The blurry line between use and abuse, cheating, and a level playing field

When I arrived in Melbourne, Australia I had a very interesting cab ride from the airport to my hotel.  The cabbie was an older gentleman and quite chatty.  He asked where I was from in the States and what I was doing in Melbourne, etc.  The usual talk.

Somehow, we got on the topic of the tour de france and he said that he had been a huge Lance Armstrong fan, and that because of the time difference, he'd actually set his alarm clock to wake up to watch Lance race when this was going on.

Then he told me he lost all respect for Lance once it came out that he had been using steroids to win.

"Do you think he really did that?" he asked me.

"Yeah.  Of course he did." I said.

"But that's cheating." he said.

"How?" I asked.

"You're supposed to see what the body can do naturally." was his answer.

Oh brother.

Just a while back Hector Lombard, a UFC fighter, was suspended from fighting for a year for testing position for the designer steroid, desoxymethyltestosterone, aka DMT.

The Nevada Athletic Commission, just like the NFL, NBA, and whatever acronym pro baseball uses, all have policies against the use of anabolic steroids that of course come with heavy fines or suspensions if one pops positive for them.

That's because of course, steroids are illegal.  And dangerous.

I will tie all this back together in a bit.  Just sit tight.

Media and general population ignorance - 


From this site...http://thelawdictionary.org/article/why-are-steroids-illegal/

Health risks of steroids

Anabolic steroids are illegal due to their proven health risks for individuals who take them. As a powerful hormone, they can cause unexpected and unwanted side effects for individuals who abuse them beyond a doctor's prescription. Side effects include:

• Infertility and impotence in men
• Breast development and testicular shrinkage in men
• Excessive face and body hair development in women
• Deepened voice, menstrual irregularities and reduced breast size in women
• Acne, oily scalp, jaundice, mood swings, delusions and baldness in both men and women
• Increased risk of high cholesterol, liver disease, liver cancer and heart attack

As a controlled substance, anabolic steroids are kept illegal to prevent people from suffering unwanted health effects. Their illegality keeps the general public that may not know the full risks safe from harm.

Well shit, let's just tackle these one by one.  

List of drugs that can cause infertility/low sperm count in men outside of steroids - 

1.  Heavy alcohol consumption - legal depending on age
2.  Tobacco use - legal depending on age
3.  Cocaine - seriously illegal
4.  Weed - Illegal in some places, not in others
5.  Obesity - manifestation of abusing twinkies, pizza, hot dogs, and bloomin onions

• Breast development and testicular shrinkage in men -

1.  Bruce Jenner got tits and was hailed a hero.  Men get gyno and are trolled online.

2.  No one cares who has big or small nuts.  I've never heard of a woman complaining that a guys nuts were too small.  Physically speaking I mean.

• Excessive face and body hair development in women -

1.  Italian women have this naturally.  So do Indian women.  I suppose we should just start throwing them in prison.  

2.  Razors can't be found at Wal-Greens anymore?  

No one remembers this story?

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/sikh-woman-defends-facial-hair-graceful-response-religion-mocked-reddit-article-1.1168486

I guess airport and homeland security missed this one.  She should have been thrown in jail.  What if she really was just taking steroids and this was the outcome?

• Deepened voice, menstrual irregularities and reduced breast size in women - 

1.  Men are used to dealing with irregularities in women in regards to their menstrual cycle.  I am sure some of us would like them to be thrown in jail during certain times of the month due to this, so I can't really oppose this.

2.  I am all for throwing women in jail who purposely shrink their big cans.  Can we also outlaw breast reduction surgery?  Since women willingly go see a surgeon to do that?

• Acne, oily scalp, jaundice, mood swings, delusions and baldness in both men and women -

1.  Let's throw everyone who is going through puberty in prison immediately.  Acne for days.

2.  Let's also make room for those who use any drug that cause acne.  Certain birth control pills can.  And women were made to procreate.  So they are literally fighting nature by stopping us from getting them pregnant AND getting acne.  

3.  ACNE IS A REASON LISTED!!!!!  ACNE!!!!  

• Increased risk of high cholesterol, liver disease, liver cancer and heart attack - 
• 1.  High cholesterol....don't get me started.  We're all aware of the link to high cholesterol and poor dietary habits and obesity.  The difference is, the media keeps telling us that fat is beautiful.  So we're supposed to accept one standard (obesity) as being beautiful while ignoring all of the very well documented health risks with it, and shun the other for what they say causes the same thing.  Makes sense.
• 2.  The liver.  Alcohol is legal.  Alcohol and the liver.  Read.  http://www.liverfoundation.org/abouttheliver/info/alcohol/
• 
  

So to recap, the government tells us that steroids are illegal because they don't want us harming ourselves with them, yet doctors can push medications that cause all of these same issues, and liquor, tobacco, and fast food are all freely available 24/7.

