When Arnold Schwarzenegger was 16, he was 6 feet 2 inches and weighed 160 pounds – a “string bean” of a lad. A few years later, he weighed in at more than 200 pounds and was muscle-bound.

Schwarzenegger went on to win several bodybuilding world titles, star in motion pictures, and used that fame to become governor of California. He freely admits that his physical development was aided with doctor-prescribed anabolic steroids. Should he be stripped of his fame and office?

So what is all the fuss about Barry Bonds? Would he be the first athlete in a major American sport to use steroids or other “performance enhancing” drugs? If athletes want to endanger their health and longevity to win fame and fortune, as Schwarzenegger did, why should anyone care? I don’t!

In a society where drug use is part of everyday life, from the first cup of coffee in the morning to the final cigarette of the day, our society’s view of drugs and drug use is hypocritical.

Let us get a collective grip on ourselves about drug use in a society that is full of legal drugs that are more dangerous than the ones that have been made illegal.

I believe that American’s condemnation of drugs and drug use is, and has always been, racist. Barry Bonds is just another victim of this racism.

Judson R. Duncan, Monmouth