supplements. under the policy, you and you alone are responsible for what goes into your body. as the policy clearly warns, supplements are not regulated or monitored by the government. this means that, even if they are bought over-the-counter from a known establishment, there is simply no way to be sure that they: (a) contain the ingredients listed on the packaging; (b) have not been tainted with prohibited substances; or (c) have the properties or effects claimed by the manufacturer or salesperson. therefore, if you take these products, you do so at your own risk! the risk is at least a 4-game suspension without pay if a prohibited substance is detected in your system. for your own health and success in the league, we strongly encourage you to avoid the use of supplements altogether, or at the very least to be extremely careful about what you choose to take." use in college football steroids and performance-enhancing drugs have been reportedly used by many college football players in the ncaa. according to a recent drug test and survey, about one percent of all ncaa football players have tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug or steroid, and about three percent have admitted to using one sometime during their college football career. controversy arose in 2005, when former brigham young university player jason scukanec, although never admitting to using steroids himself, stated that steroids were used in many notable division i programs. scukanec, who is the co-host of a sports talk radio show "primetime with isaac and big suke" on kfxx-am (am 1080 "the fan") in portland, oregon, made these statements: over the course of my five years at byu, i have concrete proof of 13 to 15 guys (using steroids), and i would suspect five others...and byu is more temperate than most programs. being around nfl and nfl europe players, they would tell me stuff that blew my mind. i know other schools are worse. i would bet my house you could find at least five guys on every division i team in the country (using steroids). my best friend was a steroid monster. i shot him up probably four times in the butt. he couldn’t do it himself. he was afraid of needles. he was naturally 245 or 250 pounds, but he got up to 312 with a 36-inch waist. he had stretch marks on his chest and shoulder and eventually blew out both of his knees. when i was with the broncos, they brought him in for a workout. the offensive line coach came to me and said, ‘what’s your friend on?’ another guy we played with, who is still in the nfl, would come back at the end of a season weighing 270. three weeks into the offseason, he was 295 and buffed. it wasn’t a big mystery what he was doing. three guys i played with in the nfl, i saw them use (steroids). the coaches knew the guys on the juice. to pretend it doesn’t go on would be a farce. it’s the big no-no nobody wants to talk about. and you don’t want to know what’s going on at the junior college level, where no testing is being done. portland state university coach tim walsh commented on the situation, declining the remarks: that’s a bold statement. it’s a tough accusation, to come up with a number like that. is it true? maybe, maybe not. i wish i could say i knew for sure. i’m not naive enough to think it’s not going on out there, but i feel pretty strongly it’s not been a problem with our players over the years. the number of players who have admitted using steroids in a confidential survey conducted by the ncaa since the 1980s has dropped from 9.7 percent in 1989 to 3.0 percent in 2003. during the 2003 season, there were over 7,000 drug tests, with just 77 turning up as positive test results. scukanec claims that methods were used to get around the drug testing, whether it be avoiding the tests by using the drugs during the off-season, or flushing the drugs out of your system. this was used with a liquid he referred to as the "pink." he stated: there are a ton of (masking) products out there. what most of them cause is diuresis (increased excretion of urine), which means the athlete is providing diluted urine sample, almost water. in ncaa drug testing, the athlete is required to provide a concentrated specimen that passes a specific gravity cutoff. if the specimen is too diluted, he has to provide another sample. using a product to cause diuresis is not going to help. health issues an example of a heart attack, which can occur after the use of a performance-enhancing drug. performance-enhancing drugs, most notably anabolic steroids can cause many health issues. many american football players have experienced these health issues from using anabolic steroids, which have even resulted in some player's deaths. most of these issues are dose-dependent, the most common being elevated blood pressure, especially in those with pre-existing hypertension, and harmful changes in cholesterol levels: some steroids cause an increase in ldl cholesterol and a decrease in hdl cholesterol. anabolic steroids such as testosterone also increase the risk of cardiovascular disease or coronary artery disease. acne is fairly common among anabolic steroid users, mostly due to stimulation of the sebaceous glands by increased testosterone levels. conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (dht) can accelerate the rate of premature baldness for those who are genetically predisposed. other side effects can include alterations in the structure of the heart, such as enlargement and thickening of the left ventricle, which impairs its contraction and relaxation. possible effects of these alterations in the heart are hypertension, cardiac arrhythmias, congestive heart failure, heart attacks, and sudden cardiac death. these changes are also seen in non-drug using athletes, but steroid use may accelerate this process. however, both the connection between changes in the structure of the left ventricle and decreased cardiac function, as well as the connection to steroid use have been disputed. high doses of oral anabolic steroid compounds can cause liver damage as the steroids are metabolized (17α-alkylated) in the digestive system to increase their bioavailability and stability. when high doses of such steroids are used for long periods, the liver damage may be severe and lead to liver cancer. there are also gender-specific side effects of anabolic steroids. development of breast tissue in males, a condition called gynecomastia (which is usually caused by high levels of circulating estrogen), may arise because of increased conversion of testosterone to estrogen by the enzyme aromatase. reduced sexual function and temporary infertility can also occur in males. another male-specific side effect which can occur is testicular atrophy, caused by the suppression of natural testosterone levels, which inhibits production of sperm (most of the mass of the testes is developing sperm). this side effect is temporary: the size of the testicles usually returns to normal within a few weeks of discontinuing anabolic steroid use as normal production of sperm resumes. along with this the use of anabolic steroids also leads to an increased risk for prostate cancer. female-specific side effects include increases in body hair, deepening of the voice, enlarged clitoris, temporary decreases in menstrual cycles, and male pattern baldness. when taken during pregnancy, anabolic steroids can affect fetal development by causing the development of male features in the female fetus and female features in the male fetus. in teens anabolic steroids can stunt the growth at an early age due to high hormone levels signaling the body to stop bone growth and can also stunt the growth of teens if the teens use the steroids before their growth spurt. even though anabolic steroids do not cause the same high as other drugs, they can lead to addiction. studies have shown that animals will give themselves steroids when they have the chance, just as they do with other addictive drugs. people may continue to use steroids despite going through physical problems, and can cause family issues just like any other addictive drug. these behaviors show steroids' addictive potential. research has found that some steroid users turn to other drugs, such as opioids, to reduce sleep problems and irritability caused by steroids. people who abuse steroids may go through withdrawal symptoms such as mood swings, fatigue, restlessness, loss of appetite, sleep problems, decrease of sex drive, and steroid cravings.