9. Needle Nightmare “At my gym, steroids were easy to get. I figured that they were no big deal, so I tried a cycle during my sophomore year wrestling season in high school. I bought a bottle of testosterone and a syringe. I only wanted to have one syringe in my house because a bottle and a syringe is pretty easy to hide, but ten syringes would be pretty difficult, because I still live with my parents. Everyone told me that I needed to use a different needle every time I injected but I thought I could just heat the needle up over a flame and it would be sterile. After a few weeks of shooting into my shoulder it started to get swollen and looked weird. Then one day at wrestling practice, the place on my shoulder where I usually inject started to hurt and feel hot. My coach looked at it, and he thought it was badly infected, so we went to the hospital. When I was there, I had to tell the doctor how I got the infection, and my coach found out that I was using steroids, and he told my parents. I got suspended from school for a week and the wrestling team for the rest of the season and all the kids in my school found out too”. -Anonymous
10. “….study of 50,000 students found that 3.5 percent used steroids at least once, an increase of 2.1 percent in 1991…” (Schwarb 6)
11. “…Less than 4 percent of the nation’s high schools test students for steroids…...” (Associated Press)
17. Mr. McCaslin for his help in organizing the event and teaching participants. Veronica Vasquez
18. Springfield Wrestlers: Brett Ellis, Calvin Speight, Drew Dearden, Jake MacGregor, Michael Honeywell, and Muhammed Al Jumali for acting as instructors at the clinic. Veronica Vasquez
19. Gabi Santangelo, Kelsey Schaum, and Veronica Vasquez for their help behind the scenes on the day of the event. Veronica took pictures of the day. Veronica Vasquez
21. Mrs. Ward, Mr. Rodoff, Dr. Valenza and Mr. Meder for providing answers to questions and suggestions on how I could make my research products better.
Editor's Notes
Gregg Valentino—Steroid User for years, supplier, found out and jailed—lost everythingYears of sloppy needle use---infection-arm blew up and filled with pus—tried to take care of it himself and ending up needing emergency surgery
“Anabolic” means to grow—Testosterone—chemical responsible for male sexual traits and component in muscle development
Prevalent when there is a dissatisfaction with one’s physical appearance, a need to shed fat, or gain additional muscle mass—many teens use to fulfill social and athletic goals. Male athletes seeking better performance, scholarships, recognition outside of sports, females—aesthetic purposes—”Trickle down effect”—seen in the pros, kids think they can do it.
Severe acne, stunted growth, stroke, cancer, withered testicles, live damage, mood swings, increased aggression, irritability, depression, anger, sadness, anxiety and nervousness, irreversible
Animoto
Needle nightmare-anonymous, easy-no big deal, bought a bottle of testosterone and a syringe---used the same needle because it was easier to hide—few weeks shoulder got swollen and infected—coach saw—took him to hospital—had to tell doctor—suspended from school and team for season and everyone found out—NO GOOD LONGTERM EFFECTS
“You begin to worry about how widespread the problem is at the professional level. You know that there has to be a trickle-down effect when it comes to that and that would be to the colleges and high schools.”-John Stewart, FL High School Athletic Association—use more than doubled
Florida, Minnesota, Michigan, Texas lawmakers considering new laws and policies for testing Supporters of programs-deterrent—draws awareness to problem—stops all drug useOpponents—effectiveness when there are only a few positive results—cost of tests close to $200State tournament teams only people tested—NEED TO TEST EVERYONE—cutting programs due to cost
