May 11, 2005

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Palo Alto Online

Editorial: Strengthen message on sports supplements

What was missing was a strong statement that such PEDs, as they are abbreviated, will not be tolerated on high school sports teams and in sports programs. It is not a question of their being illegal, like the steroids that have blemished careers of many nationally and internationally known athletes in recent years.

What is at issue is a climate of acceptance that essentially leaves the decision on taking supplements up to the individual high school athletes and, sometimes, their parents.

It also is disturbing that the Palo Alto Unified School District lacks an official policy relating to use of performance-enhancing supplements. We are not talking about standard multivitamins or good nutrition here, but specific substances with exotic names.

In researching the story, we contacted coaches who simply didn't want to be interviewed or quoted about the subject, much less make definitive statements about supplement use. A number of young athletes also declined to be interviewed, concerned about repercussions if they discussed their knowledge about usage.

Some who did talk to us were open and candid, especially one student who outlined his reasons for using creatine -- a decision reached with his parents after researching the energy-boosting amino acid. The danger is that there is virtually no conclusive research on the safety of creatine and other supplements, and two that were recently declared illegal -- ephedra and androstenedione, or "andro" -- are still available over the Internet and were legally in use by local teenagers as recently as a year ago.

"The newer supplements are not well studied. The long-term risks are not known," Tara Coghlin Dickson, a sports nutritionist with Stanford's sports medicine program, said. "Supplements are not regulated for safety, potency, purity or efficacy."

She and others noted that young persons who use them are gambling with their future health, even though no one today knows how big the risk is. She also nailed part of the problem: coaches who don't encourage use of supplements but don't discourage it either. Most coaches, like parents, don't know enough about supplements to assure their safety.

Another Stanford nutritionist, Clyde Wilson, is spearheading a movement among nutritionists, sports-medicine professionals and biochemists who are willing to raise awareness in high school and college sports about dangers of unregulated supplements.

"Anyone who thinks there aren't downsides is definitely wrong," he told the Weekly. "The worst-case scenario is that an athlete who uses large amounts of creatine will become a subject in a future research paper."

State Sen. Jackie Spier is trying, but her bill last year to prohibit most supplements and steroids in high school athletics was vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger -- who has admitted to past steroid use. He wanted the legislation limited to illegal steroids. Four other states are considering banning use of supplements altogether for young athletes.

Spier is trying again, with Senate Bill 37, which would have athletes sign a non-use pledge and require coaches to undergo specific training in how to educate young athletes about use of enhancer substances. We strongly support Spier's bill.

And just last Friday, the California Interscholastic Federation -- which regulates all high school sports -- adopted a new rules, effective this fall, to: crack down on steriod use by requiring all schools to have policies "prohibiting the use and abuse" of steriods. It backed away from requiring policies on performance-enhancing substances and requiring that coaches be certified in drug education.

Coaches are powerful role models and guides. If they were to state clearly and repeatedly that the essence of sportsmanship is a level playing field and no enhancers would be tolerated it would have a decisive impact on most young athletes.

This should not be a "don't ask don't tell" situation.

Those who succumb to the intense pressures to win, whether from coaches, peers or parents, are weakened ethically.

And those who tolerate or defend use of supplements are burdening some young athletes with a secret shame and robbing them of the most satisfying victory of all: the right to declare in full, honest exuberance, "I did it myself."

That is what sports competition is supposed to be all about.

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