Mark McGwire and Steroids

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Mark-McGwire-comes-clean-admits-to-using-steroi?urn=mlb,212896

Mark McGwire finally came clean and admitted what most everyone already knew, he used steroids. This is a big deal because he holds the single season home run record, had an hall of fame caliber career and had early refuse to discuss this matter. He expresses regret and says he wishes he would have never used steroids. He also says that he used them not to gain an advantage, but to simply stay healthy and he doesn't think the steroids helped him hit home runs, he says steroids don't change your hand-eye coordination.

Personally, I had thought all along he was on steroids. I also don't buy that they didn't help him hit home runs. His stats were up in nearly every category (most notably home runs) during the years he confessed he used steroids. Almost any player in the MLB can make contact... thats how they hit sac-flies. I believe that steroid use is the difference between a fly ball to the deep outfield, or warning track and a home run. He will most likely never get into the hall of fame because of this, and I agree with that also.

Drug Abuse

http://health.msn.com/medications/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100247883&page=2

This article talks about prescription drug abuse and teens, more specifically a drug ring that was recently busted in New Jersey. The ring was made of high school students and recent alumni, the head of the ring was a high schooler. This particular ring sold nearly $50,000 worth of vicodin and oxycodone. It did not say where or how the kid got this amount of drugs to sell. It also goes on to talk about how easy it is for kids to get their hands on these drugs, and how many parents often have some in a medicine cabinet. It discusses how kids do not know how serious these pills are, and how many parents are oblivious to the fact that this is going on.

Prescription drug abuse is becoming a bigger and bigger problem everyday in the U.S. The author is trying to reach a very large audience because it is a problem everywhere, and kids as young as 12-13 have been caught with these drugs. These drugs are even present in our own community and is a major problem.

I agree that this is becoming a big problem among teens in the U.S. Kids do not always realize the consequences of what they are doing or they just think "It won't happen to me." If nothing is done about this, then the problem will continue to grow. I think that we need to start educating kids about drug abuse at a young age, so they know it is bad.