Well leave it to some beaurocrat to come up with this assinine idea. An investigation into alleged steroid use by Hip-Hop artists? Was this really necessary? I understand that there are risks in the use of performance enhancing substances and I do not in any way condone it, but what is to be gained by this probe? Is it going to make the people in question better at what they do? Do they have an unfair advantage over non-steroid using artists? Okay, I'll give you the appearance aspect. I guess if you are all ripped on your CD cover, you might sell a few more records. The music industry is an image game in a lot of ways, but if you do not have any talent, the way you look is not going to make up for it. And why was the Hip-Hop community targeted? I really want to know. If a certain black rapper is huge, doesn't he have a white counterpart in the Hard Rock genre that is just as big? I think so. This smacks of a racially biased investigation and that is the most disturbing aspect of all.
The next question is - What good is this going to do? The music industry has never been a level playing field anyway. Now that this is out in the open, what impact will it have on the young people trying to get into the scene? I'll tell you what. A lot of kids are going to look at this and say to themselves "hey, if I take steroids or HGH like so and so, my chances of making it will get a lot better." "Look what it did for him/her!" "All I have to do is find a dealer!" I'm not saying that most kids would be that stupid, but some will. Unfortunately, with the world the way it is right now, everyone is looking for an edge and sometimes it doesn't matter whether or not that edge is illegal or dangerous. I feel like this investigation shed a light on performance enhancing drugs that is not necessarily negative. There are no rules or regulations regarding Steroids or HGH in the music industry and there never will be - just look at the controlled substance policy - they encourage it! I can just see some seedy agent saying to their new talent, "now if you would just put on some more muscle, your career would really take off!" Don't think that it hasn't happened or that it won't happen even more frequently now.
Lastly, I understand why there are programs in place in sports to try to prevent the use of these drugs. I totally agree that people who use them and are caught should be punished. There is a reason for that - they are performance enhancing. Meaning that by taking them, you greatly increase your potential for higher performance in your sport. It is in a word - cheating. My feeling is that if you cheat at a sport, the governing body of that particular sport should be the one to punish you if you are caught - Not the federal or state/local government. It is time for the US government and any overly ambitious state governments to step away from the issue. Until Steroids and HGH are given the same status as methamphetamine, heroin or cocaine as controlled substances, they should just stay the heck out of it. Major League Baseball, the National Football Leage, the international Olympic commitees and Cycling communities can, will and have taken care of these issues without your help. Lets keep it that way. Oh, and while you are at it - Leave the Hip-Hop community ALONE. You really do not know how bad you are making yourself look by targeting them do you? You are going to find out.
Lets teach our children to believe in themselves and their abilities. Lets educate them and encourage them to educate themselves. Lets teach them self-respect and to respect others. Lets always tell them that they can achieve anything that they dream of , and lets love them unconditionally with all of our hearts. If we do that - we won't have to worry about this crap.
