Barry Bonds Steroid Debate And Drug Prohibition

The recent indictment of Barry Bonds on perjury and steroid use got me thinking about the stigma of steroid use and how it is frowned upon in our society. If he is found guilty people will call him a cheat, a poor role model, and generally bastardize the poor guy for really only trying to improve himself. Personally I feel people, especially the young should pick better role models than sports figures, but that’s just me. I understand that somewhere in Mr. Bond’s contract there is probably a line or two about drug use and performance enhancing drugs, which does make it a legal issue. However, let’s put the ethics of Barry Bonds aside for a moment and look at this from a different perspective or point of view.

I never understood the concept of “A War On Drugs”. I realize that minors or those underage should refrain from drug use, however a grown adult is a completely different story. If a grown man or woman chooses to do drugs, they are educated on the facts, and know the risks involved, who are any of us to stop them? The concept of prohibition seems completely ludicrous in a society of freedom loving, intelligent adults. This also goes for the use of steroids, cybernetics, and genetic manipulation.

We are coming to an age where we will inevitably incorporate the use of drugs, steroids, genetic manipulation, and cybernetics into the human body. Like the early treatment of scientists like Galileo, Copernicus, and many before and after them, I feel we are retarding the natural scientific evolution of man. We now have the ability to improve the body and mind with the incorporation of chemical, cybernetic and genetic manipulation, yet many of us not only fear this technology but retard its development by any and all means necessary. Like the early days, we concern ourselves with religious dogma, ethics, and moral codes which should no longer pertain to an educated modern man.

By utilizing these new techniques in modern medicine and genetics, in a controlled, consensual environment, we can unlock the true potential of the human mind and body. We will also make limitless discoveries on how to incorporate these new scientific techniques into cures for the diseased, disfigured, and mentally challenged. This new age of medicine is the dawning of the creation of super humans, stronger, smarter, and more agile than those of the old age. We have to get past the dogma of interfering with “Gods perfect” creation and thoroughly research and study these new possibilities.

People seem to be scared to death of steroids, gene manipulation, cybernetics and drugs, yet many have no problem ingesting genetically modified food products. This of course is gene manipulation on a botanical level, and the long term effects of consuming these products is yet to be fully known. Not many people seem to be overly concerned with this, yet we go ballistic when someone is using drugs, taking steroids, or experimenting with stem cells and genetic manipulation of humans. Hum!

The addition of genetically modified food by big corporations into the human food supply prematurely is a grave error. It would appear that the human population has become the unwitting test subjects in a premature experiment in bio engineering. These crops should be researched, and studied in a very controlled environment until all possibilities of error are removed. The current research being done in this field is not intelligent research, premature, and unethical. The consumption of these products should be on a voluntary basis, with a thorough study of their impact on both the human body and the environment they are grown in. This study IMHO should be an ongoing project spanning at least 50 to 100 years diagnosing the environment they are grown in, the test subjects ingesting these products, and their offspring. I would think a test group of at least three generations for consumption would be an adequate and thorough study. This is the only intelligent way to explore these new fields of science, and eradicate any possibility of failure, error or complete ecological disaster.

These same techniques of scientific studies and research could be used on willing human test subjects who consent to the testing of different drugs, steroids, cybernetic implants, and genetic manipulations. Researching the effects on the body, the environment they interact with and of course future generations of offspring would be imperative. This is the only way to discover the true effects both positive and negative of these substances, and medical procedures.

One way to research this would be to incorporate the use of these new possibilities into sports leagues with willing participants. For example steroid use bodybuilding leagues, football, hockey, baseball, etc. Athletes seem to want to experiment with these drugs and this would be a perfect control environment for scientific study. Doctors would administer the drugs, educate the subjects on what they were doing and the possible side effects, document the effects, and they would be able to fully research how these substances affect the human body. We could also have playoff games of natural athletes verse chemical athletes to see how big of a difference the use of these substances really make. If athletes want to use these substances this seems like an intelligent and ethical way to further research this new science. We could also do similar experiments with both cybernetics and genetic manipulation as these seem to be the natural evolution of body enhancing products.

Another useful research group would be adults who would like to experiment with these products. By being able to utilize these products under doctor supervision we can research anti aging products, memory improvement, muscular development in seniors and adults over the age of 40, and the true effects these products have on the human body. If anything, we could limit the use of these products to adults over the age of 35, who are fully grown and the body has stopped producing some of the naturally occurring chemicals which will result in the degenerative effects of old age.

By researching on healthy, willing subjects we can further discover uses for people with diseases like cerebral palsy, and degenerative muscle disorders. This form of research is not only safer for the user of these substances and procedures, but absolutely invaluable to the researchers involved and the science community in general.

Although the concepts of drug use, steroid use, genetic manipulation, and cybernetics may seem extreme to some, there are many among us who would like to experiment and utilize these new products. Researching these products in a safe, sane and consensual environment seems to be the intelligent and ethical approach. If history teaches us anything, prohibition never really seems to work. On a final note, I think it’s safe to assume that whether we like it or not, the inevitable future evolution of man will probably be the incorporation of gene manipulation, and cybernetics into the human body. This is not science fiction anymore, but science fact.