NIDA for Teens: The Science Behind Drug Abuse
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Real Life: Student Athlete's Battle with Steroid Abuse, Taylor's Story

Brian Marquis

Let me introduce you to Taylor-a 17-year old, high school athlete from Plano, Texas. You might be a student-athlete yourself or have friends who are student athletes, so Taylor’s story might speak especially to you.

Taylor took his own life on July 15, 2003, as a result of abusing steroids. With Taylor’s death came the Taylor Hooton Foundation formed by his parents, family, and friends to honor his memory, after they became aware of the growing problem among high school athletes across the country.  Not too long before Taylor’s death, NIDA noticed a sharp increase in the use of steroids among male teens in the late 1990s (Monitoring the Future Survey, 2008).

Unfortunately, I never met Taylor—wish I had gotten the opportunity—but I have met his dad, Don Hooton. Don is the type of guy that many of us aspire to be. I’ve had the opportunity to work with him and the Taylor Hooton Foundation on behalf of NIDA. The picture to the right is us at a Nationals game in DC. I’m sitting with pitcher Garrett Mock (L) and center fielder Willie Harris (R) (Who said work can’t be fun?) We’ve been working together with the goal of sharing Taylor’s story and helping teens help one another.

In memory of Taylor, please share his story with a friend. With your help, we can prevent another tragedy.

Learn more about the science behind steroid use and how it can affect your body.

Bio: Brian Marquis is a Public Liaison Officer at NIDA who connects with organizations across the country to prevent drug abuse among youth with the help of NIDA publications and Web sites. In his spare time he enjoys playing sports, working out, going to the beach, and playing baseball with his son.

Comments

Hello, i'm a student from John Carroll University and i'm doing a research paper on steriods and how they effect their users. Could you give me your experiance and what he was going through throughout the time he used steroids? If not its completely fine, it would be much appreciated though. Thank you.

Taylor experienced depression as a result of his steroid abuse. Read more of his story, and other real-life stories. Thanks for your comment.

in class we talked about steroids and how they can make women have facial hair and men shrinking of the testicles

P.S.( DON'T USE STEROIDS)

STEROIDS CAN MAKE YOU HAVE HEART ATTACKS AND STROKES IT WILL DAMAAGE THE LIVER,HEART,AND KIDNEY

i understand what goes through athletes heads, im thinking about doing roids, and no matter what natural stuff u take , no matter how much u can lift u still feel small and wimpy

Wait so he hung himself?

@Lucky--yes, sadly.

So sad, it is why the teachers and coaches should pay attention to the players that they have to stay away from the steroids, even though it is hard for the players because they need to be performing well all the time.

that is so sad i almost cryied

that is so sad i almost cryied (lucky yes he did)

this did not tell me anything about what happened to Taylor and about steroid addiction. This article was a huge waste of my time.

I think the best way to prevent steroid abuse is by exposing others the tragedy that one might encounter like in the case of Taylor. I strongly agree with the Taylor Hooton Foundation. I myself are compiling some research paper topics on steroid abuse.

good

Thanks for the sensible critique. Me & my neighbor were just preparing to do some research on this. We grabbed a book from our local library but I think I learned more from this post. I'm very glad to see such fantastic information being shared freely out there. [commercial link removed, per guidelines]

Thank for the good material.

I would like to get more information on this topic. Can you help me with the same.
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i really liked this web site and taylor story has gave me an oppurtunty to underestand what the effect of the steriod. i am going to say taylor story in school for my homework for humanties. i am 15 years old am in year 11 i really liked taylors story so the student in my class who take drugs will be really shoked of what happened to taylor and stop taking drugs.

Steroids are bad for you because they can easily give you ans addiction for having more. Never try using steroids. They are dangerous

sad so sad

Man... the things steroids can do to you
I intensely agree with Taylor's parents for creating the Taylor Hooten Foundation. I believe strongly that the best way to counteract steroid abuse is by revealing to others the misfortunes that can occur similiar to the case of Taylor.
Thanks for this delivery! As a student athletes I highly enjoyed Taylor’s story pretty wonderfully. Some of my pal may enjoy this story. Thanks [commercial link removed, per guidelines]

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