College athletes making use of performance enhancing drugs such as steroids, stimulants, and weight-loss supplements are at a higher risk of using heavy drinking and using drugs like marijuana and cocaine in the future.

This finding was disclosed in a study of 234 male athletes at one university.

Dr. Robert J. Pandina, study co-author and director of the Center of Alcohol Studies at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey, remarked that most athletes are not only using recreational drugs but also suffering severe consequences from such usage.

From Sciencedaily.com:

Until now, it had been unclear whether college athletes who use performance enhancers might have any higher risk of misusing other substances. On one hand, Pandina explained, many athletes might avoid habits that could threaten their performance on the field. On the other, athletes drawn to performance-enhancing substances might have certain traits — such as a propensity toward “sensation seeking” — that make the misuse of alcohol or other drugs more likely.

In their study, the researchers, led by Dr. Jennifer F. Buckman, assistant research professor at the Center of Alcohol Studies, found that nearly one third of the athletes acknowledged using a performance-enhancing substance in the past year. The list included banned substances like steroids, creatine, “Andro,” stimulants and weight-loss aids.

The finding was disclosed in a new research in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs and the athletes in this study came from a large, NCAA Division I university where performance pressure is quite high.