Those that think this was good reporting don't understand steroids.  My letter to Mr. Stossel:

Mr. Stossel,   Your recent coverage of steroid usage was sensationalistic and quite frankly, lousy reporting.  As an individual who suffered an injury from someone most likely on steroids, you should be ashamed of yourself.   Let me explain the hypocrisy of your reporting on this issue.  There are reasons it is a Class X felony to distribute.   To get the performance or vanity results desired by the vast majority of steroid users, the dosage levels cause dangerous alternations to the body.  All the side effects you listed for other drugs were either typically minor OR would cause the user to stop and seek other treatment.    First, steroids cause the growth plates to close in the body, stunting growth.  So what age does doctor prescriptions become legal?   Steroids can also be considered a gateway drug.  When dosages are so high for the desired muscle building effect, the euphoria experienced can be very addicting leading to other drugs.  Also, this heightened state of being can cause aggressive behavior.  You experienced that first hand.  How many other (athlete) interviewees have assaulted their interviewer in history?  Ever see a user at the gym act "amped up"?  Probably not.   Damage caused to the kidneys and liver ARE documented and can also occur in dosages required for building muscle.  Do you think a drug that causes natural testosterone production to shutdown so that breast tissue forms in men is really a safe drug?  Hair loss, in itself as serious symptom if ill, and acne (or among users, excessive, very ugly "backney") are not exactly minor side effects.  Do you believe a minimum of 20lbs of water retention is good for the body?  Steroids have an effect more profound than Viagra as well due to a sharply increased sex drive AND ability.  What about hair growth for women?  Or an enlarged ####?  I've heard firsthand the permanent side effects steroids have on a woman's voice.  It's horrible.    Do you have any idea why hundreds of thousands of injuries have occurred due to steroid use?  How many athletic careers have ended because the ligaments become so strong that they literally pull the tendons off the bone?   You can't regulate a drug like this because a "safe" level isn't enough to achieve the desired results by most of the users.   How about when users, carrying 30 to 100lbs MORE body weight than their body was meant to, repeatedly lifting weights 50 to 200lbs MORE than they could naturally for years for EACH exercise, find that by the time they are 40 years old their joints ache, that they become broken down men in the years they could still be pain free.  Do you have any idea how mentally addictive superhuman strength and looks can be?   I suggest next time you stop sensationalizing the issue and talk to those that have done studies and interview FORMER users, not those enjoying their temporary benefits.  Your job, as a journalist is to report the facts, all the facts; not create hype.   Sincerely, a drug-free, 40 year old, healthy weightlifter with 26 years in the gyms....     Rob Eckaus Campbell, CA The End of the Horsepower Race Ban Carpool Lanes! New Performance Standard:  60-130mph All at http://www.examiner.com/x-5826-San-Jose-Autos-Examiner