Since Mark McGwire, a baseball player for the St. Louis Cardinals, broke the home run record of Roger Maris, a New York Yankee outfielder known for hitting sixty-one home run in 1961, the media was in a frenzy. This frenzy isn't just about McGwire's seventy-home run hit, it's about another topic, performance-enhancing drugs. Mark McGwire not only uses creatine, but is also taking androstenedione. Creatine is an amino acid that fuels muscle contraction and is produced in the liver, kidneys, and pancreas (Schrof 54). Androstenedione is produced in the body by the gonads and adrenal glands in small quantities. It is a sex steroid hormone that the body converts to testosterone, a natural anabolic (muscle-building) steroid and performance enhancer (“Hazard Alert” 143). Examples of other performance enhancers include chromium, pyruvate, and anabolic androgenic steroids. All of these supplements help the body build and repair muscles; however, some have more noticeable effects than others. The resulting dilemma surrounding McGwire is whether or not his breaking of the home run record was aided by drug use. Last summer, the American College of Sports Medicine issued that "the verdict on the safety of creatine supplementation, especially over long periods of time, is still uncertain" (Condor 3D). However, the American College of Sports Medicine has no official position on androstenedione, which is banned by the International Olympic Committee, the National Football League and the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) but allowed by the National Hockey League, the National Basketball Association , and Major League Baseball (Condor 3D). There are two basic points of view on...... middle of paper ......rts Illustrated 20 April 1998: 58-61.Bender, David and Bruno Leone, ed. Sports in America: Opposing Views. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc. 1994. Condor, Bob. "The price of power is glory." The Greenville News September 10, 1998: 1D+.Gower, Timothy. "Eat dust! Build muscle! Burn calories!" Esquire (February 1998): 113."Hazard Alert." People Weekly, October 12, 1998: 143-145. “How experts view androstenedione.” The Washington Post October 20, 1998: 13Z+.Schrof, Joannie M. "McGwire Takes Pills: Even Muscle-Building Supplements Carry Serious Risks." U.S. News & World Report September 7, 1998: 53-55.Shaughnessy, Dan. “Leave Mac Alone.” La Statale 30 August 1998: 12C."The carbohydrate of the 90s." Sports Illustrated July 28, 1997: 26.Woods, Steve. “Drug use should have no place in sport.” The State August 25, 1998: 2C.