We are hearing and reading a great deal about the dangers of the abuse of chemical substances in athletics, most recently, in professional baseball. While there is great emphasis on what players, officials and administrators need to do, too little attention is paid to a segment of our society that can ultimately suffer the most harm: Our youngsters.

We have high-profile millionaires, such as baseball’s Barry Bonds, doing incredible feats of physicality and reaping much favorable attention. We have to wonder how many young Americans are planning to emulate him and are willing to court disaster to do so.

Bonds holds the major league baseball record for 73 home runs in a season. He is fast approaching the all-time career record of Hank Aaron, who did what he did without using anything such as steroids.

At long last, big league baseball indicates it may take firmer action on testing and penalizing errant athletes. But why has it taken so long, for sports of all kinds, from high school on up through the professional ranks?

Jason Giambi, an overpaid New York Yankee player, has had physical problems and it now appears he has tumor difficulties because of the abuse of steroids to get bulked up. What kinds of physical difficulties and abnormalities will come to young people who also think they can conquer their venues with drugs of various types?

Not long ago, an anonymous poll was taken of a group of baseball and football players. They were asked if they would go ahead with steroids and such to become topflight in their fields even if it meant that would shorten their lives by as much as 10 years or perhaps suffer long-term physical misery. The response was staggering. More than 60 percent said they would go for the fame-and-fortune through drugs, regardless of the consequences.

Consider right now how many high school and young college athletes are noting what the Bondses, Giambis and others are doing and have been doing. What kind of serious physical problems are these youngsters creating already?

We have waited too long for individual entities in athletics to crack down, even though some indicate now they will get tougher. Linda Robertson of the Knight Ridder newspapers makes an important point: “Sports leagues and governing bodies cannot be left to police themselves. There are too many conflicts of interest.”

U.S. Sen. John McCain, pointing to the grave dangers for young people, said this week it is time for the government to step in and address this out-of-control situation. It is sad that it might come to that, but there may be no alternative.

It’s time to take the guilty parties out of the picture so no more young people will be convinced they can reach the Holy Grail of sports through routes that run through drug laboratories.