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Garrett Smith
Professor Jizi
UWRT 1103
November 15, 2015
Annotated Works Cited

Worsnop, Richard L. "Athletes and Drugs." CQ Researcher. SAGE Publications, 26 July 1991:
513-36. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.

Athletes are continuously getting in trouble because of drug use. Drugs can hurt athletes
careers and health. There are way more high school and college athletes using drugs than
professional athletes. Sports organizations have been testing athletes for drugs in an effort
to catch and stop the act. Some experts believe that athletes will continue using drugs
anyway due to fans and teams rewarding such behavior. Drug use is actually on the rise
regardless of testing and penalties. It seems as though sport officials are powerless
against the issue, but continue trying to fight it anyway.

This article provides a lot of information on my topic. It is one thing that professional
athletes are doing this, but it is very sad that young teenagers are risking harm to
themselves just to improve for sports that they may not even go far playing. Drug testing
seems like it can help to an extent, but will never completely stop the use of drugs in
competition. Due to the huge amount of money at stake, I understand why so many

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athletes feel compelled to get an extra edge over their competition. They also have a lot
of pressure to perform through pain and injury, also making it more understandable as to
why they would want to use substances to help them recover faster.

Richard Worsnop is an established and respected researcher, having written countless

articles on a variety of subjects. He is also a published author with several books.
Worsnop cited many other credible sources and studies, which he used for this article.
Although the article is 24 years old, the information it contains is still completely
relevant. Testing and synthetic drugs have advanced a bit since this was written, but the
situation is still the same: athletes use PEDs without getting caught. In fact, the most
abused hormones like testosterone, human growth hormone, insulin, etc. have been used
since around the 1950s and are still very prevalent today.

Bigger Stronger Faster*. Dir. Christopher Bell. Magnolia Home Entertainment, 2008. Film.

This is a documentary about the use of drugs and steroids in American culture. It is told
by the Bell brothers, all of whom used steroids in their search for success in athletics.
Interviews with doctors, politicians, coaches, and bodybuilders helped them bring to light
more of the actual facts about drugs. It was made clear that most of what we hear about
steroids is embellishment rather than fact. They never took an actual stance on whether
steroids are good or bad, but rather worked to simply give the viewers more information
from many different perspectives. Further into the documentary, steroids became a sort of

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metaphor for modern American life. It was used to touch on the conflict that winning is
praised and cheating is punished, yet the heroes that kids view like wrestlers, Olympic
athletes, and actors all cheat to climb above the competition.

This documentary taught me a lot about what is fact and what is fiction regarding PEDs.
It also opened my eyes to the possibility that the information the public receives from
media is biased and has an agenda. There are countless stories of people who died from
cancer, strokes, heart attacks, etc. and steroids were blamed with no evidence that they
actually caused these issues. It appears that the main reason they are illegal is because
people dont want to see athletes cheating. I see an issue with this because the majority
of drug users are not actually professional athletes, but rather normal adults who use them
for cosmetic or performance reasons regarding some hobby that they care about.

Director Christopher Bell and his brothers had personal experience with drugs that helped
them have insight as to what they really do to you. Christopher Bell also interviewed
licensed medical doctors to discuss the actual studies done on steroids and such. He
spoke to politicians who were there when steroids were illegalized, bodybuilders who
used them, and Olympic coaches whose teams used them.

Romano, John. "Beating the CrossFit Drug Test." T Nation. Tim Patterson, 11 Sept. 2014. Web.
16 Nov. 2015.

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CrossFit is a popular new sport with its own televised competition called The CrossFit
Games. Many of the fans of CrossFit doubt that its athletes use PEDs. Romano writes to
let everyone know that CrossFit athletes do, in fact, use drugs. He says that CrossFit is
actually one of the best, if not the best, example(s) of a sport in which drugs are required
to succeed. The athletes train multiple times every day, past the point of fatigue and
exhaustion. The injury rate in the sport is also extremely high. He believes you have to be
crazy to think they dont need some assistance. He goes on to explain how easy it is to
pass the drug tests, which are based on those used in the Olympics. He also lists several
real methods of doing so. He sums everything up by saying that all major athletes have
been cheating for years and will continue to do so and nobody can really stop it.

I thought this was a very enjoyable read. Romanos personality shone through his writing
and made me laugh a couple times. His real world experience with athletes and drugs was
very clear in the way he spoke about everything so knowledgably. I thought it was
interesting to learn that there are countless PEDs that tests dont even exist for, meaning
that athletes can literally be on them all season and nobody would know. I also agreed
with his argument that the cheaters in sports are not outliers, rather the outliers are simply
those who get caught. Lance Armstrong is a prime example of this, being the most drug
tested athlete in the world yet never failing a single test.

John Romano authored several bodybuilding and fitness books. He has appeared on ABC,
ESPN, HBO, and many radio talk shows. Romano has spent almost three decades
smuggling, making, selling, and prescribing PEDs and monitors athletes and their usage

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very closely. He has more actual experience with steroids than almost any other expert on
the topic. Many professional athletes go to him for help, including CrossFit athletes.

Science of Steroids. Dir. Chris Lofft. National Geographic, 2008. Film.

A National Geographic documentary looking at the real science behind steroids. Many
doctors, athletes, coaches, and drug users were interviewed for information. The doctors
looked at the data and spoke about certain studies to help relay accurate info on the
effects of steroids. They are much more widespread than most people realize. People who
are for PED use and people who are against it were both given the floor. Unfortunately, it
is hard to do thorough study on the long term effects of steroid use because of the legal
and moral dilemmas. Some of the history behind the rise in drug use was given as well.

This was a very informative documentary. National Geographic did their best to present
the information in an unbiased manner. It was interesting to hear some of the testimonies.
I also enjoyed learning what is scientifically proven from the medical doctors. It seems as
though the issue isnt really the use of testosterone and such, but rather the dosages being
used. Some people inject up to 100 times the normal male testosterone level into their
bloodstream, which is a recipe for disaster. I wish it was legal to conduct a study using
much more reasonable dosages of PEDs to test the results in a controlled setting.

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National Geographic is well-renowned for presenting solid scientific information. Chris
Lofft, specifically, is an award winning executive producer, show runner, writer, and
director. Many medical professionals were consulted during this documentary in order to
get good data. Also, many people who actually use PEDs were interviewed and gave a
real perspective on the issue.

"Effects of Performance-Enhancing Drugs." U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). USADA, 2014.

Web. 16 Nov. 2015.

There is lots of debate and attention given to performance enhancing drugs. Many people
want to know the possible adverse effects of drug abuse. Information is given about
everything from testosterone to beta blockers to narcotics. For each drug, appropriate
medical use is described, followed by possible side effects of abuse.

I liked this source because it was very short and to the point. It clearly and simply
explained the medical application of different drugs. The videos depicting the side effects
were very helpful for me as well. I was shocked to learn that athletes use such drugs as
narcotics.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) is the national anti-doping organization

(NADO) in the United States for Olympic, Paralympic, Pan American, and Parapan
American sport. The organization is charged with many important responsibilities

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including managing competition testing, results processing, athlete education, and
providing reference resources. They are an authority on the subject of athletes and drug
use. They work side by side with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to harmonize
anti-doping efforts in all sports across the world.

Our group agreed to meet together at Atkins Library and look at each others work.
Unfortunately, only three of us made it to the meeting. Nevertheless, we had a great session
reading over each others work and looking for credibility. The group found my sources to be
strong and credible and didnt see a reason for me to change them. They thought that my third
paragraphs did a good job of arguing their credibility. I enjoyed the meeting because I found my
groupmates topics interesting as well.