Should Performance Enhancement Drugs Be Banned?

In today’s society sports are extremely popular and followed by a countless number of fans. The level of competition has risen with the followers making many sports more aggressive. As a result athletes have taken to the use of performance enhancing drugs. The effect of these drugs have exponentially blown up the level of competition in sports. Some might say these drugs increase the performance quality of sports. Essentially making the sport more fun to watch because the playing field skill is at an extremely high competition level. However, performance enhancing drugs can pose huge health risk to athletes at the professional and recreational level, and professional athletes can influence children or other adults alike into thinking it is okay to use these drugs.

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

“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

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.

“…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 issue over steroids and other performance enhancer drugs has been a recent topic in the sports world. The debate over whether or not to punish those who have been caught using has been a major topic recently, as well as the legalization of these drugs. When arising the question of whether or not to legalize steroids, many positive and negative factors are brought to the table, and in effect could change various aspects of our normal day lives.

The most commonly discussed issue in sports of the 21st century is the use of performance enhancing drugs by professional athletes. Over the past four years, it has been nearly impossible to turn on the television without hearing something about athletes and these drugs. From former National League MVP Third Baseman Ken Caminiti's admission of steroid use in an issue of Sports Illustrated (Verducci, 2004) to 2006 Tour de France Champion Floyd Landis being stripped of title due to a failed doping test (Blue, 2006) virtually every sport is involved. Are performance enhancing drugs a substance that threatens the very existence of professional sports, or are they the future? Perhaps the issue

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.

Why are performance enhancement drugs use in professional sports? The use of steroids has been a major problem among sports and has caused lots of controversy. Although these professional sports organizations such as the NFL, NHL, NBA and several others have spent time and money investigating athletes for uses of performance enhancement drugs, nothing has been done to erase records or record breaking statistics. In order to cease steroid and other performance enhancement drug users from cheating there need to be more involvement of severe punishments and stripping away all records, awards, and statistics. During my composition review I learned a great deal of information that I previously was unaware of. Period, the use of steroids in professional sports has ruined the game for avid sports fans, and competing players.

Performance-Enhancing Drugs should not be allowed in today’s sports. Today`s athletes are looking for an advantage over there competition that will help them be winners. There here have been several debates about allowing athletes to use Performance-Enhancing Drugs, but personally, I think the commissioners of all sports are doing a fantastic job of not allowing it to be legal. Performance-Enhancing Drugs can be regarded in four classes: androstenedione, creatine, anabolic steroids, and ephedra alkaloids. If athletes take these kinds of drugs, they gain an advantage on their opponent. Some drugs are used to increase muscle mass, allow faster oxygen delivery to the muscles, or allow them to have a longer career in their sports profession. This should not be the

With the ever increasing difficulty of “making it” in professional sports, many athletes look for a way to get ahead of the competition and they find this “power up” in steroids. Whether it be to hit a baseball farther, tackle an opponent harder or run faster, there really isn't a right or wrong answer to why athletes feel the need to take performance enhancing drugs. However, with an increasing danger to the physiological state of these athletes , steroids are becoming in many peoples minds too dangerous to take.. The real question is if these types of performance enhancing drug should be allowed in athletic competition.

Performance enhancing drugs can cause health risks which it takes the time to learn about the benefits, and health risks. Other drugs have different risks, benefits, and side effects. There is at least 7 different type of drugs. They all have different risks. The 7 kinds of drugs are anabolic steroids, Androstenedione, Human growth hormone, Erythropoietin, Diuretics, Creatine and Stimulants. The government should banned them because most of the athletes say it’s cheating and it’s not natural. PED makes you stronger and faster but they can also hurt you. Any substance taken to perform better athletically. This is reference often and typically refers to anabolic steroid use in sports by professional and amateur athletes. (Staff, 2010)

Some professional athletes use steroids and other drugs to gain a competitive advantage in their sport. In and effort to minimize the use of illegal supplements and other substances, drug test are conducted. Experts have suggested that use of anabolic steroids has reached epidemic proportions in high school athletes, representing a real life threatening risk. “The use of performance enhancing drugs in sports has been at the center of an international ethical debate for many years.” (Bouchard, Erika Sprague, Nancy. "Drug Testing for Sports: An Overview." Salem Press Encyclopedia, 2013. EBSCOhost,)Steroids shouldn’t be something people should be taking if they want to gain strength. They should try and gain it all

Performance enhancing drugs improve the performance of athletes in sports and/or in the weight room. The wise man Knute Rockne once said, “win or lose, do it fairly.” (Rockne). This quote has a lot of meaning when it comes to sports in the world today. These drugs are an enhancement to muscle growth and energy. Performance-enhancing therapy and drugs have three major negative effects on athletes, which involve cheating, damaging bodies, and bothering others without this advantage.