The seduction of steroids is a battle being fought on the field, in the locker room and at home.

Philadelphia Inquirer, The, August, 2006 by Jeff McLane

The numbers don't lie: Steroid use among high school students ranges from 4.0 to 6.1 percent. The numbers are from the last three National Youth Risk Behavioral Surveys conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a federally funded organization located in Atlanta. And if a child plays a sport, those percentages increase.

The every-two-year survey, last published in 2005, accounts for use as rare as one time. But unlike more common recreational drugs - such as marijuana or cocaine - steroids aren't taken arbitrarily but cyclically. "These drugs are so seductive, they'll take you places you'll never go naturally," said Charles Yesalis, for three decades a leading expert on steroids and other performance enhancers. "Taking steroids isn't like taking cocaine," said Yesalis, a recently retired professor from Penn State. "It's not an escape. The kids taking steroids are not going to break into your house and steal to ...