Performance-Enhancing Drugs in Sports In all areas of sports, professional, college, and even high school, there is widespread illegal use of performance-enhancing drugs. Although there are many reasons for athletes to choose to use these drugs, the cost of such use, both to the athlete and to society can be extraordinarily high. It is important to understand why performance-enhancing drugs are used and what are the consequences of their use to the athlete and society. One of the reason athletes choose to use performance-enhancing drugs is to bulk up. Athletes have guidelines pertaining to size that must be met. If one wants to be a defensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL), one cannot weigh 175 pounds; so some athletes will use performance-enhancing drugs to make themselves gain weight. Another reason athletes will choose to use illegal drugs is to get more oxygen to their muscles. When blood and muscles are full of oxygen, one?s body can perform better. An athlete who has used a performance-enhancing drug to get more oxygen to his or her muscles can perform for longer periods of time. A third reason an athlete would choose to use an illegal drug is to stimulate the body. The reasons an athlete would need to keep his or her body stimulated are to reduce tiredness, to stay alert, and maintain aggressiveness. It is the same as when a person drinks coffee in the morning to perk him or herself up. One final reason an athlete would use performance-enhancing drugs is to mask an injury. For example, if a quarterback breaks his toe during the South Eastern Conference Championship game, there are two options: one, the quarterback can be taken out of the game or two, the trainer can give the quarterback an injection to take the pain away, allowing the quarterback to return to the game. In this instance the quarterback most likely would choose the injection due to the magnitude of the game and he would most likely feel an unconscious pressure from the fans, his teammates, and the coaches to do so. Often the decision to use is made without considering the risk. Athletes who make the decision to use performance-enhancing drugs do not focus on the side effects. They do not realize that gaining weight quickly and unnaturally is not healthy. They are risking having mood swings, aggressive behavior, or even life t... ... middle of paper ... ...use performance-enhancing drugs for many reasons, justifying the benefits while ignoring the risks. We as a society do not condone drug use in sports, but at the same time we look the other way for the star athlete giving him a slap on the hand and warning him not to do it again. I believe as long as society puts the idea that being the best player and having the best team is the # 1 priority, the use of performance-enhancing drugs will only get worse. We will get the upper hand on the use of illegal drugs in sports only when we as society look at sports for exactly what they are, just games. Works Cited Edwards, K. (2005, January 8). During an interview on the use of performance-enhancing drugs in sports. MacAuley, D. (1996, July 27). Drugs in sports. British Medical Journal. Downloaded January 7, 2005 from Western International University online library, Info Trac, http://www.apollolibrary.com/Library/databases.aspx?db=0 McCaffrey, B. (2001). The United States Must Spearhead Reforms to Eradicate Drugs in Sports. Drugs and Sports. Downloaded January 7, 2005 from Western International University online library, Opposing Viewpoints, http://galenet.galegroup.com
Those who believe the use of anabolic steroids should be allowed in professional sports have numerous arguments for those in opposition. Professional sports leagues have tried to stop the use of steroids by drug testing players and punishing those who do not pass. A number of major athletes, such as Lance Armstrong, have been stripped of their athletic accolades due to discoveries of drug use. Despite witnessing the fall of great competitors due to “doping,” people continue to use. Because of unsuccessful attempts at banning the drug, many people believe “it may be time to head in the other direction: legalize performance enhancers” (Smith 1). No matter how many rules and regulations are made against the use of steroids, athletes will continue to abuse the drug in order to get ...
Jost, Kenneth. "Performance-Enhancing Drugs: An Overview." Performance Enhancing Drugs. Ed. Louise Gerdes. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2008. At Issue. Rpt. from "Sports and Drugs." CQ Researcher 14 (23 July 2004): 616-622. Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 31 Jan. 2014.
This article effectively communicates the idea to its audience, of how large of a problem the use of performance enhancing drugs has become in sports. Using logos mostly to persuade the reader, Sullivan conveys his position with multiple examples of how things have changed throughout the years and the possible negative effects that may arise in the future. The author presents a need for intervention, but also feels discouraged about the possibility of one happening in the near future, that doesn’t involve punishment by which he ends by stating “pass the syringe”(Sullivan 3), symbolizing defeat in the fight against illegal drugs.
Athletes put their lives in danger by using performance enhancement drugs. They use these drugs to gain physical advantages for their sporting events. These methods have been around for thousands of years. According to research, “In ancient Greece, Olympic athletes would ingest huge portions of meat that contained testosterone and creatine before they competed. They would also consume large quantities of alcoholic beverages and lamb testicles” (“Steroids”). Today, sportspersons have a drug policy due to health hazards, violence and incapability’s of normal performances. From lamb chops to steroids, many athletes are willing to destroy their bodies to become “popular” legends.
Abstract: Since the beginning of sports competition, athletes have always looked for some kind of an edge over their competitors. They will do whatever it takes to be one of the elite and that includes injecting supplements into their bodies to make them bigger, stronger, and faster. Steroid use is probably one of the most common drug misuses in sports competition. Athletes found that with anabolic steroids one could become a better athlete twice as fast. Not until 1975 was the drug first banned from Olympic competition because of the health risks it produced. Shortly thereafter, the rest of the sports world did not allow anabolic steroids as well. With the use of steroids no longer permitted athletes began to look for other alternatives. On the rise is two substances called creatine and androstenedione, both of which are sold over the counter. These two performance enhancers have only had minimal testing done on them, excluding the long-term effects, simply because they haven't been around long enough. Creatine and androstenedione have been said to produce results like steroids without the side effects. The truth is they do produce side effects and irregular muscle growth. By banning the use of performance enhancing drugs, just like steroids, sports competition will have a much healthier and fairer environment to participate in.
