In men, anabolic steroids can:
Reduce sperm count.
Shrink the testicles.
Cause you not to be able to father children.
Enlarge the breasts.

In both men and women, anabolic steroids can cause:
Bone growth to stop before it is complete in a teen. The teen may not reach his or her full adult height.
A heart attack or stroke, even in a very young person.
High blood pressure.
Higher levels of bad cholesterol (LDL) and lower levels of good cholesterol (HDL).
Liver disease and possibly liver cancer. The chance of these problems is higher when steroids are taken as a pill.
Oily skin and acne.
Male-pattern hair loss.
Skin infections that can become severe if the drug was tainted with bacteria.
Irritability, rage, uncontrolled high energy (mania), or false beliefs (delusions).

Etc.

http://men.webmd.com/guide/anabolic-steroid-abuse-topic-overview

Possible side effects of HGH use include:
- nerve, muscle, or joint pain
- swelling due to fluid in the body’s tissues (edema)
- carpal tunnel syndrome
- numbness and tingling of the skin
- high cholesterol levels
- HGH can also increase the risk of diabetes and contribute to the growth of cancerous tumors.

Furthermore, if you get the drug illicitly, you may not know what you are really getting. Because of the high cost, HGH drugs have been counterfeited. If you are not getting HGH from your doctor, you may be getting an unapproved product.

http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/human-growth-hormone-hgh

Athletes shouldn’t have to risk their lives to be able to compete in pro wrestling or in pro baseball.

Who says they have to? The sooner we get away from the “steroids make you better” stupidity the sooner we can treat this issue, if not solve it altogether. For every Bonds/Clemens/Arod, we can point out the many players who were caught who were replacement level or worse.

As to the job comment, it’s really not an apples to oranges comparison. Most jobs require you to pass a drug test for employment, and you are subject to a drug test if deemed necessary. in MLB, PED use has essentially been sanctioned since the 60s, and only really came to a forefront when a bunch of Congressmen got their panties in a bunch.

Here’s a video of former WWE wrestler and Harvard grad Chris Nowitzki explaining why steroids are so harmful (enlarged hearts) and should be banned:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/08/former-wrestler-mcmahon-kicking-dirt-on-the-grave-of-lance-cade/61782/

Here’s a story documenting the alarming rate of pro wrestlers dying young: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/2004-03-12-pro-wrestling_x.htm

[Excerpt:] USA TODAY’s examination of medical documents, autopsies and police reports, along with interviews with family members and news accounts, shows that at least 65 wrestlers died in that time, 25 from heart attacks or other coronary problems — an extraordinarily high rate for people that young, medical officials say. Many had enlarged hearts.

Athletes shouldn’t have to risk their lives to be able to compete in pro wrestling or in pro baseball.

Bottom line is players who DON’T do steroids shouldn’t be at a competitive disadvantage to those who do. You shouldn’t have to risk your health to be competitive.

more importantly, armstrong’s affirmative behavior to sue people claiming they were defaming him, to try and succeed in damaging people’s livelihoods because they knew and spoke the truth about his doping was him taking it out of the realm of “just sports” (his doping) and into the real world with real consequences to people simply speaking the truth.

So you hate every single player who took PEDs evenly? You hate Hank Aaron? Hank Aaron is liked by thousands of people, he is “the true HR King.” He took greenies. Greenies are PEDs. Therefore, the majority of people should dislike Aaron cause he, in taking PEDs, made it unfair to those who did not. He made it unfair to his contemporaries and everyone chasing his records.

So, is it your contention that the same amount of people do not like Henry Aaron and Barry Bonds? If not, the reason people dislike Bonds more is not because he took PEDs but because he was good at it. Which is bullsh*t

During the middle Jurassic period, small, agile carnivores suddenly became huge destroying machines with gigantic claws, moutfulls of butcher knives, acute infrared and olfactory sensors and an accelerated metabolism, giving them a noteworthy advantage over the hulking herbivores on which they fed.

I believe those carnivores had begun taking performance enhancing drugs.

If you are worried about health then outlaw those. PEDs shouldnt be illegal.

I should mention though, that there is a lot more to cycling then just the Tour de France. The winners of the classics and world championships in general are more clean than the stage race riders. Simply because PEDs are mostly used for recovery.

Although I’d argue weightlifting might be worse.

Hank Aaron, one of the best players ever, took greenies. If Bonds wanted to take his record and “be the best ever,” didnt Aaron taking greenies improve his stat line which then forced Bonds to take another PED to improve his chances?

You are complaining about the PED users pressuring others to take them. and then blame Bonds for creating this pressure. However, it’s pretty easy to logically assume that if this pressure exists, clearly Bonds felt it, given that players have taken PEDs for some time now. So are you saying that while PEDs existed for 30+ years in baseball, it wasnt until Bonds took them that others felt this pressure to take them? That’s silly. This pressure is either everyone’s fault who took PEDs, which includes a ton of baseball players or no one’s fault. You cant single Bonds out.

And the year should be 1986 with Greg LeMond, Bernard Hinault and Urs Zimmermann. The 1996 Tour was famously won by Riis with a hematocrit level of 60 (anything over 50 got banned a year later)