Personally, I feel steroids should be allowed in sports under supervised conditions, and that it should be used as a supplement. Under those circumstances steroids are far less dangerous than eating junk food every day. Tens of millions have died from food related conditions, how many have died from steroids in all of the world over time? Estimates I have seen put it at 100.
RAMA
I find a certain hypocrisy in your position. It's ok to use drugs for something that you believe in - bodybuilding and athletics, but not to operate one's own (sovereign?) mind? Biceps good, consciousness bad? Perhaps you are not aware of the term entheogens, as I in no way defend drug addiction/abuse or using sacred plants and sacraments in a purely secular, "let's get fucked up", kind of way, nor pushing such a decision on anyone else. Anyway, I'm not looking to derail the thread -
I tend to agree with you however. Steroids are a very useful drug in medicine, and utilizing them in a controlled, non-underground way is probably much more realistic in the long run. The current mood of prohibition will not last. Players will use them, ways will be found to defeat drug tests. As long as there are multimillion dollar contracts on the line, anyway.
Want to nick steroids in sports? Salary cap for players: 50,000/year. After all, they're just playing a fucking game for a living. But that would be un-American. We need our baseball Gods.
Supervised and regulated useage, rather than a stupid, "drugs are bad" attitude, is realistically the only thing that can be done here. It's not going away.
I don't have too much time to go into it now....however, the very numbers I posted on my report of deaths ( 26,000 to 0, not to mention adverse health effects and misery of consciousness altering drugs) are a reason WHY. That would seem obvious! Steroids can have a positive effect on health in almost every case, cocaine for example does not.
RAMA