Add new comment

Great thread.
In response to the "dangers of steroids" note --- steroids are ROUTINELY used in various medical treatments. In some cases, they are prescribed long-term. The point here is that "when used properly" many of the worst dangers of steroids cited are either removed or severely limited.
One of the problems with the steroid issue of today is that it is too often takes on a nearly religious zealotry. Yes - ABUSING steroids is extremely dangerous. Same with alcohol. Same with aspirin. (dozens die of aspirin overdoses per year -- nobody has EVER died of a marijuana OD).
But, obviously, the worst-case scenario of aspirin use isn't the final arbiter of whether it is a legal drug or not.
A HUGE problem in America is that many of these drug laws are NOT being created as a response to medical experts - but are being written in response to any number of lobbies. (go back in history, and you'll see that the anti-pot laws were largely a result of a major push by ROPE manufacturers - whose goal was to destroy the Hemp competition on the market -- and they were successful by creating a drastically overstated fear of the substance. Prohibition can have legitimate concerns - but we've seen the cure can often be worse than the disease).
My view? I think any substance that "can be" used safely -- but which is dangerous when abused -- is ideal for being a perscription substance. And, I'd have no problem with every MLB player lining up to get their perscriptions as long as the substances were tightly monitored and regulated by the league.
Oh, you'll still have a few who might decide if a little is good, more is better, and cheat anyway. You do what you can to police that. But, you completely do away with the dangers of unknown suppliers. You remove the self-medicating problems. The question of "who is on, who is not" could be completely public. (No requirement to use them - so players could CHOOSE to pass).
In that scenario, I think you'd see steroids become a staple of injury recovery - but likely be less widely used (and mis-used) than they were in the 90's and 2000s.