Doping is a Fool’s Game

The first reason performance enhancing drugs should continue to be illegal is the unfair advantage they create. A performance enhancing drug, or a PED for short, is simply what the name states. It is a drug that enhances the performance of an athlete in the field of play. Some examples of illegal substances are, “steroids, human growth hormone (HGH), androstenedione, creatine, and blood doping” (Allen Chapter One). All of these enhancing drugs improve the physical stature of your body, but these are all immoral due to the fact that the use of PEDs is cheating. PEDs are not worth the consequences.

Performance-Enhancing drugs are an unnatural way of changing one's body, and the effects can be life altering, sometimes better yet always, in the end, much worse. It is for this reason why major league sports have put strict rules in place suspending athletes who use these drugs; the Olympics ban these athletes for life. These drugs harm the bodies and minds of athletes, and they are banned to protect their health for their benefit and for the sports as well.

Today’s athletes are highly paid and well-respected by many people. Once the athlete reaches the professional level, they become a role model for many. Sometimes this image culture becomes too important to the athlete, engrossing him or her to the point where the attention they are receiving is more intoxicating than the game they play.There is pressure to use performance enhancing drugs in order to maintain their societal status. They forgot about the hard work they put into getting to the highest level of sports. Professional athletes who use performance enhancing drugs should have harsher punishments than those currently in place if they use them.

Athletes use performance enhancing drugs to boost their game. The professionals who use these drugs are ruining the integrity of the game. Many people don’t understand why professional athletes would go to such extreme measures to be better when they have already proven themselves. Athletes are just taking away from their natural ability by using these dangerous drugs. The risk of using performance enhancing drugs is a lot greater than the reward, because an athlete’s reputation could be tarnished and their career ruined. Money is one of the major reasons why players use them; if they perform at levels higher than what their natural abilities could do they will be offered a large sum of money.

“Commentators claim that performance-enhancing drugs are not right or wrong, simply another strategy to improve performance” (Introduction to Performance-Enhancing Drugs). There are two main problems wrong with the use of drugs being legal. Health of athletes would drop devastatingly, and the true competition would become who gets lucky. “Some mourn the loss of yesterday's baseball heroes, while others argue that sport figures who use performance-enhancing drugs expose flaws in American culture” (Introduction to Performance-Enhancing

Mr. Smith states “The primary reason why performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) are outlawed in professional sports is that they give users an unfair advantage over the rest of the field” and that “legalizing PEDs would make life much easier for professional sports organizations currently

Should athletes be stripped of their titles and medals for using sports-enhancing drugs? Do sports-enhancing drugs actually improve the athlete’s natural abilities to the extent where their abilities are no longer natural? These are the controversial questions that stem from athletes involved with sports-enhancing drugs. Substances that improve the performance of an athlete are classified as an enhancing drug. Anabolic steroids, human growth hormones, and even diuretics are some commonly used sports-enhancing drugs. The professional sports industry, in my opinion, is being defined by athletes who are using or not using sports-enhancing drugs. The athletes who are in the professional sports world today and are achieving greatness end up being on a form of enhancing drug in most cases.

Dick Butkus, a retired pro football hall of famer, stated, “There is a myth out there that somehow anabolic steroids can turn a cub into a bear. Steroids won’t make you tough and competitive. What they will do is ruin your health. It’s that simple,” on his opinion about the use of steroids. Although the stance against the use of performance enhancing drugs is clear to Dick, not everyone agrees on the topic. Many players, ranging in all sports at different levels, have used PEDs (Performance Enhancing Drugs) at least once in their career to better their abilities and performances. Some of those players have been caught and have been rightfully punished for their use; however, others get away with using PEDs and remain praised above their opposition. I believe that the use of performance enhancing drugs is wrong and should continue to be banned morally by the fans and legally by the commissioners. There are few positives to using PEDs, which ignite the urge for players to become better at their sport for fame, money, or success. Nonetheless, the negatives immensely outweigh the positives. The use of performance enhancing drugs creates detrimental health risks on athletes, changes the way sports were originally meant to be played for the worse, and shows unacceptable influence on fans and children.

“…medical researchers believe that between 1 and 3 million youths and adults have taken anabolic steroids in one form or another specifically to enhance their looks or athletic performances,” stated Nuwer (Nuwer, 61). As astounding as these figures are, the number of performance drug users is steadily increasing. With this progressively increasing numbers, it is projected that millions more will use steroids in the immediate future (Newer, 61). Athletes have always sought an advantage in competition even if ignoring the law and their health if necessary. Using drugs of any sort to facilitate an athlete’s athletic ability should be illegal. The use of performance enhancing drugs is not only detrimental to the user but it also creates an

The severity of drug abuse should not be taken lightly. The use of performance enhancing drugs in competitive sports should definitely be illegal. Doping is using something that is above

And finally, athletes are not taking them for medical reasons, but to gain an unfair advantage in their sport. The drugs are illegal, and make players prone to many diseases. Professional players should not be allowed to take performance enhancing drugs. Professional sports players should not be allowed to take performance enhancing drugs is that they are a hazard

As a final point, Athletes who use performance enhancers should be suspended for the majority of their season. All facts just add up to more reasons why people should believe this. I hope people would pay attention to the truth and realize that steroids are just going to end up bad. If someone is a professional athlete then they have a lot going for them and should feel much more accomplished by working to better themselves. This should make them strive to not use performance

Besides the long list of negative side effects that steroids bring, they also ruin the integrity of sports. Sports are all about working hard and striving through adversity in order to reach a goal. Steroids only give athletes a shortcut that is an easy way out to reaching that goal. Before performance enhancing drugs became a world wide phenomenon athletes were forced to use their only option of working out naturally and pushing themselves beyond their limits in order to be the best that they can be. Now a day’s, many athletes do not have the same dedication and work ethic to earn their results the old fashion and natural way. Whether or not the use of performance enhancing drugs should be allowed in sports should depend on the purpose and intentions of their use.

Sports illustrated interviewed a cohort (group of people) of elite Olympic athletes, asking, “If you were given a performance-enhancing substance, you would not be caught, and you would win, would you take it? Ninety-eight percent of athletes answered yes.”(Charleston) That is a big number. Big risk with such a small chance of success. Taking drugs to enhance your performance is just not right. Striving to get better, takes patience and perseverance. Athletes are known for their road they take to get to where they are today. Along with jail time, athletes that commit illegal acts should be banned from their sport, for their careers will never be the same, children should not look up to athletes who do those things, and the chance of losing

Many believe professional athletes should get mandatory drug tests. This includes Professional athletes such as MLB, NBA, MLS. Etc. This is very important because many believe the abuse of drugs can lead athletes to an advantage against others. But yet many disagree on drug testing. The decision to not drug test athletes is very controversial because some athletes need pain relievers or sleeping medications. Drugs such as steroids are a big topic because many athletes gain strength and performance. Due to “doping” many athletes could possibly be able to break record. Many agree with drug testing athletes due to these reasons.