Bigger Stronger Faster Page #9

to the 1988 Summer Olympic

Games in Seoul, Korea. "

Wow.

This is basically

a letter that said

that you had failed

the test

and that there was a

consequence to that failure.

As we all know,

that didn't come about.

You actually received

a letter, or a call-

- Yes. - -that you had

failed the drug test-

- Right. - -because

of some stimulants?

Yeah, it was like

a cold medicine type thing,

the herbal supplement.

They made up this term. It

was called "inadvertent use"-

an athlete took something

without meaning to take it

or without meaning to gain

an advantage from taking it.

Mm-hmm.

And so they made that up

to basically kind of

let people off the hook?

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

Carl's story is-

it's been a cold medicine;

it's been a tea; it's been

some kind of a nutrient.

- It's a stimulant. - CHRIS: So

you're saying these athletes-

they know what's on the

banned substance list?

They totally know.

They are bombarded with

the banned substance list.

A lot of people say

you failed the drug test,

you raced against

Ben Johnson,

and that maybe-

maybe the gold medal

- should go to the guy next on the stand.

- I understand.

There are a lot of people that are

going to go to their graves saying,

"I know he did it. " and you

know what? To hell with them.

DR. EXUM:
You really cannot

fault the athlete for doing that.

You can't fault Carl

when Carl's belief is

that the system sets some rules

and that you need to follow them.

And they made an

exception in his case.

They made an exception in

a lot of people's cases.

But it's the system

that actually teaches

athletes to think that way.

You know, for me

the whole "level playing

field" was a myth.

If we could not do anything

to take doping out of sports

then doping was

meant to be in sports.

The first all-drug Olympics

opened today in Bogota, Colombia.

Athletes are allowed to

take any substance whatsoever

before, after, and even

during the competition.

Oh! He's pulled

his arms off!

He's pulled his arms off. That's got

to be disappointing to the big Russian.

Yeah!

What has made

every major sport

a multi-billion-dollar

entity?

Well, after you

distill it all down,

it's the desire

of the customer,

the fans that fill

these seats and others,

to see bigger-than-life people

doing bigger-than-life things.

CHRIS:
What do you think about

athletes using steroids in sports?

Steroids?

I love it if they're on my team.

I think it's totally wrong,

totally wrong.

- Worst offense. Throw them out.

- It's cheating?

Hell yeah, it's cheating.

Are you kidding me?

MAN:
Oh!

MAN:
It all gets back to money.

As long as people

continue to buy

Mark McGuire shirts,

Barry Bonds hats,

we're feeding

that monster.

You vote for the Raiders

by wearing the Raiders hat.

You cast your vote for

Nike with your T-shirt.

You know, every day when you

pick a dollar out of your pocket

you're voting.

And if you don't like

athletes juicing up, then

don't vote to have that done.

Don't buy their stuff.

Don't go to the game.

Do steroids.

Become governor.

Be big and strong,

no girly man.

- The Giants, baby!

- Whoo!

Shockey!

Whoo!

CHRIS:
Since the

steroid scandals broke

sports revenue has gone

through the roof.

People are buying more tickets,

T- shirts as souvenirs than ever.

So if this is what we

the people are voting for,

why did Congress

get involved?

They always tell you that

if you have a problem,

Talk to your

Congressman.

Lucky for me, my

Congressman is Henry Waxman.

- Hey, how are you?

- I'm fine. How are you?

Very nice to meet you.

Chris Bell.

CHRIS:
He's the one who called

the baseball hearings

in the first place.

He's got to have

some answers.

I think it's important

for sports figures

in major league sports

not to be allowed

to use steroids

under any circumstance.

And for young people-

we certainly don't want

them to be using it.

So the drug is

a restricted drug.

It's not-

there's not a-

Let me-

Brian, is it illegal

to use-?

it's illegal-

it's legal

under some circumstances.

What's-?

BRIAN:
It's legal

with a prescription-

- legal with- okay.

- -A medical prescription.

It's legal with

a medical prescription.

And the other drug

was the...

testosterone or just

steroids in general.

Well, I think that

they're also banned.

They're already banned

in professional sports.

Brian, am I right?

Speak up if I'm wrong.

- Yes.

- Okay.

Well, these products

are already banned.

Cigarettes

and alcohol

are legally

available,

but not if you're

under the age.

And I think the age

is 18 for both

all around the country.

Is it 18 or 21? I'm

getting confused. What?

- BRIAN:
21.

- CHRIS:
21.

- Okay, so strike that.

- That's all right.

President Bush allotted

$15 million

for steroid education.

Where has

that money gone?

Um, I don't know.

Do you know?

Okay, we don't know.

- Okay.

- So...

JEFF TAYLOR:

It's a war on drugs

and Congressmen want

to be tough on drugs,

so they just

demonize them all.

And they say, "oh, our children

are being exposed to them.

They're gonna kill

our children. "

And they just paint

everything in black and white.

And they really don't

see the areas in between.

For those of us

who live in the grey areas

and whose life

depends on it.

It's a very

important issue.

Politicians

are always looking

for an issue

to get behind.

They're always looking

for something

to be able to say

to the public,

"hey, look at what

my legislation's doing.

Look at what

my bill has done.

I'm out there.

I'm protecting you.

I'm protecting

the children. "

CHRIS:
Turns out the

most important witness

at the baseball hearings

was not a famous athlete.

Taylor Hooton was

a 17-year-old kid

who committed suicide and

his father blamed steroids.

I believe

the poor example

being set

by professional athletes

is a major catalyst

fueling

the high usage of steroids

amongst our kids.

And parents

across America

should hold you

accountable

for behavior

that inspires our kids

to do things that put

their health at risk

and that teaches them

that the ethics

we try to teach them

around our kitchen table

somehow don't apply

to them.

Please help us to see

that our children's lives

were not lost in vain.

You have the power

to do something about it

and we're counting

on you to do so.

JOHN SWEENEY:

Donald Hooton coming in

and putting

a human face on it

was more powerful

than the scientific-

the statistics

or any of that stuff.

CHRIS:
On average,

commit suicide

in America.

And most parents

never know exactly why.

I wanted to find out why

Donald Hooton is so sure

that the answer could

be as simple as steroids.

- How are you doing?

- Fine.

- Chris Henry.

- Don Hooton. Nice to meet you.

This is a very very

competitive community

all the way from

athletics to business.

So you wind up

in an affluent area

where these kids can afford

to play with this stuff.

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