Steroid Video: Super Freak

I found a video off of Youtube called E60: Super Freak from the original cite ESPN, that is about a man who had his fair share of steroids. His name is Gregg Valentino and he is known as the man with the largest arms ever. He is a regular man who started out loving body building and opened up his own workout gym. Gregg started having trouble keeping the gym up on his own so he started selling steroids to get more income. He eventually started taking the steroids and became addicted badly. He even used dirty needles and got an infection in his bicep so he popped the blood out on video by himself and became known as the man with the exploding arm on his youtube video. He was taking 4 to 5 thousand milligrams of steroids a week when the normal body produces 50 to 75 milligrams. At the beginning of the video in the interview he didn't really think steroids were that bad and was comparing them to heroine and cocaine. He states, "It's okay to take drugs and drink alcohol then come back to sports and your a hero, but if its steroids everyone overreacts." He came back a month later however, and said he had a very different attitude towards the substance. He had a few personal, emotional, things happen in his life regarding his son having nothing to do with him because he's embarrassed of him and of his daughters friends saying that they saw him in the interview and that it was cool to take steroids. He didn't want to leave this kind of example for kids so he wrote a article in his column of a magazine that he is done with steroids from now on.
It was interesting to see how Gregg changed as a person in just a month through these interviews. I can see how he would not want his reputation to be promoting steroids and the guy with the biggest arms because of steroids. He seems like a good guy who needs to get his life turned back around after steroids messed it up, especially the relationship with his son. I'm glad he changed his mind about his opinion on steroids even though he did have a good point on how people don't look down on other drugs and athletes as much as they do steroids when steroids don't harm you like the others.

ESPN, "E60: Super Freak". Youtube. 4/6/10 . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYlNfvwFN_I