A while back there was a steroid lab busted, and the cop who was interviewed said that it's important to get these drugs off the street because they make people angry.  And that as a safety precaution, we didn't need angry drivers on the road.

So basically, what you're telling me is, every New York city cab driver is hitting the tren and halo way too fucking hard?

Makes sense now.

Seriously, it's like our government sits back in their office each day and says to each other "let's figure out all of the dumbest reasons we will make something illegal, and see how many sheep there still are in this society."

I wonder if anyone has ever bothered to show all of the completely ignorant members of society and congress this study, done by the New England Journal of Medicine...

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199607043350101

Basically, two groups of men.  One group was given placebo, the other group 600mg of test enanthate a week.

As expected, those that got the testosterone got bigger and leaner and stronger than the group that didn't get it (DUH!).

But it's the last line of the conclusion part that is most important.

Neither mood nor behavior was altered in any group.


Wait....wait...............wait...................wait...............

You're telling me the group that got the roids wasn't out killing prostitutes and fighting the cops on a weekly basis?  They weren't having road rage and shooting out of their window at other drivers with an Uzi?  Oh wait, that's Chicago.  Not steroids.

So let me get this right.

• Drunk driving kills over 10,000 people a year.  And alcohol is legal.  
• Overall mortality among both male and female smokers in the United States is about three times higher than that among similar people who never smoked.  Cigarettes are legal.
• 1 in 5 deaths in America are now obesity related.  We are told that "beauty comes in all sizes".
• Steroids shrink your balls.  ILLEGAL!!!!!  

I just wanted to clear up the hypocrisy in which we live in, and to show the utter and complete stupidity as to how we are governed as a people.  

The general public, like my cab driver in Melbourne, thinks steroids are dangerous.  But I can't find a single stat on the number of people that were killed by roid rage.  Or roided out drivers.  

The fact is, the great majority of people that just watch the news believe the bullshit that is fed to them because they are sheep.  If you believe that steroids will turn you into Ben Affleck in some after school special, then you're a moron.  

So are there health risks?

Unequivocally?   Yes.

There are health risks associated with virtually every form abuse.

Drink too much - Die

Smoke too much - Die

Eat too much - Die

Steroid too much - Die

But shit man, take 30 aspirin and you'll experience the last headache you will EVER have.  You can buy that over the counter right now.

Death tends to be the ending manifestation of all form of abuse in this context.  But within context, for abuse to be related to death, it also needs to be abuse over a long period of time.  

Pretty sure when kids go on spring break in Cancun or Florida they "abuse" alcohol for that week.  They probably abuse recreational drugs during that time as well.  And yes, you can die from alcohol poisoning, or overdosing of some form of recreational drug, but I'm not talking about that.  I'm talking about long term abuse.  Because as far as I know, you can't OD on testosterone.

So how do we draw the line in order to say "this constitutes use, and this constitutes abuse."?

There are a few factors here at play in that regard.  

I don't consider a swollen clitoris or shrunken balls "health risks."  

And this is where we have to get into the blurry line of "use vs abuse".

The problem is, I think most people want to attach a certain dose onto the value of abuse.  I'm not opposed to that, however I don't think it's that simple either.

So let's get the most important part out of the way first.

1.  USE is NOT ABUSE

There are people who consider any form of use, to be abuse.  And that's like calling the guy having a beer on the weekends a raging alcoholic.  

Testosterone therapy, as prescribed by a doctor is use.  But it is not abuse.

Anavar is often given to children or AIDS patients.  

In fact, anabolics are quite often used in those with HIV or AIDS because it fights the catabolic effects the virus has on the body.  Yay for steroids being awesome.  

It's also even possible, that someone with HIV may need to take what would be seen as "abuse" in regards to dose, because of their condition.  I know this for a fact because I am friends with someone who has AIDS, who has to take incredibly high doses of anabolics just to maintain his bodyweight.  

Unfortunately, I've seen him still wither away over the years despite his "use" (yes use, not abuse).  However he has told me on numerous occasions that if not for anabolics, his life quality would have been in the shitter years ago.  Steroids literally helped him live a far higher quality of life.  

In his case, his "use" did not constitute abuse because it was literally what was required to get the job done JUST TO LIVE.

For someone who just needs to feel normal again that has low test levels, they obviously would not need the type of doses he took.  

