The Physician Awareness of Steroids and Supplements (PASS) anti-steroid education program administered by Powered by Me! was launched this week in Maryland with much fanfare. Unfortunately, it is setting itself up for failure by demonizing dietary supplements as part of its steroid education efforts. The credibility of the PASS program is compromised by attempts to convince teens of the alleged “dangers” of dietary supplements such as creatine monohydrate and Muscle Milk protein powder (”Campaign on for health, sportsmanship,” August 20).

More than 1,000 packages of information were sent out to Maryland pediatricians yesterday, Gimbel said, including a small, pocket-size card with a list of steroid- use warning signs, symptoms and side effects.

“It will remind [doctors]… to share that information about steroids and supplements,” Gimbel said, adding that PASS seeks to reach every aspect of the community that touches youth, including pharmacists and psychiatrists, as well as parents. “They play a critical role.”

Discussing the alleged dangers of supplements as if they were comparable to powerful performance enhancing drugs such as anabolic steroids will only serve to trivialize the side effects of steroids.

Educational information should be available to teens about legal stimulants such as caffeine that represent the active ingredient in energy drinks such as Rockstar Energy, Red Bull and Full Throttle. But let’s not forget that Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Mountain Dew and coffeee also contain caffeine while the energy drink category is demonized.

U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings, noting his participation in the Congressional witch-hunt on steroids in baseball, took the opportunity to demonize energy drinks and creatine monohydrate by using a display of popular products from these categories on a table in front of him; he suggested their use would damage teen’s health.

Stationed near the school’s football field, a table was laden with examples of so-called energy- boosting substances: cans of Rockstar Energy, Red Bull and Full Throttle drinks, creatine powder and supplement pills such as taurine and ephedra.

“Your lives are in front of you,” Cummings said to the student athletes before him, who sported jerseys that read “Warriors.” “This is your body, and it is your body for a lifetime. … We want you to be healthy.”

Michael Sye, the athletic director for Woodlawn High School where the launch of the PASS program was announced, tells people seeking additional information on energy drinks to visit the Woodlawn High Athletic Department website. Imagine my surprise when I go to the website only to find a direct link to a commercial website selling an alternative to energy drinks that is “not recommended for… children under the age of 18″ and advertised as a supplement that could manipulate hormone levels. Unbelievable.

Energy Drink Nutrition: The dangers you need to know and the best choices

The Woodlawn High School website tells people to visit a commercial website where an alternative to caffeinated energy drinks containing dong quai is promoted!! This is practically a tacit endorsement of dong quai. According to the Body Ecology commercial website, dong quai:

• is not recommended for pregnant and nursing mothers or children under the age of 18;
• contains phytoestrogens, estrogen-like plant compounds;
• may help to supply an additional mild source of estrogen to balance out levels in the body;
• promotes proper balance of the female hormones and the female reproductive cycle;
• provides relief of PMS;
• supports men’s fertility and prostate health

It is with sad irony that the school hosting the launch of an anti-steroid program would demonize energy drinks only to recommend an alternative that marketers claim will manipulate hormone levels and fertility!