10/26/2014

Ever since their discovery, anabolic steroids have been a very controversial drug. Some think of it as a performance enhancer that helps to create a more entertaining and interesting game or match. Others see it as a harmful stimulant that creates unethical problems that should remain illegal. While researching this heated debate, I found numerous articles, blogs, and discussions that took and defended each side. Both parties were able to provide convincing evidence backed with studies and experiments. Steroids can seriously damage the brain and almost any other part of the body but it can also help your body, specifically your muscles, recover both faster and safer after an injury or an accident. As long as steroids are used appropriately and with a doctor’s aide and recommendation, they could be very beneficial and helpful in the sports industry. In all reality, they have much to offer our society but there is a thin and often fuzzy line that is easily crossed. As I dug further it became easier for me to see and understand the positions and stances both arguments took. I finally came to ask myself this question. Should anabolic steroids be legalized?

The first piece of writing that I looked into was the speech written as an assignment for a student’s health class. The author’s name is Katie Anneken. Anneken was very much against the use of steroids in any situation but was particularly disgusted to find that the main reason for people wanting it to be legalized was so they would get more entertainment out of a game. She stated some of the harmful side effects of steroids such as hostility, heart disease, high blood pressure, baldness, cancer and in some cases, death (Anneken, 2010). To summarize, she showed her audience how the cons outweigh the pros by far. While the first work of writing I looked at only saw steroids to be a harmful substance, the second one was from a Yahoo! contributor named Mike Thomas who was able to see the advantages and effective uses of steroids. He described it being used as a way to level the playing field for athletes, creating sports legends, helping us exercise our right to do what we want with our own bodies, and that the side effects are minimal when used correctly. Although I was able to see his point of view, he lacked hard evidence which made it hard to persuade me.

As I read both arguments, I was able to see each make rhetorical choices in order to effectively get through to, and persuade their audience. Both elements are associated with foundations of logic and reason. Anneken’s health class assignment supplied plents of this. She gave multiple statistics and facts to defend her argument. She talked about how out of all male

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teens, 12% of them use steroids (Anneken, 2010), and it was one of the pieces of evidence that really persuaded me. Mike Thomas took another route with his rhetorical options and chose to lean more towards the logos and pathos in his article, “Why Steroids Should Be Allowed”. He talked more heavily on how it is reasonable and acceptable to use steroids in athletic situations. He mentioned that it was ethical and fair, claiming that it should be everyone’s right of way. “It’s each person’s decision to decide what they do with their own body” (Thomas, 2007).

As I have mentioned before, that while Katie Anneken claims that steroids are a despicable substance and Thomas says that we are fortunate to have such a helpful aide, both sides had points that forced me to see the advantages and disadvantages. Each one has to deal with ethics and a cost that comes with it. There are a lot of ugly things going on today but this controversy should not be overlooked nonetheless. A conclusion going either way could change the way this society plays sports, interacts with each other, and so many other things that could start a chain reaction. What do you think? What if it was your daughter, brother, uncle? Should we keep this drug illegal or is it time that we start using it in athletics and in everyday medical practice? Based on the facts and evidence that each side brought to the table it is clear that steroids should stay illegal and out of the grasp of those would severely abuse it.

References

1. Anneken, K. (2010) Steroids and athletes persuasive speech. Retrieved from

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2010-01-18/health/sfl-steroids-debate-

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2. Thomas, M. (2007) Why steroids should be allowed. Retrieved from

http://etalaze.net/news.php?newsid=72