Steroid Abuse In College Athletics: Is it Happening More than We Think?

When it comes to athletics, the use of steroids has always been a controversial topic. However, it seems now more than ever college athletes have been using this powerful drug and other performance enhancing stimulants. One reason more students are using these is because they have become very accessible and can be taken in many ways. Steroids, for example, can be taken orally, injected, or even rubbed onto one's skin in a cream/gel form. These can be very dangerous drugs when abused and there are also bad repercussions with it's use.

1st source: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=1733808
This website is all about the "politics" of steroids. It has news on how Barry Bond's trainer was recently indicted. It says that this is just an example of how steroid use is no longer an "in-house manner." Since this indictment the attorney's are looking into other trainers that might be showing similar behavior to Greg Anderson. This isn't really about college athletes as it as it about the seriousness of steroids use. This site helps to show how the government is getting involved to stop steroid abuse. So, by stopping pro athletes from using and it can then influence college students to also stop or never start using to begin with.

2nd source: http://media.www.elcaminouniononline.com/media/storage/paper354/news/2005/03/03/Sports/Steroid.Use.By.Professional.Athletes.Has.Impact.On.Students.In.College.Sports-886645.shtml
This website has a similar tone to the first source. It directly talks about how the influence of professional athletes use of steroids can affect college students opinion on the drug. This story talks about not only the influence, but also the long term affects that can come from steroids. It's important to get those facts out there in order to stop college athletes use of the drug before it starts.

3rd source: http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/drugfact/steroids/steroids_ff.html
This site is a government site and it explains exactly what steroids are. It goes over percentages of steroid users and how they are starting in high school. It talks about the health risks and traffiking and production of the drug.

4th source: http://www.drugfree.org/playhealthy/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=ppc&utm_campaign=mlb

This site is extremely helpful and contains all sorts of media outlets with information on steriods. It has a short PSA type video showing the effects of steroids on the body. It also lists reasons why performance enhancing drugs are dangerous overall. It lists links to more videos, blogs, and stories all related to steroid and performance enhancing drug use.

5th source: http://chronicle.com/news/article/667/steroid-use-by-college-athletes-declines-ncaa-reports
This site states that steroid use in colleges may be on the decline actually however, the use of stimulants is not. It talks about the research that the NCAA has done on steroids and stimulants. Students were found using such subtances as cocaine and ephedrine.

6th source: http://www.campushealthandsafety.org/audiences/athletes/
This site discusses ways to spot steroid use in athletes. It talks about how coaches and trainers can influence the athletes positively. Also, try to teach the students ways to avoid the use and give them a "game plan" to help them keep from using it. It seems more like a PSA type site, but it does have good facts to see warning signs and so on.