There are a lot of issues on the use and the possible side effects of steroids to people who are involved in sports. Reports on the use of steroids in different sports are not surprising anymore. Athletes who were caught using steroids were either suspended, banned or lost their career. This is what happened to Barry Bonds, Tyler Hamilton and Nathan Baggaley just to name a few. Sports organization and other groups continue to warn and profess the dangers of anabolic steroid. There are also countless articles on the internet on the negative effects of anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing drugs but readers could be missing some of the important facts on what really are these drugs.

In the recent article of Nelson Montana of the Huffington Post, he said that there are a lot of misinformation on the use of steroids in the field of sports. The role of steroids in the sports is usually being given with erroneous opinion or worst creating steroid hysteria. He is already fed up with these issues and wants to set the record straight. Steroid is not new for Montana since he is involved in the anabolic steroid application for more than 10 years.

Montana already wrote numerous articles on the subject and authored 2 books on steroids. He already interviewed professional bodybuilders, doctors, Olympic coaches and even Victor Conte of BALCO. He also has known hundreds of people who’ve used steroids for years, and he also had personal experience with it.

According to Montana, attempting to stop steroid use in sports is about as dumb as trying to stop drug use in general. Current drug laws had failed to stop controlling the illegal distribution and use of these drugs. He criticized people who are saying that steroids are killer drugs. “It’s estimated that tens of thousands of Americans use steroids each year, yet the grand total of steroid-related deaths to this date is…none,” he said. As compared to other drugs, side effects can be avoided if used with medical supervision. “I’ve known men who used them back in the ’60s and today, at the age of 60-plus, they’re doing just fine and look a lot better than most men their age. The medical community is finally recognizing the health benefits of testosterone (the molecule from which all anabolic steroids are derived) and is prescribing it to older men with great success.” As with any other drug, it can be abused so attacking the substance itself is barking up the wrong tree.

He said that testing for steroids is a farce since some of it has a half-life of only 24 hours. This is one of the reasons why steroids can’t be contained or very difficult to control. He added that instead of wrist slap warnings and lip service seminars on how horrible they are, why not just level the playing field? “Allow them into sports. They’re there anyway.”

As to the question whether using steroids is cheating, Montana explained that steroids will surely give an advantage and so with other supplements, diet pills and even caffeine which can increase focus and endurance. But it doesn’t mean that it will improve athletic skills. Modern training methods can also be considered as an added benefit for the players but nobody is thinking of it as cheating.

At the end of his article, Montana clarified that he is not advocating or endorsing steroids use. He just wants to point out that steroids will stay in sports. Most fans don’t even care about this issue. What is important for them is to see their favorite players doing home runs in the field. It will still be the decision of the athlete. It is his choice to use it or stay away from it.

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