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Steroid hearings waste public's time
John McCain was not happy.
"Don't you get it?" the Republican senator from Arizona said during a Wednesday committee hearing, according to The New York Times. "This is an issue greater than collective bargaining. It's about young Americans tempted to take these drugs into their system. You should have acted months ago."
Who was the target of McCain's venom? Who was this threat to our children?
McCain's focus was on Donald Fehr, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association. On Wednesday the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee took some time away from dealing with actual problems to urge officials with MLB and other professional sports leagues to impose more stringent anti-steroids rules.
Pro sports commissioners gave tough talk about their efforts to curb steroid use. Pious former players emoted about the steroid-fueled erosion of the games they loved.
The hearing marked the second time this year Congress has wasted time and tax dollars policing professional athletes. The House held hearings on the matter in the spring.
There's no denying that steroids are harmful. It's also obvious that professional athletes have profound impacts on the children who idolize them.
But these congressional hearings are farcical opportunities for our representatives to act self-righteously. To this point, the meetings have achieved two ends, taking dangerous perjurer Rafael Palmeiro off the baseball field and furthering the public impression of congressmen as grandstanders always on the lookout for a new way to get on television.
The point isn't that youth steroid abuse isn't a problem -- it is. A 2004 study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found an increase in steroid use among high school seniors between 2002 and 2004, although use among eighth- and 12th-graders dropped last year.
Methamphetamine use also rose among 12th-graders over the same period. So did amphetamine use. So did use of LSD and other hallucinogens. Crack and cocaine, too. Inhalants. Alcohol. Sedatives. Tranquilizers. Heroin use among eighth- and 10th-graders increased between 2002 and 2004.
The point is that there are many illicit drugs out there that pose dangers to our children. Yet we rarely see a senator lambasting an alcohol executive for the tempting images children may see promoting his product. High-profile hearings rarely address the dangers of crack and other street drugs.
The public benefit of the steroid hearings has been negligible. They won't reduce kids' access to steroids or end the chemical arms race that constantly pumps out newer, less traceable drugs.
They offer a superficial solution to a serious problem.
-- Daily News Staff
"Don't you get it?" the Republican senator from Arizona said during a Wednesday committee hearing, according to The New York Times. "This is an issue greater than collective bargaining. It's about young Americans tempted to take these drugs into their system. You should have acted months ago."
Who was the target of McCain's venom? Who was this threat to our children?
McCain's focus was on Donald Fehr, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association. On Wednesday the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee took some time away from dealing with actual problems to urge officials with MLB and other professional sports leagues to impose more stringent anti-steroids rules.
Pro sports commissioners gave tough talk about their efforts to curb steroid use. Pious former players emoted about the steroid-fueled erosion of the games they loved.
The hearing marked the second time this year Congress has wasted time and tax dollars policing professional athletes. The House held hearings on the matter in the spring.
There's no denying that steroids are harmful. It's also obvious that professional athletes have profound impacts on the children who idolize them.
But these congressional hearings are farcical opportunities for our representatives to act self-righteously. To this point, the meetings have achieved two ends, taking dangerous perjurer Rafael Palmeiro off the baseball field and furthering the public impression of congressmen as grandstanders always on the lookout for a new way to get on television.
The point isn't that youth steroid abuse isn't a problem -- it is. A 2004 study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found an increase in steroid use among high school seniors between 2002 and 2004, although use among eighth- and 12th-graders dropped last year.
Methamphetamine use also rose among 12th-graders over the same period. So did amphetamine use. So did use of LSD and other hallucinogens. Crack and cocaine, too. Inhalants. Alcohol. Sedatives. Tranquilizers. Heroin use among eighth- and 10th-graders increased between 2002 and 2004.
The point is that there are many illicit drugs out there that pose dangers to our children. Yet we rarely see a senator lambasting an alcohol executive for the tempting images children may see promoting his product. High-profile hearings rarely address the dangers of crack and other street drugs.
The public benefit of the steroid hearings has been negligible. They won't reduce kids' access to steroids or end the chemical arms race that constantly pumps out newer, less traceable drugs.
They offer a superficial solution to a serious problem.
-- Daily News Staff
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