Performance Enhancing Drugs

Performance Enhancing Drugs In Sport.

Performance enhancing drugs have become such a big issue in modern sport. It has been the headline of the world’s athletic events for the past decade, and is still a current problem being disputed. In this paper I will argue that the use of Steroids, or any performance enhancing drug is both illegal and cheating, and that by no means should be allowed in sports at any competitive level. Before I make my argument I will give an explanation of the opposing idea, pro-steroid use, and allow you to evaluate each side.

One argument that is made is the increase that could be made in the entertainment field of sports, most directly associated with professional sports. With the use of performance enhancing drugs, it is proven that size, strength, and speed increase in all the right ways. With the physical attributes becoming bigger and more impressive, the numbers and statistics show to do the same. When Mark McGuire was on his home run hitting spree, the Cardinals were selling out almost every game. People want to see the people that are breaking the records and putting up the big numbers, and they are willing to pay for it.

When other players see that the steroids are working for their fellow athletes, they are tempted to use them as well. There really isn’t a reason not to be interested in taking drugs when you are a fellow pro athlete, and you are falling further back in the statistic standings while everyone who is juicing is rising up the charts. Why shouldn’t they try to make things even?

There is no question that bigger numbers put more fans in the stands. But now fans and teams take the prospective and ethical side against steroid users. Take Barry Bonds for example. Three years ago, when he set the single season home run record, he was every body’s favorite player in baseball. Now that it is revealed that he possibly, probably, used steroids he isn’t even playing for a team. How can it be that the League’s all time home run leader can’t even find a squad to DH or even pinch hit for? It is because the fans and the organizations care more about the honesty and hard work than tainted numbers.

Another argument would be the probable surge in medical research for physical health. One of the big things that hold medical researchers back when conducting a study is finding something or someone to experiment on. Athletes are ready made for these experiments. They are, stereo typically, in excellent shape, health is closely monitored, and in this particular case many athletes would be willing to be the guinea pig.

A close example is the contribution that automobile racing has made to the design and technological advances for the common car. The odds are that if it weren’t for automobile racing, the cars that we drive in today would not be nearly as advanced, or safe. If we could use this same concept in the physical health field, who knows what medical researchers could come up with for us.

In reply to this argument, you can already say that there has been trial and error already done. Doctors have already seen what steroids can do to a person’s body. The drugs do increase muscle size and strength, but what about after? When off the steroids, results drop rapidly. Not only do they deteriorate at the inside of one’s body but they make injury much more probable. It seems, to me, that the increase of injury risk counteracts with the results from the steroids. If an athlete is injured, stronger or not, they aren’t going to produce better numbers

The simple argument of how drugs are voluntary is another reason. Steroids are no more harmful than tobacco or alcohol. There is no rule stating that athletes cannot smoke tobacco, chew tobacco, nor drink any alcoholic beverages. To take away the choice of using performance enhancing drugs is paternalistic and unconstitutional. Who are we to tell someone that they cannot take an enhancing drug because they might harm themselves? We therefore would have to do the same with almost every decision in their life. Should we control what they do, what they eat, and what they drink as well?

A reply to this could be that they are doing the drugs without knowing the consequences. Steroids are marketed just like any other products. When presented, they seem to be the magic pill and the solution to all prospective athletes’ problems. Flaws are rarely publicized and exposed. Therefore it is in our best interest to make sure that athletes are not taking harmful drugs to enhance their performance. They must be first concerned with their well being off the fields or courts. Sports are not everything in life, though some may disagree.

I will now give my reasons for banning any use of performance enhancing drugs in sports. I will start off with the basic ethical principles in sport.

One value is the protection of the athlete’s health. Many researchers have studied the effects of performance enhancing drugs, both the effects of drug as a performance enhancer, and the drug as a danger to human health. Studies have shown the risks that come with the use of steroids. Some symptoms being: premature balding or hair loss. Mood swings; including anger, aggression, and depression. Hallucinations, paranoia, sleeping problems, nausea, vomiting, trembling, high blood pressure damaging blood vessels, aching joints, greater chance of injuring muscles and tendons, liver damage, urinary problems, shortening of final adult height, increased risk of developing heart disease, stroke, and some types of cancer. Less serious