The steroid issue has become a major topic of disccussion this year.

Floyd Landis had his Tour de France victory taken away and Major League Baseball is still trying to recover from the problems they have faced regarding the issue of performance enhancing substances.

Now it is the NFL's turn to deal with this issue. In the last two weeks three players have been suspended for testing positve for banned substances.

The most well known player is 2005 Defensive Rookie of the year Shawne Merriman. Shawne tested positive for nandrolone, an anabolic steroid more commonly known as deca-durabolin. As people read the articles regarding this incident it would be easy to come to the conclusion that Shawne was trying to cheat the system and gain a competitive advantage by taking steroids.

This situation is not that simple.   First and foremost Shawne must take responsibility for his decision to use a supplement not certified by the NFL. In 2000 a policy was put in place that has a principle of "strict liability" as it's cornerstone. This means that an athlete is responsible for what is in his or her body. To help the players in the NFL the league has established an agreement with EAS, a manufacturer of sports supplements.

The NFL established standards for EAS to follow to prevent any potential positive tests to occur while using their products . They stopped manufacturing the products they were previously making that could result in a positive test such as androstenedione.  Other companies were offered the same opportunity but refused to abide by the standards established by the NFL.

A study conducted by the International Olympic Committee in 2001 found that almost 15% of the 634 supplements tested contained banned substances. It appears it is possible to test positive for a banned substance by taking an over the counter supplement.   The sports supplement industry is a multi billion dollar per- year business and yet there is no regulation.

The FDA cannot agree on whether supplements should be classified as a food or a drug and therefore have not stepped in to establish a standard in the industry.

If the politicians in this country are concerned about the ramifications that athletes can have on the youth of our society in regards to the use of steroids it is time to clean up this industry. The NFL has provided an opportunity for players to use supplements safely without the threat of the negative side effects of anabolic substances and the embarrassment of letting down their teammates, fans and the kids to whom they are role models for. 

The FDA and the other agencies involved need to stop talking about what to do and come up with a comprehensive plan to assure the efficacy of the products in the supplement industry.