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[UpRiverSpencer]

Below is an excerpt from our article on Anabolic Steroids. Let us know what you think about whether men should be able to get testosterone legally!

“To start, birth control is widely taken by the female public, this comes as no surprise to anyone. Birth control, though, is a steroid by definition. Moreover, the filtration plants that city water goes through do not have the sophistication to eradicate the estrogen excreted into the water system such that it does not enter the bodies of all who drink it. As a result, this has led to men over the years, ingesting more and more estrogen which, in turn, has led to estrogenic effects on the population. From acne to gynecomastia (the growing of breast tissue in men), this position takes the stance that estrogen is a pervasive issue in the health of young men in Western society.

In addition, proponents of this view raise the question of inequality when it comes to the difficulty for men to get their predominant hormone, testosterone, prescribed to them when it comes quite easily to women. Furthermore, the dangers involved in women taking exogenous estrogen is an equally long laundry list to the ones associated with men taking exogenous testosterone. An interesting point.”

Let us know!

[UpRiverGreg]

Great question Spencer, and one I’m torn on.

On the one hand, my views definetly trend more towards the libertarian side of things. As long as something doesn’t harm anyone else, nor cause excessive drain on our socialized healthcare system, I believe that people should be able to do as they please.

On the other hand, testosterone raises some concerns for me when it comes to competitive sport. You’ve established in your article that those who take T dominate those who don’t in sport. You’ve also established that taking exogenous T can be quite harmful to ones health. It seems like a shame to me that the criteria for competing in the upper echelons of sport would basically require you to inject a harmful substance into your body.

This is not to say that some well thought out rules and regulations could be used to circumnavigate these issues, just that it is a complicated issue that would need to be well addressed. I have particular concerns for athletes hailing from countries where their governments rule over them with a bit more of an authoritarian hand, such as China. I can envision circumstances where young, promising athletes may not want to take T, but are coerced into doing so.

My brain draws parallels between this and the NFL concussion debacle from a few years back. Many players were pushed to continue playing in situations that were well known to be unsafe, and as a result suffered serious head trauma, often leading to lasting mental health problems. Sadly, this drove many to commit suicide later in life, after the NFL left them high and dry at the end of their careers. I can imagine similar circumstances with athletes struggling with the heart, liver and reproductive damage that came as a result of the steroids they were strongly encouraged to inject into their bodies during their younger years.

[UpRiverGreg]

Also reminded me of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUCSt5tj9H0

Long story short, dude was a champion gymnast, trained from birth, won many medals on the world stage, then got injured and got completely abandoned by his country, now is essentially homeless and working as a street performer as he has no other skills

I could imagine many athletes being put in some sort of similar experience: either inject this harmful substance or be completely abandoned

[UpRiverGreg]

Of course, my entire argument relies on the assumption that the current ban on steroids is actually keeping these athletes from using them, which I admit is likely not the case.

Many are likely already being coerced into not only using steroids, but using them in secret, deceitfully

[UpRiverMatt]

It’s an interesting ethics question, and I don’t find I have an easy answer to it. I liked Greg’s response looking at the competitors viewpoint and a social healthcare side.

I see four viewpoints:
-Athletes
-Fans
-Societal impacts
-Non-athlete steroid users

Some athletes will want to remain biologically natural and still compete, others will want to push themselves to the limit using all available tools. If I were competing as an elite athlete, personally, I would be ok taking a certain amount of risk to really maximize my performance. However, I would want a lot of regulation for quality and purity as well as plenty of research on health effects. Combined with stringent testing, this would hopefully eliminate pressure from managers on their athletes, who may treat them expendably. Right now, I think the regulation, research, and testing could be improved, as a certain amount of steroid use can slip through the cracks like we discussed last meeting.

Consumers ultimately drive the industry by paying to see events, and this is what drives change in everything, including steroid use. The reality is, people watch the strongest, fastest, most skilled athletes because they are the most entertaining. If we were to split athletics into natural vs. drugs-allowed, I think more people would watch the drugs-allowed super humans duke it out.

When it comes to societal impacts, I don’t think healthcare should have to pay for reckless use of steroids, and I don’t think having steroids widely and easily available would be good for people. I think it should be quite regulated, like other drugs are. This should minimize the amount of steroids that get into our drinking water too, like it should with birth control. Yeah, the birth control thing is pretty terrible, I don’t want to become a soy boy because the water is full of estrogen-mimicking compounds! As it is: “Testosterone levels today ranges from 270 ng/DL to 700 ng/DL, one hundred years ago the range was 800 to 2000”.

I think steroids should be available for use for consenting adults like Dwayne Johnson who want to get huge and rely on that hugeness along with a dashing smile to make a living. So, I’m siding with the libertarian argument there. When people want to do drugs of any kind, they do them. If they’re not legal, they do them illegally and then comes problems with contamination and uncontrolled distribution etc. It seems having some legal avenue to purchase steroids would be a good thing, similarly to the argument with fentanyl and other contaminants in illegal weed.

So, I don’t think steroids should be illegal, and I don’t think they should just be given out willy nilly.

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