They got a pill for that now
Pervasiveness of pills dulls outrage against steroid-using stars
By Mark Sappenfield | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
OAKLAND, CALIF. – Amid the talk on the message boards of 4-lane.com about slugger Barry Bonds and what his hitting records should or should not mean, someone known as T_Rex paused:
"One thing that I find amusing is that the problem ... most people seem to have with steroids is that they're 'performance enhancing' drugs. Doesn't Creatine enhance performance by allowing athletes to build additional muscle mass? Creatine is legal and sold over the counter."
In his moment of reflection, T_Rex hit upon what is perhaps one of the most fundamental - and overlooked - aspects of the drug scandal now vexing American sports. For the past decade in particular, America's growing reliance on drugs may have blurred the line between what is cheating and what is simply an attempt to build a better body through chemistry.
To some analysts, baseball's "Juiced Era" is built on attitudes like those of T_Rex, forged by the rise of countless dietary supplements, including Creatine. Others, however, find even deeper roots, pointing to the explosion of prescription drugs - for everything from weight loss to cholesterol levels - as an indicator of a society that is increasingly comfortable with pills and creams instead of discipline or discomfort.
