The Use of Illegal Drugs in Sports

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The Use of Illegal Drugs in Sports

“He’s at the 40, the 30, the 20, the 10, the 5, TOUCHDOWN!!” Can you imagine the joy of having 100,000 people chanting your name and cheering as loud as they could just for you? Now try imagine having all of that, then having it taken away because you tested positive for illegal drugs. This is the harsh reality for several professional athletes. They get a small taste of greatness but instead of working harder they take a drug and immediately notice improvement. So they take some more until they become completely dependent on the drug for success.

Unfortunately hiding drug use is big business for most professional athletes. As illustrated in the movie, The Program ,this is even a problem at the college level. As athletes they have a constant drive to be the best and to win and when that is not possible physically that’s when athletes turn to drugs. It gives them that extra edge they feel they couldn’t get from working harder. This is partly societies fault in that no one cheers a loser, it’s just our nature to try and cheer for the best. People have enough trouble remembering who won the race let alone who lost. The majority of people feel it’s just too much to be bothered by and just too much to remember. (Long)

Doping

The use of drugs in an attempt to enhance sporting performance is often referred to as doping. It is thought that the word 'dope' originated from the South African language. Dope referred to a primitive alcoholic drink that was used as a stimulant in ceremonial dances. Gradually the term adopted a wider usage and in reference to sport, it became known as 'doping'. In today's sporting context, doping refers to the use by athletes of banned substances or methods t...

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...ible to tell visually if an athlete is taking drugs. Currently there are no tests for high school athletes and very few tests for college athletes, especially the Div. III and Div. II schools. I cannot see this problem dissolving anytime in the near future but there is always hope. I feel that the only truly clean athletes are those children who are yet to enter organized sports. By this I mean those that are not funded by the school or by the community but by the parents and or children themselves. Examples of these would be “Biddy Ball” and “Pee Wee Football”. I feel this way because at this level adults are more inclined to yell as opposed to supplying their athletes with drugs. As a final question I ask, “Has society really gotten to the point that young men and women are willing to risk social exile along with their lives just for a few moments of glory”?

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