People Use Steroids example essay topic

Steroids - Is it Really Worth it? Why do so many people use steroids when there are so many health risks and side affects? Do people take steroids because they are not aware of all the risks? Not likely, steroids have been around since the 1930's when Nazi scientists tried to invent drugs that would make German armies more powerful (Rogak 15). Steroids were considered harmful and made illegal in 1991. Some side affects of steroids are baldness, high blood pressure, lowered sex drive, acne, nosebleeds, liver disease, kidney disease, and many more.

It may sound ridiculous and idiotic to most to use steroids with all the risks, but the temptation and pressures in using them are sometimes unbearable. In today's society there are many pressures to be the best athlete and to look a certain way. Nobody wants to take second place, or look scrawny and wimpy. People want to be a winner and want people to turn their heads to look at them when they walk into a room.

The fastest and easiest way to do that is to take steroids. People take steroids to be bigger and better at sports, their physical appearance, and pressures from the media and peers. In today's athletics, athletes are getting bigger, stronger, and faster. Whether an athlete plays high school or professional sports, it is getting harder for athletes to compete at a high level with all the competition. When an athlete is not good enough to make the team or is on a team and does not play much. Athletes will do just about anything to make themselves better?

Many athletes spend numerous hours practicing and lifting weights trying to get better at their sport, and still they lack what it takes to make the team or be the best. Steroids are the solution to their problems and a way to make their dreams come true. "If you were offered the opportunity to lose body fat, get stronger, add more muscle within six weeks and have more motivation to work out more consistently then you do now, would not you try it" (Charles 21)? Sure it is illegal and it is unfair for all the other athletes who do it the hard way, but most do not care. Many young men are taking steroids at a young age. "Reports from the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission issued a report that steroid use increased 2.6 percent from 1997 to 1999" ("Steroid Use" 1).

Also, "a report from the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research shows an increase of 2.4 to 3.1 for boys in twelfth grade between 1991 to 1999" (Miho ces 3). Augie Wolf a shot putter said "do I take drugs and win medals, or do I play fair and finish last" (Talmadge 17)? The risks are worth their dreams coming true, them making the team, or being a star. Doctor Prince said " it wasn't the star athletes who were using steroids but the kids that were not good enough who thought steroids would put them on top" ("Steroid Use" 1). Tommy Chaitin a football player said "I decided I was going to take steroids to get big and strong and aggressive. I didn't care if I died, as long as I completed the season-just as long as I finished like a man" (Talmadge 17).

This football player was so dedicated to being the best that he could be. He did not even care if he lost his own life. In recent years sports have become a huge industry. Just this year Alex Rodriguez signed a ten year two hundred and fifty million dollar contract with the Texas Rangers.

This is the biggest contract in sports history. "A gold medal in the Olympics can mean millions of dollars to athletes, coaches, managers, sponsors, and even countries" (Rogak 17). It is no wonder more and more people are striving to be the best, and will do whatever it takes to get there. When it comes to making money and a lot of it people will do just about anything.

Almost everyone is self-conscience about how they look. For example, "he turns to the mirror to stare at his reflection, pushing up the sleeves to the baggy sweater he wears to hide his body" (Bartlett 1). "Flexing his muscles, he lets out a sigh of dissatisfaction and disgust at the body he hates, longing to look like the bodybuilders he admires" (Bartlett 1). "Steroid are enormously popular not only on the sports track, but also in the world of workout gyms and fitness buffs" (Wood 40). Most people would like to be fit and in shape, but it takes a lot of work. People spend many hours in a gym, and sometimes no matter how long or hard they work out they do not see any results.

This can be frustrating when people are trying to put on muscle. By using steroids, someone can put on a lot of mass, and have more definition in a short amount of time. "You take your first shot, given by a friend, and you can't wait for the friend to come back and give you that fix" (Cobbs 1). "It's like muscle being injected into you" (Cobbs 1). "It's like instant size and mass". (Cobbs 1).

A person who is working out long hours and is not seeing much change. Might decide to take steroids, because they are frustrated by not seeing any results. When that person starts taking steroids, they will start having more sex appeal towards the opposite sex, and start becoming more popular. When they look in the mirror with astonishment and see themselves as a person they always wanted to look like. Would not you continue taking steroids even with the health risks involved?

Most would say no, but for the people who take steroids, it is a dream come true. It is almost impossible to turn on a television or look through a magazine without seeing people who are fit and in shape. It seems that no matter what people watch or read, they see these types of people. The advertisements try to make people think that they need a certain product or look a certain way to fit in.

"The media continually bombards us with the message to be sexy, one must have a fit, muscular body" (Rogak 18). "Many men take this message to heart and do whatever is necessary to achieve a similar look" (Rogak 18). There are articles in body building magazines with articles saying put on twenty even thirty pounds in twelve weeks or less by taking certain steroid products (Fish 15). It is no wonder so many young men are turning to steroids to have that body they always wanted. Sometimes people take steroids to look bigger for their physical safety. Nobody likes to be called names for being weak or small.

Someone who is smaller than everyone else, .