Latiner, C. (n.d.). STEROIDS AND DRUG ENHANCEMENTS IN SPORTS. THE REAL PROBLEM AND THE REAL SOLUTION. Retrieved March 20, 2014, from https://laworgs.depaul.edu/journals/sports_law/Documents/Steroid%20Problem%20by%20Laitner.pdf
It is NFL Sunday and you are ready to see some of your favorite athletes to go head to head on the grid iron. However, you notice something a little different your favorite athlete seems to be more aggressive and his body has changed substantially. That famous athlete that you know and adore was caught for taking performance enhancing drugs that was the reasoning for your unanswered questions about his odd transformations. Bigger, better, stronger each professional athlete tries to achieve that when they are preparing to compete in their sport, but there are some that get a little help to be better, bigger, and stronger. These athletes use performance enhancing drugs; performance enhancing drugs are a man-made or synthetic version of testosterone. Someone who takes the performance enhancing drug illegally will likely gain weight muscle and get stronger. The athletes will love the result they are getting from taking the performance enhancing drugs and would want more and that is when this synthetic drug can become harmful. The performance enhancing drugs can cause many major side effects and the most severe is death. That is why athletes should think twice about taking performance enhancing drugs because strength, endurance, and energy is not worth all the side effects that come with taking the illegal substance. The athletes who risk their lives just to be better at their sport is not beneficial in the long run.
In sports many people think it is ok to use Performance Enhance Drugs to be the best player of all time.Performance Enhance Drugs are substances used to improve any form of activity performance in humans. For example, Bruce Irvin the defensive end with the seattle seahawks,and Daryl Washington the linebacker for the Arizona Cardinals. It is not just football players , baseball players also like, Cody Stanley from the St. Louis Cardinals. Many people use them, but the end up getting caught and suspended from playing.You are basically cheating your way to fame.People should not use drugs in a sport to become better because,These drugs have an effect on having a long term of health, could lead to overdose, and if you get caught you most
Every athlete dreams of becoming the best player in their sport. For most athletes, this dream was created in their childhood watching their favorite player perform at great levels to achieve success. Most athletes will stop at anything to achieve success, even if that means breaking the rules. An athlete whether the biggest, fastest, or strongest, will always look for something that will give them and extra edge over everybody else, even if that means performance enhancing drugs. With new records being broken day by day, I believe performance-enhancing drugs should be legal in all professional sports.
...ing drugs were made legal it would contribute to a wider use of PEDs among athletes. If the use of these harmful drugs were to rise we would see much more health issues with athletes and possible death. We could also see a rise in the use of these drugs by adolescents. For these reasons alone I believe that performance-enhancing drugs should remain illegal for the welfare of athletes.
Throughout the course of my studies in the applied ethics area, specifically focusing on the Ethics of Sport, I will be arguing the unethical use of performance enhancing drugs and exactly why they should be banned. Based upon gamesmanship and sportsmanship, virtue ethics, and a combination of permissible logical reason to ban, it is nearly astounding that these drugs are still accepted among many members of society.
In all professional sports in the United States, the use of PEDs are prohibited. However, there is only one acceptation to that rule. If an athlete is injured, prescriptions to certain drugs which are used in recover are allowed. These drugs may consist of certain chemicals that enhance muscle grow. Some athletes have used this to their advantage and have got prescriptions to these drugs for their own personal benefits, will other athletes are using it for recreational purposes. This, however, is not the only way to obtain PEDs; there are also other ways such as buying them from an underground market. Athletes with the intention to cheat will take the risk of using PEDs, since if they are successful they will achieve fame and money.
An athlete who chooses to take performance enhancing drugs may doubt his own abilities. The pressure on athletes to win games or perform at a certain level can be over whelming. Fans, family, friends, owners
This is because if the athletes take the performance enhancing drugs, it makes it unfair for the other competitors, as they do not have the same performance advantages as the drug fuelled athletes and is basically cheating.According to David Fairchild, “the use of performance enhancers is cheating because it violates constitutive rules of the activity. Since such use is cheating, it is wrong and we should expect the disqualification of competitors who are caught doping. This conclusion is established through a simple and straightforward argument. Cheating is the deliberate, knowing, and voluntary violation of certain constitutive rules in order to gain a competitive advantage. Since the violation is knowing, the attempt to gain an advantage is illegitimate and unethical, and the advantage sought is thus unfair. The knowing and voluntary use of proscribed substances is an attempt to gain such an unfair advantage. Some specified performance enhancers, anabolic steroids for example, are listed as proscribed substances in certain sports. The deliberate use of steroids is thus an illegitimate attempt to gain an unfair advantage. We conclude that their use is cheating." (David Fairchild (2008) Do Athletes Gain an Unfair Advantage by Using Performance Enhancing Drugs? Available at: https://sportsanddrugs.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=001236). Another reason is that it
Many people believe that drug use in professional athletics is not a serious problem, however it is more widespread and serious than people think. In professional athletics the use of drugs is looked upon as somewhat of a serious problem, but is also very discrete and low key. Every once in a while one might see a prominent figure in a certain sport being reprimanded for the use of some outlawed drug, however this is just one of the many who happened to get caught. Athletes today seem to find no moral problem with using performance-enhancing drugs, or in other words cheating. Also many of them feel that because they are "stars" there should be no repercussions for their illegal activity.