Scandal over steroids touches on governor

Mercury News ^ | 3/13/04 | Ann E. Marimow and Mark Emmons

[NormsRevenge]

SACRAMENTO - As the controversy over drug use by athletes unfolded in California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger spoke only sparingly on the subject. But now it has hit home -- at Schwarzenegger's own event in the sport that first made him famous.

At least five federal subpoenas were delivered to bodybuilders at last weekend's Arnold Fitness Weekend in Columbus, Ohio, which the governor has sponsored since 1989.

Some are now urging the governor, perhaps the world's best-known former steroid-user, to use his increasing political clout to take a tougher stand against performance-enhancing drugs.

The use of steroids in sports is a politically sticky issue for Schwarzenegger. The former Mr. Universe and Mr. Olympia may have a hard time ignoring the controversy when President Bush, a fellow Republican, has made it part of his agenda.

Moreover, his persona is tied to his physique. ``Would he really be Arnold without all those muscles? Part of his essence is tied to this issue,'' said Joseph Tuman, communications professor at San Francisco State University. ``There's great risk for him not saying anything to the degree that this blows up.''

[NormsRevenge]

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[joesnuffy]

Actually Arnold...was winning contests in Europe before steroids...and would have always been a champion...

Had all the contestants been steroid free Arnold would have still won...but the contestants weren't steroid free and in order to be over the top Arnold as many other competitors felt you had to use dianabol...and diuretics...

For a while there steroids were used as sports enhancements and weren't thought of as being in the same category as recreational pharmaceuticals..

You cannot apply todays standards to thirty years ago...imo..there wasn't as much info on them
you could get them anywhere...The gym I used to work out in a local Chiropractor was passing them out for free...and then at cost...even he thought there was no big deal in doing this..people weren't getting high...they were just getting bigger and lifting greater weight..which was the object of lifting in the first place...

Now its a big deal because we know the long term health dangers...but thirty years ago
it was no big deal...like taking no doze or drinking a pot of coffee....

On this issue people shouldn't get to bothered by Arnold or any of the other thousands who used steroids...

Now coke or heroine or meth...that's another story...imo

[MineralMan]

And is anyone surprised that weightlifters and bodybuilders use steroids? Of course they do, and who does it harm?

[NormsRevenge]

Do you really want me to post articles about young folks who have died at an early age as the result of believing the risk was worth the results?

Do you oppose President Bush taking the stance he has taken re: the pervasiveness of steroid use and the message it sends to the youth of America and other nations?

Win at any cost? Is It Worth it?

[11th Earl of Mar]

Who does it harm?

It harms the bodybuilders themselves. I believe the reason there is not big money in bodybuilding, like in other sports, is because of steroids. If the industry cleaned itself up I believe it would be more mainstream.

That being said, I hate the nanny-ism of our present government. The government keeps moving the line as to what is legal and/or acceptable.

Steroids used to be available from doctors. Then they were banned. Now GHB, ephedra and andro are banned as well. This last summer, the European Union was considering BANNING vitamins. Where is it going to end?

Will politicians in years to come be blackballed because when they were in college, they took andro?

[NormsRevenge]

Maybe we can just put an asterisk next to their party designation. ;-)

That may happen with Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa.. and I would support it.

Babe Ruth drank .. he didn't shoot up or take "supplements".


jmo

[tdadams]

Not to downplay the use of steroids, and what kind of message it sends to kids, but... isn't this just another bit of media-fueled hype? I mean really, is it such an all-consuming crisis that the president has to make mention of it in the State of the Union speech?

I can think of about, oh, 3000 more important things we could be wringing our hands about.

[NormsRevenge]

If your a family member ofsomeone using and abusing steroids or of someone who has died as a result, No, it's not media-hyped at all, imo.

Science has given us many great drugs ,, but is this a form of drugs we "need" to survive? Many steroids do have benificial effects but they are administered and the users are monitored much more closely than the athletes who are risking it all for the bulk and strength the roids' deliver, amongst other things.


I hear what you are saying, but.. I don't see it as any less important than homelessness or unemployment.

[tdadams]

Well, to the person personally involved, any affliction is the most important in the world. I feel sorry for those suffering from progeria, but it only afflicts one in eight million. As sad as the disease is, it's not a national crisis. Neither is steroids in my estimation.

[NormsRevenge]

I have to run out to a flea market for a bit.

I'll see if I can dig up some stats later and post.

Thanks for your comments.

This is a little larger than progeria, imo.