STEROIDS TAINT COMPETITION, PRESSURE YOUTH TO 'DOPE FOR SUCCESS'

Over one hundred thousand steroid caplets and vials were intercepted in
four busts within seven days at Vancouver airport two weeks ago.

The illegal drug that is usually made of animal testosterone and causes
muscles to grow, is used primarily by athletes and body builders who are
looking to gain muscle mass and strength quickly or win in sporting
competitions.

Roid ragers, as they are often referred to, not only put themselves at risk
by using unregulated products, said local health and fitness experts Carrie
Beck and Erin Einarson of Results Gym. Steroids tax the heart, intestines
and liver as they go to work on every muscle in the body.

"Steroid abuse makes you physically and psychologically reliant. It becomes
your sole reason for getting bigger and bigger, and then the notions of
healthy eating and exercise get tossed out," said Einarson.

Exercise and proper eating can not only help you to look good. They are
what keep your heart and body strong and working for you. In addition,
doing regular weight bearing exercises can stop osteoporosis later in life,
Einarson adds.

SportMedBC conducted a survey on steroid use among youth in 1998 that
became the subject of a national conference in February 2001 on 'doping in
sport among youth in Canada.'

Results indicated that 17.5 per cent of youth had had it suggested to them
that they use certain substances to improve athletic performance, whether a
coach, teammate or friend. The percentage was highest among boys ages 16
and over.

Twenty-seven per cent of students ages 16 and over personally knew someone
who uses steroids. About one in three students (34.2%) had thought about
using drugs to increase his or her athletic abilities.

"Young athletes who use these substances believe it is the only way to keep
up with the competition and even their odds of winning, whatever the
risks," the SportMedBC survey report said.

The report identified several performance-related reasons that induce youth
to take doping substances: it enables them to sustain longer, to have more
intense training sessions, to delay the onset of fatigue, to improve their
reflexes and reaction time, to increase their strength and speed, to alter
their weight and muscle mass, and to increase their competitiveness.

What they don't realize, is that using steroids can have unpleasant,
harmful side effects and even fatal consequences, said Carrie Beck and Erin
Einarson.

Your stomach may start to stick out, men can get breasts, a high voice and
can lose their testicles. Women can grow facial hair, get a lower voice,
lose her clitoris. Both men and women who use steroids may experience major
paranoia, rages, mood swings and manic/depressive behaviour.

It doesn't stop there, they add. You can die. Steroids are like diuretics
and laxatives. They tax and deplete your body of its natural capacity to
function "and you up and croak," said Einarson.

Einarson and her mother, Beck, have competed in body building competitions
in the past. Einarson came in second in the Prince George Prolab Classic
light-weight category and Beck came in third in the Masters and
middle-weight category. That competition was clean, except for women using
diuretics to deplete the water in their bodies so muscles would be more
pronounced. This in itself can cause death from dehydration or kidney
damage, said Beck.

The ladies competed once in Vancouver at a non-drug tested competition.
They say that that is the last time they will do that.

"Vancouver is a major centre. You have a lot more access to steroids. The
atmosphere at that competition was people who were totally into
themselves, it wasn't about body building. Some were totally diureticed-out
and emaciated. Others were doing cocaine behind the stage and told us
they'd only been body building for one month. It was totally discouraging,
especially when you put years into doing it the healthy way. Not only is it
very hard to compete against people who use illegal means, it destroys the
healthy, fun atmosphere of the competition," said Beck.

Beck and Einarson describe steroid users as people who are more concerned
about how others see them, than how they see themselves. "They are amateurs
from the bigger centres who are pushing to move up and don't care how they
get there, they just want to get there."

The healthy mind and body attitude gets lost in the "desire to win at any
cost; to surpass oneself before a demanding audience, pressure from
sponsors, sports federations, or the media," the SportMed BC survey surmised.

Beck and Einarson are optimistic though. Body building is becoming big in
Canada. A national team is being put together. The focus on success through
genetics, talent and drive is being reinforced in bigger, drug-tested
national events that are happening now, they say.

At Results Gym they sell protein supplements containing whey and egg
whites. These are safe, natural products that put amino-acids back into
muscles that have been broken down from a work-out. They do not do anything
that a normal high-protein diet wouldn't do, but today people are often
too busy to get that well-balanced diet, says Einarson.

"There is stuff on the market that is very close to being like what
steroids are. The Canadian market is strict though, and most of this stuff
gets into the U.S."

Working out and body-building should be for you, not for others, say
Einarson and Beck. "You've got to work with your genetics. Eat well,
exercise regularly and remember that you don't have to have a 'perfect
body' to be in awesome shape."