Performance Enhancing Drugs in Sports

Steroids are a hot topic of debate and controversy in the world of athletes and sports. Steroids fall under the umbrella of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) and are a dark cloud that have been hovering over the sports world for a long time. In the world today, steroids are the most relevant in major league baseball. Many baseball players, such as Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Braun, and Mark McGwire, just to name a few, have ruined their reputations because of steroids. There are repercussions for PED use in major league baseball, which have cut down on the substance abuse by players but have nowhere near eliminated the problem.

Most athletes who use steroids take them for the purpose of muscle mass growth and strength. Steroids are not safe because there is no safe way to monitor steroid use. Long term effects use of steroids are unknown. In my personal opinion I do believe using steroids is cheating because you are not naturally getting this muscle growth and strength. It is not okay for non-professional or professional athletes to use steroid, like previously stated the long term effect that steroids can have on the human body are unknown. My thoughts on steroid usage in athletes are that I do not agree. I don't believe it is fair for the rest of teammates who work hard to naturally achieve what those who use steroid achieve.

Steroid abuse has become a huge problem in professional sports today. Athletes are now using steroids to gain a competitive edge over their opponents. Also, the athletes are using the steroids to recover quickly from major injuries or surgeries. Many former superstar athletes have been caught taking steroids during the season and offseason.

A number of prominent athletes have recently experienced a 'fall from grace,' because of the revelation that they used performance-enhancing drugs. Perhaps the most famous example of this phenomenon is Lance Armstrong. In an advertisement for Nike that his former sponsor now no doubt regrets, Armstrong is shown asking the viewer "what am I on? I'm on my bike, busting my ass six hours a day." Professional cycling is often cited as one of the sports in which doping is most endemic to its subculture, however a number of professional sports have been embroiled in drug scandals. Because of the many revelations about the number of baseball players who used steroids to get their record-breaking statistics, the 1990s are often called the 'steroid' era of baseball. The Olympic track and field star Marian Jones was stripped of her medals, after finally admitting to the use of performance-enhancing drugs (Lardon 2008). "Despite the health risks, and despite the regulating bodies' attempts to eliminate drugs from sport, the use of illegal substances is widely known to be rife. It hardly raises an eyebrow now when some famous athlete fails a dope test" (Savulescu, Foddy, & Clayton 2004).

Performance enhancers are very prominent in professional sports today. A lot of players are facing suspensions and other penalties for using them. The sport that gets scrutinized the most for this is Baseball. Many former users in the MLB (or formally the NABBP) have come out saying that they were using these drugs while playing. Some of these players are Jorge Sosa, Antonio Bastardo, and the famous Alex Rodriguez. Although these drugs have been prohibited, players are still finding ways around the tests which is why in some other countries they are legal so that no one player can have an unfair advantage.

Sport records are becoming harder  to break and seeing records are starting to become a thing of the past.. Players aren’t being able to hit these home runs or score long touchdown’s. Injured  players are getting kicked off the team or even quit because they can’t get to their peak performance that they were at before they got injured.  If more players were to use performance enhancing drugs they would be able to compete to the performance of past players. A performance  enhance drug is any drug used by athletes to heighten their abilities in the performance of their sport. But could P.E.D actually help that person get better in their sport?

Abstract:  With the increase of competition has also come the need to become bigger and stronger than the opponent.  The use of steroids among athletes has caused the focus of the game to change.  No longer does an athlete want to win by doing their best, but they want to become bigger and have an advantage over the opponent.  Ultimately, all athletes feel that they need to use performance-enhancing drugs to compete at the same level. Despite all of the warnings and information on performance-enhancing drugs, athletes continue to use them and overlook the potential health risks associated with steroids.

Anabolic steroid abuse has become a national concern among high school athletes. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of athletes using these performance enhancing drugs in high school almost double the number using since the 1980's. These athletes feel that steroids gives them the competitive edge that they think they need to boost themselves past the competition.

