Should Athletes Be Performance Enhancing Drugs?

In sports, the competitive drive to win can be very intensive between athletes. Winning in the game usually brings rewards to athletes both financially and psychologically. Such temptations and the consecutive pressures faced by athletes to excel in the sporting events, attempts to achieve a rival edge especially when the application of performance enhancing drugs by athletes in sports activities has becoming a new trend and relatively common. Performance enhancing drugs are used so athletes could achieve better results with least efforts, even as their health and their athletic careers will be placed in danger. That explains why athletes, sports people and body builders turn to performanc enhancing drugs.

In 2013, 12 Major League Baseball players each received fifty game suspensions without pay for using performance enhancing drugs. Big names such as Ryan Braun and Alex Rodriguez were on this list. Testosterone, an illegal substance, is what is found in the performance enhancing drugs. Testosterone increases male characteristics such as body hair, aggression, deepening of the voice, and of course massive muscle growth (“Steroids” par. 1). Some professional athletes claim to use performance enhancing drugs to recover more quickly from injury; others take them because they have not seen the positive feedback in working out, without the use of the steroids. Steroids may be referred to as 'roids', juice, hype, or pump and they are

Performance-enhancing drugs (PED 's) have been an issue for many decades now for the medical and sports field. Olympic and professional athletes have been using them to gain an upper hand on the competition, but some may ask if it 's really worth it? Studies show that performance-enhancing drugs have been proven to negatively affect the health of athletes who take them. Simply put, performance-enhancing drugs could either improve athletic performance or can be extremely dangerous, in certain situations, deadly. There have been strict rules and drug testing in the professional sporting organizations, as well as in world competitions. For example, in the summer of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, in two of the

The use of illegal substances is rapidly increasing in the college sports due to the expansion of supplements used by athletes that are being banned. In a study done, athletes were asked if illicit drugs would negatively impact their performance. Majority of them responded “yes”, their main reasoning being; the effects of illicit drugs were both mental and physically damaging. Illicit drugs come in many forms, but the testing procedures are all the same for any substance. There is almost always a consequence with the use of prohibited substances. Drug testing is appropriate to help ensure the safety of student athletes while they participate in intercollegiate contests. (Krotee, M 555).

Should athletes be allowed to use performance-enhancing drugs (such as steroids or EPO) or techniques (such as blood doping or oxygen tanks)?

Drugs in sports is becoming a problem everywhere. “Another 26-year old athlete died of liver cancer after taking a number of different types of steroids over a four year period ” (Drugs and…). This is significant because this shows how dangerous drugs can be. If we have drug testing in schools this student could still be alive and would have stopped drugs before it got bad. The evidence points to the fact that drugs are a major health risk that is very concerning. In some cases taking drugs can even lead to death. In addition, another situation took place that affected a college student named Bob. Bob tried everything to gain weight so he could play football, so he chose to try steroids like everyone else. Steroids got him to play professional football, but horrible things were happening to him. He was having serious health problems. Bob quit drugs and is lucky to be alive (Drugs and…). This connects to the fact that doing drugs is a major

Rains, B. (2009). Testing Student Athletes for Drugs is Appropriate. In C. Watkins, Sports and Athletes (pp. 192-196). Detroit: Greenhaven Press.

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.

In all areas of sports, professional, college, and even high school, there is widespread illegal use of performance-enhancing drugs. It seems like you can’t go more than a week without hearing about somebody’s PED problems. 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. The question that many people must answer to themselves is “is it worth the risk”. Therefore, it is important to understand why performance-enhancing drugs are used, the consequences of their use, and then apply that knowledge to how they are represented in the media.

Steroids are the single most abused performance-enhancing substance in the history of sports. As popular as the drug may be, the DEA listed anabolic steroids as a controlled substance under the Controlled Substance Act in 1990: meaning steroids can only be prescribed by a medical professional (Parks 12). Steroids are not only creating a poor image of professional sports, they also set a terrible example for the athletic, competitive youth of this generation. Children venerate their role models - like Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds - and think the only way to be as successful as they are is to do as they do: use steroids. What the youth are too naïve to consider is that steroids do not improve agility, skill or cardiovascular capacity, and can prematurely stunt growth and destroy the liver of adolescents (ESPN). While the effects on the youth cannot be ignored, the everlasting effects on sports themselves leave a tarnished sense of distrust. Dr. Paul Finkelman stated, “Steroids undermine the integrity [of the game] by placing in doubt the skill of players, as fans assume that homers are hit because of steroids, not skill” (ProCon). The problem with making a stricter Performance Enhancing Drug (PED) testing policy is that if one substance becomes too recognizable, there will always be new, untested drugs which can cause more harm to one’s body than steroids ever would (Ropp). Random drug testing has proven successful in the past, but tests are very expensive and can sometimes be

Anabolic steroid abuse has become a huge concern among high school athletes. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of athletes using performance enhancing drugs in high school, almost double the number since the 1980's. Student athletes feel that steroids give them a competitive edge that they think they need to boost themselves past competition. Athletes, whether they are young or old, professional or amateur, are always looking to gain an advantage over their opponents to come away with the biggest win, our society views winning as something more important than the game 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, today student athletes are getting caught up in this competition frenzy and because of this, teenage use of performance enhancing drugs is growing to be very popular. At all levels of play, from peewee wrestling to professional football. Successful athletes rely on skill, practice, and hard work to increase their speed, power, and ability. Today, high school and even middle school students are using steroids illegally. The United Institute of Health reported that 2.9% of twelve graders in high school have used anabolic steroids. These drugs may also have been called: roids, juice, gym candy, pumpers, stackers, balls or bulls, arnies, or anabolics. High School students of our

In recent years the number of athletes caught using drugs has increased dramatically. The use of a illegal or unprescribed drugs can cause serious problems and unfairness in many ways. Certain drugs can cause harm to the user and the people around the user, most student athletes do not even know what they are putting into their bodies. With all the risks many persons propose student athletes to be drug tested at random.

Athletes using performance enhancing drugs has been a problem since the late 1990’s. For the athletes the use of steroids are cheap, easy to access, and effective; that is until now. Collegiate Student Athletes should be drug tested every season for illegal substances before they are allowed to play. There are many reasons why these athletes should be tested, such as the negative effect steroids have on their bodies, the drugs are illegal to use, and if caught using these drugs the athletes careers could be over.

A national survey stated that American teens use drug to perform better at athlete events; They also use drugs to improve their looks. Another confidential survey that was taken, in 2013, used 3,705 high school students. The survey’s results showed that possibly 11% of the students used synthetic HGH once at the minimum amount, and the amount of students taking steroids increases from 5% to 7% perecent while doing the survey. Drugs can be dangerous that’s why school officials and parents are worried. This drug issue might cause student athletes to get drug tested.

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