use. More recently, over half a million Americans use illicit opioids, and approximately 9 million of those users are black or Hispanic. The statistics show the problems that drug addiction has brought to the state of Illinois. Nearly a third of its residents are black. The most well-off adults in the state can afford to
Few data exist on the extent of steroid use by adults. It has been estimated that hundreds of thousands of people aged eighteen and older abuse anabolic steroids at