Do you want to want to become the peak athlete that you know your body is capable of? Well, this paper will not do that for you, but it will tell you how, and it will tell you why it should be legal to do so. Doping in sports is one of the most extensive debates within the realm of athletics. Whether it be injecting anabolic steroids, consuming them, or blood doping, athletes will do drugs. Doping has no effect on the viewership of the sport. Athletes can always find ways to cheat the system, and trying to prevent the use seems impossible. The use of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) should be legalized, as long as it is allowed under medical supervision.

Professional athletes are competitive by nature and will do what it takes to win. Sports have been used as not only entertainment but a way for a person to show off their athletic ability. Due to uncontrollable factors people may find it harder to compete or surpass other’s performance. Even with training people’s bodies respond different to physical stimulation. Professional baseball is an extremely competitive sport with hand-eye coordination and strength being key factors. When the difference between playing in the majors or minors, keeping up with younger players as you age or to be the best players turn to performance enhancing drugs. Performance enhancing drugs come in many different forms but the most common are anabolic steroids, human growth hormone and other agents that mimic anabolic results. These performance enhancing drugs, with addition to hard work do in fact increase strength in the user. These methods of performance enhancement also include many other substances used to gain an edge on the competition. All of these are considered cheating because of the fact a person gains an unfair advantage over other players. The use of steroids and other performance enhancing drugs has changed what once was a game played for enjoyment into a drug fueled search for the largest salary.

Think back to 1999. The Foo Fighters were one of the most popular bands in the United States, Bart Simpson starred on thousands of Americans television screens and that summer, Lance Armstrong won his first Tour de France. With his win, the world started to question his ability and how amazingly he ascended into the Alps. The thought of illegal, sport enhancing drugs came about. Drugs are a form of cheating, so it was not fair. It was not the first hearing of the drug, but it was the first at the turn of the century. Doping has been around for many years. Humans will continue to use illegal substances, no doubt about that, however if we imply stricter regulations, it will make it harder for athletes to cheat.

As the popularity of sports continues to increase in society, so has the use of performance enhancing drugs, primarily anabolic steroids. Anabolic steroids increase the amount of testosterone in the body which allows for increased muscular development. These drugs have been known to be used in all kinds of different sports. Athletes will use these drugs to try to please fans, receive a large contract, and to try to keep up with the players who are already using these drugs. This is creating a negative impact on the sports and on the lives of the athletes. The use of steroids in sports is bad because it is not healthy for the athletes, it hurts the spirit of sports, and it will have an effect on the future generations of athletes.

30 percent of college and professional athletes use anabolic steroids, as do 10 to 20 percent of high school athletes. Among U.S. bodybuilders, studies show that steroid use exceeds 80 percent. (Lewis n.pag.) Steroids have become a huge problem in the sports world. Athletes use steroids as a way to build their body and endurance to beat out the competition. Steroids have a huge effect on the spirit of the sport; by causing unfairness and cheating. Steroids also have major effects of athletes bodies. Steroids are not beneficial for athletes because they ruin the spirit of the sports, there cause many health risks, and they hurt the overall performance of athletes that use them

This is a material world promoting material values, thus meaning that it should not be surprising to see individuals being willing to do everything in their power in order to make profits. Or should it? The sports community today is troubled by a series of athletes who have yielded to society's pressures and abandoned their principles with the purpose of taking performance enhancing drugs. It is difficult to determine if it would be normal for the masses to judge these individuals, concerning that they are actually one of the reasons for which these people have come to consider taking performance enhancing drugs in the first place. However, the only ones who can judge them are other hard-working sportspersons who have stood by their principles and who respect the idea of sport in general.

If Performance enhancing drugs were legalised in the Olympics and Commonwealth Games, the gameplay would be more entertaining for the audience to watch. If PED's (performance enhancing drugs) were legalised, athletes would be able to use them to make themselves bigger, faster, and stronger [Lyaden.T. and Feldman.J. 2017]. Studies have shown that while professional bodybuilding does not test its competitors for PED's, their athletes have grown larger, stronger, and more impressive each season[Lyaden.T. and Feldman.J. 2017]. Dr. Charles Yesalis, an expert in the field or steroid use and an emeritus professor of science and public health, states that "[performance enhancing] Drugs will take your body places you can't get without them."[Lyaden.T.