With the wave of changing attitudes towards cannabis, and other substances, there’s no wonder people are now rehashing a long-dormant debate. The usage of steroids has always been a grey area because of societal views, athletic regulations, and the questionable legal status. Some are with, and some are against the legalization of steroids. Here’s what we believe you should take into consideration before making a decision.
o Health Risks
Steroids have an ill reputation when it comes to overall health. The misconceptions often originate from the bans, instituted by athletic departments, incomplete information, and the stigma built up by athletes’ deaths. Now most people truly believe that steroids only affect your genitals and end up killing you while the truth is far from that. It is true that performance enhancing drugs tend to have adverse health effects on most users; however, this is only because most users do not use them properly.
Due to the stigma, athletes often neglect speaking to their doctor about using steroids; they choose self-medication over a controlled dosage. Needless to say, this increases the chances of taking excessive doses of steroids, which can lead to kidney exhaustion, and consequently, failure. Unsurprisingly, this is the cause of most cases of overdosage.
Bear in mind that this is often what happens with any type of medication taken in excessive quantities. With proper supervision and regulated dosages, the Council for Responsible Nutrition confirms that steroids can be safely used for good. The main point is, steroids aren’t harmful. It’s the lack of knowledge, as well as, the imposed restrictions that often result in people abusing them which only results in negative effects.
o Positive Contributions
To determine if steroids should be legalized or not, it is only fair to address how proper use of steroids can affect the human body and its ability to perform athletically. First off, when properly prescribed, they have the ability to reduce inflammation, which can significantly shorten an athlete’s recovery period. In fact, while doctors aren’t allowed to prescribe steroids to boost athletic performance, they recommend corticosteroids for arthritis patients to reduce joint inflammation. Another benefit of steroids is increased muscle gains. Anabolic steroids are basically synthetic hormones.
As you know, testosterone is an essential hormone responsible for muscle growth. It is no surprise that synthetic testosterone happens to deliver the same effects. When the right dosages are combined with proper workout and food regimens, an athlete can boost their muscle growth. In fact, according to gymflow100.com, the products they have tested and reviewed are not only perfectly safe, but also effective. With this type of resources available nowadays, it is a lot easier to determine the type of steroid for your needs. This simply guarantees better results, more muscles, and a better overall physical performance.
Speaking of physical performance, it is worth mentioning that legalizing the use of a performance enhancing drug can flip the scales when it comes to the sports industry. As athletes reach peak physical conditions, games are bound to become a lot more interesting, and the competition more heated. Not to mention, extra time not spent in the gym is the time used by athletes to hone their skills. So, technically speaking, steroids aren’t a shortcut. They can be used as a mean to help athletes concentrate on what their main field; skill, as opposed to strength.
o Restrictions are Costly
Most don’t know this but, in order to ban something, it takes a lot of money, time, effort, and human resources, too. See, criminalizing steroids doesn’t only mean laws being put down by federations and authorities. It also means following through and enforcing those laws. In the case of steroids, the testing process costs about $200 per person, and that’s the basic test.
The thing is, the tests have a limited capacity when it comes to detecting steroids. Add to that, people have their ways to avoid getting caught. Even more common, not all athletes use steroids. So, when conducting tests on an entire football team, authorities are most likely to waste a couple of thousands to run tests with unreliable results. On a larger scale, when it comes to major events like, world cup championships and the Olympics, there’s a huge monetary expenditure on these types of tests; money that could have been used more efficiently. Instead of tests, the money could be used by authorities to provide pay raises, develop better facilities, and funding social programs.
So, if we were to prepare a cost-benefit analysis, we’d find that the amount of opportunities that the concerned authorities are passing up in exchange for running steroid tests is quite overwhelming. Now, keep in mind that the benefits reaped in exchange for the costs cannot be worth the amount of money spent.
o Is it A Vice?
Unlike LSD, heroin, and methamphetamines, steroids don’t alter one’s sense of judgment or negatively impact the society in a major way; yet, they are illegalized. On the other hand, individuals of age are allowed to consume alcohol, as well as, other substances without any legal repercussions.
If you really think about it, steroids only impact the individual in terms of muscle growth and physical capacities. The only harm steroids could do comes with an individual’s conscious choice to take more than the recommended daily dosage. So, to be fair, if adults are free to smoke, drink and gamble, it doesn’t really make sense for steroids to be banned. In terms of negative effects on an individual and a society, steroids don’t really qualify as a security threat for their use to be criminalized; it should be more of a matter of choice.
After gathering enough data, it is only fitting to reach a conclusive answer. From afar, it is easy to consider steroids a threat. In contrast, when you fully understand their nature, it is easy to see that they are just like any type of medication. They don’t give athletes superhuman powers; they are nothing but hormones. So, should they be legalized? Let’s just say there are a lot more dangerous things than a man on steroids.