Both are striving for a higher quality of life.  Yet both have different needs in terms of "use".  

2.  Use in accordance with performance

This is the blurriest of lines.  

There are some sports where for the great majority of the athletes, will need to cross over into what most people would consider "abuse" in order to be competitive.  

Professional bodybuilding, professional strongman, elite level powerlifting, cycling, and probably a few others.  

Does this mean that abuse is not happening?  No.  But in these cases the user may justify his abuse in order to be competitive at the highest levels.  When I write "justify" of course, I mean to himself.  After all, it's his or her choice to make in regards as to what they are willing to risk.  

My biggest issue here is, it should be up to the athlete to make that choice without being made into a criminal by our government.  It's really none of their fucking business what people do with their body since alcohol, tobacco, and McDonalds are all still legal.  

3.  Clearly defining abuse 

In all honesty, I'd like to be able to do that, but I have such a staunch stance on all of us being able to decide what we want to do with our bodies that it's hard for me to reconcile this.

But I will toss out a few things here, so that I can be as clear as possible about this.

If you've been around sports or bodybuilding or the strength world long enough, you know what abuse looks like.  Guys that are sporting a nice shade of magenta year round, and people that have to take blood pressure medication so that they can take even more drugs, are definitely falling into that realm of "abuse".  

If a guy is getting his blood work done, and getting his heart checked out, and all of it consistently comes back with a reading of "holy shit, you're about to fucking die" he's probably abusing.

But seriously, bottomed out LDL's and atherosclerosis and elevated liver enzymes should all be pointing you to the fact that you have crossed from "use" into the land of "abuse".  

The biggest problem I've seen in regards to this, is that so many guys refuse to accept they are abusing.  They see the guys that have died from years of abuse, and believe shit about them having pre-existing conditions that had nothing to do with anabolics.  I mean you really have to have your head in the sand if you're going to ignore all of the bodybuilders that have dropped dead over the past two decades that were between 25 and 45 years old.  But people don't think it can happen to them. 

People don't like to willingly acknowledge their mortality at times.  That's a scary thing to come to terms with.

The level playing field - 

Back in 1988 Carl Lewis lost to Ben Johnson in the 100 meter dash.  Ben got popped for steroids, and because Carl Lewis was an American, and American's are wholesome and shit, congress decided that steroids, and Canadians, are dangerous.  And should be made illegal.  

Yet we're still letting Canadians into this country. I can't figure this out.

Anyway, that was really the knee jerk reaction that caused all of this, and of course the media then filled the sheep's heads with all the bullshit that gets repeated by the common man or woman who doesn't know a winstrol tab from a tic-tac.  

But the main pile of bullshit I have to hear is how some guy should be suspended because he got caught using them.  

First off, as fans we demand to see athletes perform at a high level.  A level that defies our ability to sometimes comprehend how they can do such things.  And PED's always have, and always will play a big part in this.  They help the athlete to recover, and play on Sunday, instead of being in the trainer's room.  

Steroids pretty much saved baseball with the home run race.  No one gave a god damn shit about baseball until then.  Then suddenly Mark and Sammy were heroes.  Oh wait, nevermind.  They used some designer roids to play better, feel better, look better, and baseball a bit better.  

What horrible, horrible cheaters they were.  I'm not sure why they aren't sitting in Guantanamo bay with the other terrorists.  How dare they entertain us by hitting home runs and making baseball cool again.  

How dare Lance Armstrong make the tour de france awesome by breaking foot off in cyclist ass over and over again.  

Athletes are always going to find a way to "cheat".  But you have to understand something.   To the athlete, he's just trying to win.  And he's very aware of the fact that his competition is "cheating" too.  People don't remember the guy that took 5th but was natural.  People remember winners.  For better or worse, that's what we remember.  And as fans, we demand the athletes we root for to perform at the highest level.

And then some of you have the nerve to criticize them for going above and beyond in order to meet that demand. 

There is no such thing as a level playing field.  The majority of athletes are going to look high and low in order to find an advantage to win.  Because their passion to excel at something exceeds the limitations of their fear.  And if that passion means they ride into the dark days of abuse, that is their choice.  And they will have to ultimately pay for it.  Not you.  Not me.  Just them.  

Does that mean it's the choice for everyone?  No.  Of course not.  And I'm certainly not applauding abuse.  I just believe that people should have the right to make that choice without looking at prison time for it.  But because of Carl Lewis, they can no longer freely make that choice without consequences from the law.

Fuck you Carl Lewis, for being such a crybaby losing bitch.

You can get "A Meathead's thoughts about life, crap, relationships, and stuff" on Amazon.

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