Should the use of performance enhancing substances be accepted for athletic use? While the opposition will argue for the use of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) by athletes, use of these substances must be banned from competition because it damages the honesty of athletic competition, provides an unfair advantage to athletes who train clean, and can have numerous detrimental effects to the user. Ultimately, it is imperative that stricter limits are put on athletes which bans the use of performance enhancing substances by any athlete regardless of sport.
The use of performance enhancing drugs is damaging the integrity of athletics nationwide and must be forbidden. The use of PEDs is becoming an epidemic around the world. From track and field events all the way to the Olympics, illegal use of these substances is happening and athletes are being caught and punished. This is something that must be dealt with or all hope will be lost. Not only will the credibility of competition be ruined, but it poses a threat to recruitment. Arne Ljungqvist, vice chairman of the World Anti-Doping Authority (WADA) says, “The biggest danger is that recruitment to elite sport will be damaged.
That one must be a drug abuser and put ones health in danger to compete is not possible to accept. The risk is that elite sport itself will die” (O’Connor). While the opposition is for PED use, the debate whether PEDs should be allowed for use by athletes is summarized into one simple solution: make steroids legal. According to University Wire, “If any of us were offered a chance to make $50 million, we would be guzzling a bottle of HGH before the ink on the contract was even dry” (“Legalize”). If making PEDs illegal did not work, why not try legalizing them.
Enabling the use of steroids would make competition that much better (“Legalize”). If prospective athletes are being recruited by a PED user, they themselves will ultimately be swayed into using as well. Strong action is needed in order to fight the battle against acceptance of performance enhancing drugs (O’Connor). Thus, the consumption of performance enhancing drugs must be eradicated because it is damaging the nature of sports worldwide. Allowing the use of performance enhancing drugs in athletic competition provides an unfair advantage to those athletes who abide by the rules and regulations of game play.
Clean training mandates an overall discipline and effort to reach a desired goal. Doping is described as taking the natural ability away and using PEDs to artificially enhance them. All of these contribute to why PEDs should be banned. PEDs pose an unfair advantage to athletes who chose to legitimately train and follow the rule books. As stated by Richard Bosshardt, “To have this undermined by doping among those athletes we most admire alone makes doping unacceptable. It is cheating, pure and simple, and that is wrong” (Bosshardt).
Ultimately, the use of performance enhancing drugs by athletes must be banned because it provides an unfair advantage. On the other hand, the opposing side is in favor for more lenient restrictions regarding the use of PEDs in competition. The opposition makes an important point that when PEDs are used, “It’s only called ‘cheating’ when it applies to a sporting event” (Cowlishaw). While in a different scenario, when someone is sick, we hope that they receive medication to speed up their recovery time.
Additionally, Cowlishaw adds that some substances get athletes penalized from game play while others give athletes praise (Cowlishaw). Authentic training for any sport requires determination, effort, and consistency. An athlete has to be willing to endure all the pain of training in order to reach the ultimate goal of success and winning whichever desired event. This is how natural talent is created and achieved. Taking performance enhancing drugs is taking the easy way out. Those drugs enable people to achieve unrealistic athletic capabilities (Bosshardt).
Ultimately, the use of performance enhancing drugs needs to be prohibited due to the fact that it provides an unfair advantage during athletic participation. In addition to the use of performance enhancing drugs damaging the integrity of the sport and providing unfair advantages, PEDs have a wide variety of detrimental effects. Teen experimentation with performance enhancing drugs has doubled within the past year. Teens are turning to PEDs to improve their athletic capabilities. Specifically, human growth hormone has been reported to have been tried in 9% of teen girls and 12% of teen boys.
Steve Pasierb, President of the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids says, “It’s not about illegality, or whether you’re a good parent or bad parent, it’s a health issue. These substances literally alter your body” (Crary). This is an imperative reason which is why the use of these substances is a huge health concern. Famous athletes who have used PEDs are urging kids to stay away from the drugs and resist the temptation to experiment with them because the health effects are so detrimental. Use of PEDs comes with liver problems, halted growth, and acne (Crary).
On the other side, the use of PEDs should be allowed for numerous reasons. Explained is that some of the PEDs themselves are not as dangerous as the sport itself (Tannsjo). As said by Torbjorn Tannsjo, “Doping would be healthier and more efficient, the medical ethics around it standardized. If hemoglobin, for example, could be openly monitored and measured, athletes would not be allowed to reach unhealthy levels. Limits could be set and enforced” (Tannsjo). Regardless of the negative effects PED use comes with, athletes should be able to take whatever necessary means in order to boost their athletic performances.
Likewise, those who have a natural disadvantage should be able to use PEDs to be level with those who have a natural advantage on them (Tannsjo). Performance enhancing drugs is gaining interest from a young crowd. It poses a danger to teenagers and is imperative that stricter guidelines and regulations are put on both manufacturing and marketing of PEDs. No one will know exactly what these companies put in these harmful drugs, the short and long term effects on their health is unknown (Crary).
Ultimately, the use of performance enhancing drugs must be overruled because the effects are significantly disadvantageous to ones wellbeing. Whether one is for or against the use of performance enhancing drugs in athletic competition, the use of these drugs must be forbidden in order to have a fair and fully functioning athletic game. The use of these drugs will destroy the honesty of the sport, provide an unfair advantage to all athletes who adhere to set guidelines of the sport, and can have a multitude of negative effects to the user.
Knowledge of the use of performance enhancing drugs for athletic performance is imperative because there are more negative effects than beneficial. At the end of the day, using a stimulant to stunt athletic capabilities is not worth it and is not a true measure of athleticism. Ultimately, the use of performance enhancing drugs in athletics must be banned and have stricter limits put an athletes regardless of sport to ensure safe game play and promote the sport rather than a PED.