In 1988 scientists from Pennsylvania State University published the results of a survey they conducted. They found that out of 3,404 male high school students 6.6 percent use or have used steroids (Lukas 16). Statistics show that over one million Americans use steroids, and if they were legal the number of people using them could be cut in half (Lukas 16). Steroids are man-made versions of testosterone, which is a male sex hormone (Yesalis, Cowart 23). Steroids are illegal in the United States. Yet, steroids should be legal in the United States. There are four main reasons for legalizing steroids: less abuse, safer product, and effective studies of the drug. These four reasons will prove that steroids should be legal.

The primary reason that steroids should be legal is because steroids are abused. According to an Australian physician, steroids should be legal and monitored by doctors because "danger is not a deterrent to use, citing alcohol and hard drugs as examples" (Yesalis, Cowart 109). In the Australian’s opinion doctors should operate from a position of trying to reduce the harm caused by steroids (Yesalis, Cowart 109). If steroids were monitored, doctors could prevent abuse. The danger in using steroids is with abuse of the drug. By preventing abuse, the danger is minimal. If danger levels could be decreased, steroids should be legalized. It would also stop people wanting the drug so much, because they would have it at their disposal. The reason people want steroids so bad is because they are hard to find and, people don’t know if they are going to find anymore when they want it. That is a reason why when people get the drug they think the more they take at one time the longer it will last, and the bigger they will get. Once again as I will say several times throughout my essay, if steroids were legal people would not be able to take as much or buy as much, because of the monitored use by doctors and physicians. Steroids are not addictive. Steroids are nothing more then a physiological belief that you have to have them, or you will not achieve your goals (Lukas 21).

Less cost is another reason for legalizing steroids. Over 400 million dollars per year is spent on steroids and other sports drugs in the black market (Yesalis, Cowart 108). By legalizing steroids, the demand on the black market for steroids would end, and the price of steroids would be competitive. If steroids were legal, law enforcement costs would also decrease (Yesalis, Cowart 109). Legalizing steroids, therefore, would reduce costs to both steroid users and taxpayers. Some have called this posture "accepting reality" and say that it would lessen the level of hypocrisy in sports and bodybuilding (Yesalis, Cowart 109). You also wouldn’t see the number of steroid pushers on our streets, and in our gyms. Instead of pushers trying to make a quick buck, you could buy steroids in the store, know what your buying, and how much they really are. Legalizing steroids would prevent the selling of fake steroids for 200 dollars or more.

A third reason for legalizing steroids is because they would be a safer product because of government regulation. For example, federal agents seized two million dollars of illegal and counterfeit steroids. By legalizing steroids, counterfeit products would not be sold, and they would be regulated by the FDA. Legalization would ensure a sager product. Physicians would also be able to determine the amount that a person should take and monitor the results. Legalizing steroids would prevent a person from over doing the amount they should be taking, and instantly dying. Yet, steroids are not legal, and consequently the person can take as much as he or she wants. Taking to many steroids causes to many deaths because the steroid user doesn’t know what or how much they should take. The United States should make steroids legal so people will be educated about steroids by receiving a prescription for them. All steroids are not all toxic, meaning they are not hard on the body (Lukas 44).

Finally, legalization would allow effective studies of steroids. "Most of our knowledge about steroids comes form research with animals" (Lukas 31). Research is necessary to understand the advantages and disadvantages of steroids. Legalizing steroids would allow better research and more effective studies, on animals, and humans.

In conclusion, steroids should be legalized in the United States. The benefits of legalization include less abuse, monitored use, less cost to users, government regulation, and valid studies of benefits and risks to humans. For these reasons, steroids should be legal. Also if you legalized steroids, that would bring the million that take steroids now down to a half a million, or more. Monitoring the use of legal steroids in the United States could decrease the number of Americans taking them. If steroids were legal, the abuse and the large number of people taking them would stop (Lukas). Another thing would be that people who choose to use them would know that steroids they get would be legit, because of the government regulation and monitoring of the substance. People with cancer, HIV, and other diseases would be able to purchase steroids with a prescription for their particular disease without anyone knowing, except the family doctor, exactly why they want to use the steroids. Fortunately, steroids do work and they work well. They help increase muscle mass and strength, and permit an athlete to train more intensely, more often, and for longer periods of time. Still people say that you can make the same gains without steroids, that it just takes longer. In my opinion that is not true. If you take the right doses of steroids they can be very safe and effective. You will still have to train just as hard and eat just liek you would if you were trying to lose weight or gain muscle. There are some people that are gifted with the right genetics, but some people are not, so to get past the stage people take a cycle of steroids for big gains and muscle size and strength. It is true that steroids will take a normal person and take them far beyond human capacities than what they could have done naturally. So making steroids legal would not be any more of a problem than they are now.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Works Cited:

Lukas, Scott E. Steroids. New Jersey: Enslow, 1994.

Yesalis, Charles E., and Virginia S. Cowart. The Steroids Game. Illinois: Human

Kinetics, 1998.