"If athletes are going to use these things, it would be better to have them on the table where informed doctors can help them get the right drug with the right dose and fewer side effects.

That's not good enough for Wadler. "I don't think you supervise ... the abuse of a drug."

For Wadler, "abuse" is any use that's not medically necessary. But entire fields of medicine are devoted to "unnecessary" procedures -- breast enhancement, hair replacement, etc. Consenting adults should be free to do pretty much whatever they like to their own bodies.

If steroids are such a terrible threat, there must be lots of high-profile deaths. But Wadler couldn't cite any.

The Chris Benoit 'roid-rage murders and suicide? The medical examiner later said there was no evidence proving the testosterone he was taking caused the crimes. There's evidence that steroids can increase aggression in some people, but, Fost says, "The overwhelming examples of criminal behavior by professional athletes has nothing to do with steroids."

Taylor Hooton's suicide?

"There's no evidence of steroids producing suicidal behavior."

Hooton was taking other risky drugs like Lexapro, which has been shown to cause suicidal thinking.

That wrestler who hit me later said he did it because his boss told him to.

Health issues aside, what about sportsmanship?

"I don't know why you would think this is cheating any more than the hundred of other things athletes do to enhance their performance," Fost said.

Tiger Woods improved his eyesight with surgery. "Janet Evans won a gold medal in swimming," Fost noted, "and bragged about a greasy swimsuit that she was sure had a lot to do with her victory."

Wadler defends the anti-steroid rule because "abuse represents a significant risk to health and, in fact, enhances a criminal element."

But there's only a criminal element because zealots like Wadler insist on making steroid use illegal!