Steroids Took My Brother 22 Years Ago. Today, Does the Enhanced Games Put a New Generation at Risk?
By Donald Hooton, Jr.
Juicing, roids, doping—whatever you call it, performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) like anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS), growth hormone, and testosterone have a bad reputation in the sports world and have been long-banned from athletic competition. One billionaire-backed company is changing this.
Over Memorial Day weekend 2026, the Enhanced Games will host an Olympic-style competition in Las Vegas that not only isn’t testing for PEDS but allows the use of PEDs. Organizers say they are pushing the boundaries of human performance; transforming human potential into superhumanity. Does their philosophy send a dangerous message to young people that if you want to be great, you should enhance? The event has drawn criticism from health professionals, the International Olympic Committee, and the World Anti-Doping Agency, all concerned for the safety of those competing and the normalization of PEDs for those watching. This audience will undoubtedly include millions of teens and young adults, who I believe, are most vulnerable to the message that if their idols are doping, they should too. I speak with students every week who are already under immense pressure to look and perform a certain way. For many, the idea that performance-enhancing drugs are not just accepted but celebrated feels like confirmation of their worst fear, that who they are isn’t enough.
Organizers of the Enhanced Games emphasize adult autonomy and argue for the safe, clinically supervised use of performance enhancements. But that argument ignores who is watching. Teenagers don’t have doctors managing hormone cycles. They have TikTok. They have group chats. And they have insecurity.
Twenty-two years ago, our family changed forever. My parents lost a son, and I lost my brother, seventeen-year-old Taylor, to anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) use.
Encouraged to get bigger, Taylor made the uninformed decision to secretly use AAS, a synthetic form of testosterone. No one warned him about the consequences. No one shared with him the truth about what those drugs could do to his mind, body, or future.
After his doctor wrongly suggested that he stop the steroids cold turkey Taylor experienced intense withdrawal symptoms and fell into a depression that we believe led him to take his own life on July 15, 2003. Clinical research shows that coming off these drugs can lead to depression. Recently, AAS use has been linked to depression, anxiety, and various mood disorders. Since that day, our family has made it our mission to protect other families from enduring the heartbreak of this type of tragedy. We founded the Taylor Hooton Foundation (THF) in 2004 to educate young people and their adult influencers on the truths about Appearance and Performance Enhancing Substances. While the Enhanced Games is normalizing doping, we are here to ensure the past twenty years of education and prevention for youth is not erased, but strengthened.
The dangers of AAS and PEDs go far beyond the psychological side effects. They can lead to health issues such as cardiovascular disease, increased risk of high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol levels, which could lead to heart attack and stroke. Other major side effects could include liver damage, hormonal disruptions in the body, and issues with the skin. Despite the serious risks, PEDs are not widely discussed in middle school and high school classrooms, contributing to their misuse and a broad lack of education. While older data suggests 1 in 14 of high school students admit to AAS use, yet the majority of those students have never been educated on the topic.
Teens are buying these black-market drugs online, including social media channels. They are taking advice from social media influencers and other self-proclaimed fitness enthusiasts and pseudo experts. They have little to no education about safety, dosage, or side effects. They don’t fully understand what they are putting in their bodies but are desperate to look and perform like their idols.
I am concerned that the Enhanced Games will create a new generation of role models for kids to look up to. Only this time, athletes aren’t going to be drug tested and can choose to use PEDs to “enhance”. That is what makes it so dangerous. The more PEDs are normalized with events like this, the more teens and young people are at risk of participating in what could be lifethreatening drug use.
I ask the Enhanced Games organizers to consider the message they are sending to our youth. To any athlete participating in or considering participating in the Enhanced Games, please consider the young eyes who will be watching. What message are they actually hearing and what actions could they take on their own? Kids don’t have the medical doctors, resources, or safety nets that the Enhanced Games athletes will have. These are just kids trying to measure up in a world that is telling them they are not good enough.
At the Taylor Hooton Foundation, we want to ensure that everyone has access to education on the risks and realities of PEDs to make informed decisions. We deliver education programs in classrooms, auditoriums, and stadiums across the country.
We also created the ALL ME ® League so that professional and young athletes alike can inspire others to achieve their goals all on their own, without the use of drugs. Professional, Olympic, and Major League Baseball (MLB) athletes (each of the 30 MLB teams have player representatives) serve on our ALL ME® Advisory Board. These role models celebrate and encourage our youth that they can be anything they want to be without the use of PEDs.
Parents and adult influencers, the Enhanced Games are a wake-up call and an opportunity for conversations with your loved ones, reiterating that they are enough. Their value does not come from a scale or mirror.
No amount of money, medals, records, or victories is worth another family’s loss.
Donald Hooton, Jr., is the President and co-founder of the Taylor Hooton Foundation, a nonprofit organization leading a national campaign to educate youth and their adult influencers of the truths about appearance and performance-enhancing substances.
SOURCES:
The Enhanced Games:Â https://www.enhanced.com/
Statement from the International Olympic Committee:Â https://x.com/iocmedia/status/1932494683294638100
The Dangers of Anabolic Steroids and PEDs go far beyond the psychological side effects:Â https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11005876/