Athletes And Drug Testing Essay

In many high schools around the country, student athletes are using drugs. “The percent of students that have drunk alcohol is 72.5% while the number of students who have used marijuana is 36.8%” (Report: Nearly Half of High School Students Using Drugs, Alcohol). The students believe that since they are athletes that they do not need to abide by the rules because they feel more superior and that the narcotic will not hurt or affect them. Implementing random drug tests for athletes will create a positive image and not hurt others or themselves. Schools need to have drug tests for student athletes because drugs effect relationships, using drugs have consequences, and lastly they have a major effect on the body.

The topic that I have chosen is student athletes' use of drugs and alcohol. I'm interested to see if the old theory that student athletes tend to stay away from these things still holds true today. From my own personal experience as a former high school and college football player, I doubt that this is true. I'd also like to find some studies that may compare student athletes to the general student body to see if there is a correlation of usage between these two groups. With the many stories of athletes being arrested for alcohol and drug abuse, I feel this information may be helpful in setting up a drug prevention program at the high school or middle school level.

Eugene Robinson from the Washington post once stated “Most fans watch sports…to see people unlike themselves perform extraordinary physical feats. The superhuman quality of professional athletes is precisely what Americans admire about them” (CITE) Drug testing was created to stop the use of performance enhancements as artificial stimulants for physical and mental enhancements. (CITE) Drugs which are used by athletes in all types of sports have many advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, laws were created to keep an equal playing field.

In recent history American culture has become more and more dominated by sports. Out of all of these sports baseball is considered to be America's pastime. Over the last couple years America's pastime has come under scrutiny about some of its players using anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing drugs. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig said, ¡§... hopefully we can figure out ways to solve this problem. It needs to be solved. There is no one I¡¦ve talked to who can say it is not a problem. Now the question is, What can we do about it?¡¨ (41). The commissioner is absolutely correct in saying that the steroids issue is a problem. Without a doubt the steroid issue is bringing

The amount of homicides have increased by 7.4 percent in the past few year all of them were drug related. Drug testing High school athletes is a good idea because it has the kids pick a priority in life. It also teaches them responsibility and the consequences

Steroids, ever since their introduction into the sports world five decades ago, they have been a controversial issue (WebMD medical news). Anabolic performance dates as far back as the original Olympic Games. Today walking into any gym you will find some one who is using steroids or some kind of enhancement supplement. Anabolic steroids are so popular with athletes from high School level all the way up to the top. For the past fifty years, athletes around the world use steroids to gain muscle mass, and along with regular work-outs try to achieve the results they desire. Kids today using these drugs are getting younger and younger every day. But is it worth the cost? I believe the ban on steroids should be strictly

I believe that drug testing all athletes is a good things for many reasons. One reason is the fact that “half of high school seniors have used an illicit drug by the time they graduate and about one-quarter are regular users by the time they graduate,” according a statistic study done in (YEAR) (Roan). This statistic shows that a lot of the people are using drugs during school. Nevertheless, some athletes are using these drugs while they are playing a sport which is an unfair advantage to other athletes. One key example of this is steroids, which are seen “[producing] quick gains for the athlete,” and giving the athlete an unfair advantage over other players (Steroid). This is important as these athletes are fighting to get a scholarships

The topic for my stakeholder research paper is performance enhancing drugs. My research is the affects of performance enhancing drugs on athletes and how it affects society. The stakeholders for the research paper are the professional athlete, the college athlete, governing bodies and the fan. The effects of drug use on the professional athlete can cost them their career and also their lives. The college athlete wants to become the fastest or the biggest and nevertheless don’t view performance enhancing drugs as dangerous. Sports governing bodies in the United States have taken action towards controlling the use of performance enhancing drugs. However there is the fan that will still idolize the top athletes even though they use

Introduction Student-Athletes are under a lot of pressure coming from their family, coaching, professors, etc. Due to the pressures of life, lots of athletes’ experiment with drugs. Marijuana. Cocaine, MDMA, Alcohol, and Performance enhancement drugs to name a few. While some remain one-time users, others indulge in substance abuse.

If the high school that you went to did randomized drug testing on athletes would you have been fine with it? Drug testing is violating the athletes Fourth Amendment right. The testing is a waste of money by the school. Drug testing doesn’t deter student athletes from doing drugs if he or she know it is randomized. Randomized drug testing of high school athletes is a bad idea.

Imagine playing a sport, having fun but then,someone rushes by or tackles you,looking buffed up and clearly on steroids cheating and winning the game. This carries on throughout the game as they keep on beating you and your team from size,strength and speed. Clearly this isn’t fair and makes the sport you play not fun. One quote was from one of Armstrong's former teammates,“Tyler Hamilton, who was forced to return his 2004 Olympic gold medal after being found guilty of doping. In recent public appearances, Hamilton has implored young athletes to resist the temptation to dope.” He then said to kids who take steroids,"There's so much pressure on winning—it's tough for these kids to stay true to themselves," he said (Crary).” Student athletes should be drug tested before they’re allowed to play because they might cheat, it could affect their health earlier in life, and they might have to suffer major consequences.

If Rob Garibaldi had one wish it would be to play major league baseball. Growing up he played baseball throughout high school and college. There was one problem. He wasn’t as big as the other players. Beginning in his junior year of high school he was strongly influenced to take supplements to increase his strength. A few years later, after continued use of steroids, his life started to spiral out of control. He was feeling very depressed, struggling academically, and had become very aggressive. That bright, young man with aspirations to play major league baseball ended up taking his own life with a fatal gunshot on October 1, 2002. Ultimately, Rob Garibaldi killed himself but steroids could easily be deemed his accomplice.

Drugs should be banned in all sports. They have been a problem for a long time. Athletes use them to enhance their body and for simply just the edge. There is nothing wrong with using some drugs to enhance your body as long as they are legal. The problems that come with drugs in sports are how to detect them. Some professional sports, such as the NHL, do not even use drug tests. The only sports that test for everything are the NBA and NFL. The Major League Baseball only tests for illegal drugs such as marijuana and cocaine. They do not test for steroids or any other kind of pill. The reason for this is because the player’s union will not allow these tests. They are currently voting to reconsider this idea. The other problem is that drug

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.

More and more, of our society views winning more important than itself. Success in competition brings status, popularity, and fame, not to mention college scholarships. Today’s athletes are looking for an advantage over the competition that will make them winners. Unfortunately, the drugs of today are caught up in the high stakes competition frenzy. Of this reality, teenage use of performance improved drugs is growing ever more popular. In colleges and in the professional league a lot of people are doing drugs and its ruining their health and life. Also, if some teenagers take performance drugs they are making them better than everyone else giving themselves an advantage over everyone else which is cheating, so why should they get money