Thursday, December 20, 2007

Rage over 'roids

I know, I know. Major League Baseball is a private organization that can set its own rules for participation, including a ban on the use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. I wouldn't have done it -- and of course I wouldn't have made steroids illegal or even placed them on Schedule III (mid-range of supposed danger of addiction, which is not a factor with steroids though there are other unpleasant side effects -- I wouldn't want my testicles to shrink). But the publicity over the Mitchell report on steroid use is a bit much. The line between vitamins, personal trainers and the like and steroids is arbitrary, and if those named really did do steroids, it might even be evidence that they're not the miracle muscle-building performance enhancers they're cracked up to be.

Here's a Register editorial pointing out a few cautionary thoughts -- like these guys are now guilty until proven innocent based on interviews with some pretty shady characters. Our sports columnist Mark Whicker also did a contrarian column, and he told me response to it was about 50/50. He also responded to readers in a subsequent column.

When will we let adults make their own decisions about their own bodies?

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