Doping and the "Culture of Pills and Powders"

Here's a very well-researched story from the New York Daily News about dietary supplements that are marketed as performance enhancers for athletes.

Critics say it is no surprise that Major League Baseball finds itself facing a steroids crisis 11 years after the passage of [the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act]. Most professional athletes grew up in a culture that suggested that pills and powders, regardless of their legal status, were necessary to reach the top levels of their sport.

There's no doubt that powders and pills are part of the modern athletic culture, and it's nearly universal. The fact that "legal" supplements have such poor quality control should be an enormous cause for concern for the honest athlete.