Steroid Testing

When people think of steroid testing they often think of professional athletes. Although professional athletes are tested, increasingly steroid testing has found its way into amateur sports including at the high school level. While only a few states test their high school students it has proven to be more of a waste of time and resources than anything else; we’ll discuss as we go along. Even though its lost some of its steam at the high school level the mere fact there is testing at all should lend to the understanding that in the United States anabolic steroids have become public enemy number one.

The Cost of Steroid Testing:

While a general drug test is fairly cheap, steroid testing cost quite a bit more. A basic urinalysis test cost on average $200 per test and when you administer this test to an entire team, especially multiple times per year the amounts spent can get very high. States such as TX that have administered such a test have spent as much as $3 million dollars per year to fund the program that has produced beyond miniscule results. States like FL have also seen this gigantic cost to be a colossal waste; in 2009 out of 600 tests administered only one result was positive.

The truth is simple; children of any age have no business using anabolic steroids; the risk is too great. However, not that many do; of all the common recreational drugs spoken of regularly, anabolic steroids are nowhere on the map in comparison to drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy, and pain killers in-terms of their use and children. Estimates have the number of children who use anabolic steroids at 2-4% and most of those fall in the 16-17 year old age category; conversely the number of children who use marijuana is upwards of 30% as is alcohol, a proven far more dangerous substance.

Steroid Testing & Professional Sports:

Without question professional sports is king of publicity as it pertains to steroid testing; the NFL and MLB being the primary example. The cost of these tests can add up fast; in the NFL the players are tested randomly 5 times per year at a minimum; and let’s be honest, although costly the test are easy to beat. Increasingly these professional sports have come under fire due to government pressure forcing them to implement more testing and stronger test. However, once again, no one really cares and quite frankly no one should.

Why Steroid Testing is Beat:

Make no mistake; many people beat these little tests every single day. In the United States alone it is estimated at minimum 6 million adults use anabolic steroids every year. While many of these individuals are not athletes many are and the steroid testing they are put under is nothing short of a joke. To be blunt, if you possess a functioning brain and you desire to use performance enhancing drugs and you know you will be tested you can beat the test almost every time. No, there isn’t an absolute guarantee, things can happen but the odds are highly in your favor. The key, while there are several, they are all simple:

• Understand the drugs you are using
• Understand half-lives
• Educate yourself on detection times
• Use performance enhancers that are largely undetectable.

You may have found that last one of particular interest and no, your eyes are not playing tricks on you. Some anabolic steroids and better yet, steroid administration methods are completely undetectable regardless of the type of steroid testing you are put under.

The End Game:

The truth is simple and the truth is reality no matter how desperately you may wish it not to be. Athletes use steroids, many athletes use steroids; for that matter many people use anabolic steroids period. In athletics, as it pertains to testing and the discussion here, we are speaking of those who are rewarded on a performance basis and they are going to do all they can to ensure their performance is all it can be. For this reason and this reason alone anabolic steroids and performance enhancing drugs as a whole will always be a part of sports and our society as a whole. You may hate this fact; it depends on which side of the fence you stand; you may call for stricter and better steroid testing but make no bones about it, athletes will find a way around it every single time; they have for many years.