Being an athlete herself both in high school and in college, former Miss South Dakota 2008 Alexandra Hoffman thinks that talking against steroids brings a good message not only for the student athletes but to ordinary students as well.

Many young people nowadays use steroids for both physical and mental reasons. They either take it to enhance their appearance like to lose weight or to help them in their athletic performance.

Last Tuesday, she came to Yankton to talk about steroids and even gave out a speech at Mount Marty College’s Roncalli Center.

She emphasizes that using steroids and other performance-enhancing substance is a form of cheating.

Many athletes, especially those with money would also cheat during mandatory drug testing by either buying clean urine or taking another drug such as diuretics to mask the steroids in their urine.

Anabolic steroids and HGH are just two of the most common performance-enhancing substance used by athletes, but several other substances are also abused, such as caffeine, diuretics and alcohol.

Hoffman also talked about the detrimental effects of steroids use. Among those she mentioned were tumors, jaundice, hepatitis, depression and mood swings.

She also warned the public to think about the long term effects of steroids use before looking at the short-term gain.

From Yankton Press & Dakotan:

The bottom line, she said, is that performance-enhancers are “not worth the risk. … The drugs are going to provide you with a short-term gain, but think about the long-term loss, what you’re doing to your body.”