Community and Environment:
Most performance enhancing drugs are used illegally without a prescription, such as steroids purchased in black markets and prescription medication on college campuses. This drug presence introduces to communities the potential for drug addiction, crime, and systemic health problems (since abusers cannot seek help without admitting to a crime).
Adderall, for example, has grown from being a rare presence on college campus to a staple of academic life not just at institutions of higher education, but at high schools throughout the country as well[1]. Adderall is a prescription medication, meaning that more and more people are either selling the prescription drugs they need to maintain personal mental health or are working around the healthcare system in order to get prescribed the medication. In fact, according to a recent survey, nearly 600 of the 1400 students not diagnosed with ADHD had used Adderall or some other form of stimulant without a prescription. By the numbers, 4.9% of 8th graders, 8.5% of 10th grade students, and at least 10% of high school seniors had used Adderall without a prescription. Additionally, nearly a quarter of college students report having used Adderall, and since 1990, sales of ADHD medications have increased by nearly 400%[2].
[1] Schwarz, Alan. "Seeking Academic Edge, Teenagers Abuse Stimulants -."NYTimes.com. The New York Times, 9 June 2012. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/10/education/seeking-academic-edge-teenagers-abuse-stimulants.html?_r=0&adxnnl=1&pagewanted=all&adxnnlx=1354215882-yYArDu4dXjm4qy/tEq50HA>.
[2] Stolz, Stefanie. "CHALK TALKS--: Adderall Abuse: Regulating the Academic Steroid."Journal of Law & Education (2012): n. pag. Print.
Adderall, for example, has grown from being a rare presence on college campus to a staple of academic life not just at institutions of higher education, but at high schools throughout the country as well[1]. Adderall is a prescription medication, meaning that more and more people are either selling the prescription drugs they need to maintain personal mental health or are working around the healthcare system in order to get prescribed the medication. In fact, according to a recent survey, nearly 600 of the 1400 students not diagnosed with ADHD had used Adderall or some other form of stimulant without a prescription. By the numbers, 4.9% of 8th graders, 8.5% of 10th grade students, and at least 10% of high school seniors had used Adderall without a prescription. Additionally, nearly a quarter of college students report having used Adderall, and since 1990, sales of ADHD medications have increased by nearly 400%[2].
[1] Schwarz, Alan. "Seeking Academic Edge, Teenagers Abuse Stimulants -."NYTimes.com. The New York Times, 9 June 2012. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/10/education/seeking-academic-edge-teenagers-abuse-stimulants.html?_r=0&adxnnl=1&pagewanted=all&adxnnlx=1354215882-yYArDu4dXjm4qy/tEq50HA>.
[2] Stolz, Stefanie. "CHALK TALKS--: Adderall Abuse: Regulating the Academic Steroid."Journal of Law & Education (2012): n. pag. Print.
On a sociological level, performance-enhancing drugs, particularly in sports, contribute to a culture of hyper masculinity. Males are expected to maintain an appearance of strength, and the exposure (both in the media and at local gyms around the country) to individuals using performance-enhancing drugs increases societal expectations of what the ideal male physique should look like. As with any addiction, the abuse of steroids can also cause issues with personal health, mental health, and social relationships.
This video, MTV True Life, highlights several of these issues as it follows three people abusing anabolic steroids: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZEsXOXRtHaA
This video, MTV True Life, highlights several of these issues as it follows three people abusing anabolic steroids: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZEsXOXRtHaA
Helen Keane, in Diagnosing the Male Steroid User: Drug Use, Body Image and Disordered Masculinity, describes two types of steroid users. First, she describes the steroid user as antisocial and excessively masculine. Secondly, she describes another form of steroid user as someone with body image disorder, and as such, a damaged and feminized male. Either way, her article discusses steroid use as an example of masculinity in crisis mixed with the obvious public health problem of drug abuse[3].
To the environment, through the use of performance enhancing drugs, people are achieving human capabilities that evolutionary adaptation has not yet fitted the species to. This may seem abstract, but performance-enhancing drugs on the large-scale could be altering the normal status of human development. John Sabini, in his 2005 article, touched upon this idea, noting that evolution likely has avoided the bounds that performance-enhancing drugs can reach because of the associated negative side effects. “If athletic ability can be enhanced by the blunt interventions available,” Sabini wrote, “it is unlikely (although granted, not impossible), that evolution would not have hit on the possibility, given the breathtaking intricacies in its grasp.”[4]
[3] Keane, H. "Diagnosing the Male Steroid User: Drug Use, Body Image and Disordered Masculinity." Health: 9.2 (2005): 189-208. Print.
[4] Sabini, John (01/01/2005). Judgments of the Fairness of Using Performance Enhancing Drugs.. Ethics & behavior. , 15 (1), p. 81.
To the environment, through the use of performance enhancing drugs, people are achieving human capabilities that evolutionary adaptation has not yet fitted the species to. This may seem abstract, but performance-enhancing drugs on the large-scale could be altering the normal status of human development. John Sabini, in his 2005 article, touched upon this idea, noting that evolution likely has avoided the bounds that performance-enhancing drugs can reach because of the associated negative side effects. “If athletic ability can be enhanced by the blunt interventions available,” Sabini wrote, “it is unlikely (although granted, not impossible), that evolution would not have hit on the possibility, given the breathtaking intricacies in its grasp.”[4]
[3] Keane, H. "Diagnosing the Male Steroid User: Drug Use, Body Image and Disordered Masculinity." Health: 9.2 (2005): 189-208. Print.
[4] Sabini, John (01/01/2005). Judgments of the Fairness of Using Performance Enhancing Drugs.. Ethics & behavior. , 15 (1), p. 81.
Sources:
Schwarz, Alan. "Seeking Academic Edge, Teenagers Abuse Stimulants -."NYTimes.com. The New York Times, 9 June 2012. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/10/education/seeking-academic-edge-teenagers-abuse-stimulants.html?_r=0&adxnnl=1&pagewanted=all&adxnnlx=1354215882-yYArDu4dXjm4qy/tEq50HA>.
Keane, H. "Diagnosing the Male Steroid User: Drug Use, Body Image and Disordered Masculinity." Health: 9.2 (2005): 189-208. Print.
Stolz, Stefanie. "CHALK TALKS--: Adderall Abuse: Regulating the Academic Steroid."Journal of Law & Education (2012): n. pag. Print.
Sabini, John (01/01/2005). Judgments of the Fairness of Using Performance Enhancing Drugs.. Ethics & behavior. , 15 (1), p. 81. (ISSN: 1050-8422)
Keane, H. "Diagnosing the Male Steroid User: Drug Use, Body Image and Disordered Masculinity." Health: 9.2 (2005): 189-208. Print.
Stolz, Stefanie. "CHALK TALKS--: Adderall Abuse: Regulating the Academic Steroid."Journal of Law & Education (2012): n. pag. Print.
Sabini, John (01/01/2005). Judgments of the Fairness of Using Performance Enhancing Drugs.. Ethics & behavior. , 15 (1), p. 81. (ISSN: 1050-8422)