The only answer I could give about steroids being “more evil” is that the populace has been stirred up into a frenzy to believe that it is. On the subject of jail time, there are already laws against distributing prescription medications improperly, and laws against using prescription drugs without a valid prescription. But on the using side, they don’t rise to the level of a felony, as far as I know. And anyone being sent up the river for five years would have been convicted of a felony, as I understand things.

But is steroid use more evil than betting on games (ala Pete Rose), or a defensive lineman whose specialty is late hits that leave his victim reeling in pain, or a hockey player known for the viciousness of the beatings he inflicts on members of opposing teams? And yet, each of these things happens, they’re against the rules of the sport involved, and rarely (if ever) is someone prosecuted.

Betting on games certainly doesn’t offer many advantages to a team, except incentive to play better (which may or may not help). The other two examples? Well, if opposing teams are afraid of those players, it could sway the outcome. And their behavior could sway the outcome of games, by hurting or disabling key players on opposing teams. That could be argued to be an unfair advantage (certainly, I would say so). Assault is a pretty serious crime, when not done on a playing field or ice rink. How many times do players get dragged into court for such behavior on the playing field, let alone serve any jail time? Not many.

If we’re going to start imprisoning people for steroid use, we need to be consistent and do so for other things, like the examples above.