Why Steroid regulations in college football should be more strict

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Steroid Regulations in College Football
INTRODUCTION
As Vince Lambardi once said “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing”. With high stakes involving fame, money and potential professional careers the young college footballer is no less than a Roman gladiator entering the arena of play to conquer one and all. The relentless and unforgiving pursuit of winning at all costs drummed into the psyche of the players by parents, coaches and peer group has led them to using steroids as performance enhancing drugs putting their health and careers at stake.
With the widespread reporting of side effects associated with steroid use and the tragic death of Lyle Alzado due to brain tumor which was possibly caused by steroid use and many other professional footballers confessing to the culture of using these drugs in the college football fraternity, the question has arisen whether the existing regulations with respect to drug testing are stringent enough to act as a deterrent against steroid use.
THE MAGNITUDE OF THE PROBLEM
In a study conducted on 873 Indiana high school football players it was concluded that 6.3% of them had or were using anabolic steroids (Stilger and Yesali 131-145) and figures released by Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in 2003 also confirmed these findings and showed 6.4% incidence of steroid use in 12 th grade boys (Grunbaum et al. 1-96). These figures are a proof of the widesprea…