Essay about The Use of Performance Enhancing Drugs

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.

Former Notre Dame Football coach, Knute Rockne, once said, “Show me a good and gracious loser and I’ll show you a failure,” (“The Future of Steroids”). The importance of winning in sports and being the greatest has grown immensely. This unquenchable desire to be stronger, faster, and more agile than the opponent, has caused many athletes to stop at nothing to be the best; this pressure has caused athletes to take banned and illegal substances known as performance-enhancing drugs (Performance-enhancing drugs) to achieve maximum strength and speed. The use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs in sports has been obvious to many spectators and sports enthusiasts for quite some time now, and athletes who have been found guilty of taking

Do sport administrations know about performance enhanced drugs? These drugs affect athletes and the sport they’re playing tremendously. About the age of a middle school child compared to an adult can obtain these of drugs. These drugs are life threatening to athlete’s health. The use of performance enhancing drugs promotes that cheating is prohibited. It also provides a bad example for athletes to use. Research shows that these drugs have a negative effect to every sport. Performance enhancing drugs manipulate athletes emotionally and physically through their dangers, promoting cheating and providing bad role models.

Anabolic Steroids are commonly viewed as a miracle drug in order to increase muscle growth and definition, but what most users of the drug don’t know are the life altering effects that prolonged use can cause. When the drug was released in the late 50’s by scientists working for the Soviet Union, they had no idea what the lasting effects were going to be. At first the drug seemed to be almost a miracle, it helped the Soviet weightlifting team beat the American team by a long shot, but then the lifters began to experience certain bodily changes that were actually the onsets of horrendous life changing side effects that could have been prevented with further studies. Since that time, most states in North America and around have banned the distribution and use of the drug completely due to its adverse effects on the body, if caught using such drugs in professional sporting communities, it could land the athlete thousands of dollars’ worth of fines and they can even face up to five years in jail if they are found with the drug in their possession. On top of this, the risks involved can potentially alter the normal way of life for that athlete for the rest of his life, such risks include hormonal changes, cardiovascular problems, behavioral issues, and even problems with the reproductive system.

“…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

An article dated in 2004 by ESPN gives an example of how tragic steroids can be to a sport. "The 1996 National League MVP (Ken Caminiti), who later admitted using steroids during his major league career and for years battled a drug problem, died (of a heart attack) at the age of 41" (ESPN). Although Caminiti battled many demons that included additional drug abuse besides steroids, it is still troubling to think that a professional athlete can have his life taken away at a relatively young age. Also unfortunate is the fact that Caminiti appeared to be cleaning his

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

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.

Did you know that around twenty two percent of suicide cases are related to drug use (“Effects…”)? Or that eighteen percent of family homicides are related to drug use (“Effects…”)? Steroids have been used in sports since the early olympics when athletes ate plants with natural growth hormones and that produce more testosterone (“Effects…”). Steroid use since then has changed. Drugs are now faster, more productive, and easier to obtain. This is good for patients who require these to survive, but are very dangerous to those with different intentions. Performance enhancing drugs are addictive, illegal, prevent growth, and can be very deadly to anyone, no matter the age.

Using performance- enhancing drugs has become the major part of any athletic life since the early Greek time. The first attempt for athletes to increase their performance was during the 8th century BC Greek Olympics, according to Wikipedia.com. It was documented that Olympians ate sheep testicles that increased their energy. Later, scientists confirmed that this strange method was very effective (wikipedia). However, lets look at the time that is a little closer to us, and we can see the bright headlines, “Doping has been acknowledged as a problem since at least 1960” or “95% of players in the NFL use a performance enhancing drug such as steroid”. It seems horrifying. Is it a competition of pharmacologists? Some athletes have become so addicted

Did you know that there are many pro athletes participating in sports today that are getting away with drug use. In fact it is estimated that 95% of players in the NFL use a performance enhancing drug such as Steroids.

In the world of sports, athletes come across many decisions that could make or break their career. The most controversial question in today’s society involves the legalization of performance enhancing drugs in sports. Although the benefits of performance enhancing drugs allows for athletes to perform to the best of their ability, there are many arguments that go in favor and against the use of these drugs. The most recognized argument that is against the use of performance enhancing drugs states that it is considered as morally wrong because it is considered as cheating and having an unfair advantage to those who do not take participation in doping (the use of banned drugs). On the other hand, those who defend the use of performance enhancing

The abuse of steroids is an issue of serious concern in today’s athletic world. There are many causes of this problem, and each one results in serious effects upon people who abuse steroids, their families, friends, and society. What professional sports organizations and government agencies decide to do about providing the solution to this problem continues to be a topic of debate.

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.

Ninety-eight percent of professional athletes say that they would take performance enhancing drugs if they didn’t have a chance of getting caught. Performance enhancing drugs, or PEDs, or steroids, have been around since 776 BC when the Greeks would use them to improve their performance in the Olympic Games. During World War II, the Germans, including Hitler, would take steroids to make themselves stronger and more aggressive. The Americans, British, and Japanese also began to use steroids during World War II shortly after Germany. After the war, athletes started to get their hands on these drugs and began to use them to boost their performance. More recently, athletes such as bicyclist, Lance Armstrong and baseball player, Alex Rodriguez have been caught using performance enhancers. While there are some people that believe performance enhancing drugs should be illegal in professional sports, some say they should be legal because using the drugs should be the athlete 's decision, not someone else’s and steroid use could possibly even make the sport more fair than it is today.