Creating a Mandatory Drug Test for All College Athletes About six years ago, The University of Mississippi recruited a quarterback by the name of Jared Foster who was kicked off the team and arrested in 2008 for distributing anabolic steroids (Associated Press 7). Foster doped in high school which led to him gaining over 25 pounds in two months to impress college recruiters. Foster was then recruited by The University of Mississippi, where he was soon arrested and served jail time for giving a man an anabolic steroid called Nandrolone (Associated Press 7). The use of steroids and other performance enhancing drugs is rising due to the extreme competition in college sports. Jared Foster did not think he was doing anything different than …show more content…
Jacobs and Newton believe that one of the main groups that are singled out for drug testing is athletes. They also believe that singling out athletes and assuming that they are using drugs violates the constitutional right of their innocence until proven guilty (?Jacobs and Newton? 3). Mandatory drug tests for college athletes are a must have to enforce the rules of the game and to also not give athletes an unfair advantage. Lee and Griswold state in their article that there are rules in competitive sports that must be enforced, including a rule that bans muscle builders such as steroids (Lee and Griswold 2). Letting these college athletes compete with having broken these rules would not provide an equal competitive opportunity. Therefore, leaders in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) should create a mandatory drug test for all college athletes because this test would help strengthen the rules of the games, ensure an equal competitive opportunity for college sports, and decrease the use of performance enhancing drugs and street drugs by college …show more content…
Athletes use performance enhancing drugs as a way to gain an advantage in their sport. A few the advantages athletes gain using performance enhancing drugs are weight and muscle gain (Associated Press “Steroids Loom over Large Programs” 2). Other reasons why college athletes use drugs, has to do with their academic, psychological, and social capacity outside of sports (Ford 212). With the number of athletes that use the performance enhancing drugs increasing it adds to the danger of the game and risks other players’ safety. Within a span of ten years, the number of people reporting non-medical prescription usage has increased dramatically (Ford 211). This survey shows an increase of 212% in those ten years of the non-prescription drug usage of teenagers ages 12-17 (Ford 211). This survey proves the easy accessibility of drugs by even 12 year old children, which is terrible. Being older and having the driving privileges would make it even easier to get these drugs. So who is to say college athletes cannot do the same thing? They can and do and some athletes are caught and others are
Taylor, Hopkins. Substance abuse issues to Offending Athletes. Miami: Beachwood Press, pages 35-37. 2009. Print.
Performance enhancing drugs have been a longstanding problem in sports. It not only deteriorates the honesty of the game, but also can have broader social affects that one may not even realize. The use of performance enhancing drugs is especially apparent in Major League Baseball. This problem can be traced back to the 1980’s when baseball was facing one of its first “dark periods”. During the 1980’s Major League Baseball was experiencing a home run drought. Home run totals were down as far as they had been since Babe Ruth, and fans were seemingly becoming bored with the sport. The lack of home runs was a growing concern for players whose salary relied on home run totals. Players needed to find a quick way to boost their power and performance in order to keep the sport alive and to keep bringing in their paychecks. This desire for fame and fortune introduced steroids into Major League Baseball in the 1990’s and 2000’s. Home run totals jumped tremendously during these decades and players were willing to risk being caught using illegal substances in order to shine above the rest. New idols and role models started to sprout up from these outstanding home run statistics and young children started to take notice. This all came tumbling down when these new idols and role models who were making the big bucks and hitting the ball out of the park tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. Here lie the affects of a growing social problem in sports. These famed athletes become walking advertisements and promotions for the use of performance enhancing drugs in sports. The influence professional athletes have over aspiring young athletes is very powerful and these roles models make it seem acceptable to use performance ...
Professional athletes, throughout history, have been exalted for their outstanding abilities and achievements in sports. Unfortunately, many athletes have turned to anabolic steroids in order to give them an edge, a boost their athletic performance. Starting with the 1954 World Weightlifting Championships, where the Soviets unexpectedly dominated their lifting classes with the use of steroids, it has become increasingly popular among athletes to cheat with the help of this drug. Although the appeal to steroid use is evident when observing how it increases someone’s athletic abilities, many users fail to consider the detrimental side effects of the drug. Also, in my opinion, athletes should be expected to perform based upon their natural abilities, opposed to abilities enhanced by anabolic steroids. Ultimately, anabolic steroids should continue to be illegal in professional sports due to their major health risks and the unfair advantage they serve players.
Marcovitz, Hal. How Serious a Problem Is Drug Use in Sports? San Diego: Reference Point Press, 2013. Print.
Steroids are ruining sports in the United States, and they are also going to ruin future athletes if the United States does not put a stop to it. Many young athletes in the United States are taking performance enhancing drugs because they see that professional athletes are doing it and getting results. These teenagers are using steroids because they want to look muscular and fit, but they are not aware of the negative effects steroids have on their bodies. Young athletes do not know that they are not only risking their careers but also their bodies. Steroids may make a person look muscular and fit, but at the same time, it is ruining their heart. Steroids also cause people to act differently and do foolish things like using other drugs. Parents can prevent steroid use by teaching their children about it at a young age and staying involved in their children’s sport lives. Steroids have ruined professional careers. They ruined Lance Armstrong, Marion Jones, and Barry Bonds’ careers and almost ruined Alex Rodriguez’s career. Professional athletes use steroids to improve their performance which is cheating. The game is not fair if someone is performing better by using drugs, and everybody should be performing with what they got. There are many different ways to achieve what they want in fair and healthier way. Many high school athletes are using steroids in the United States. They are not doing it under a doctor’s supervision; therefore, they are ruining their bodies without them knowing. Many of these athletes are looking at the outcome only and not what there are doing to their bodies in addition to getting stronger, muscular, and fit. All governing sport bodies in the United States need to take steroid testing seriously and give at...
College football would essentially turn into the NFL in a way. Even though performance enhancing drugs are banned from the National Football League all players are juiced and talented as if they were taking steroids. For instance, in college football Alabama is a dominate team every year. Most players on their roster look as if they have all taken performance enhancing drugs at some point in their life. “Many players gained weight at remarkable rates compared with their fellow athletes and while accounting for their heights” (Disalvo). If every college football player could use performance enhancing drugs then every player would be superior which would lead to every team being evenly matched. Clearly, Performance enhancing drugs improve cardiovascular endurance and revamp muscle size (Lebeauf). Performance enhancing drugs are also used to assist athletes with pain conditions from overtraining or injuries sustained in play (Lebeauf). College athletics as a whole can affect many people. Because coaches as well as board members can lose their jobs depending on the success of their team, athletes are pushed to their limits to get the most out of training so they are prepared for play. In consequence, many injuries occur throughout a full sporting season. Some injuries are more severe than others, but nonetheless any injury will impact an athlete. Overall, the positives
The use of illegal substances in sports is a trendy topic in today’s society. In the last few years a copious amount of players have been under the spotlight of substance abuse, which led to a punishment for their actions. Andrew Sullivan wrote an article in the year 2004 called “In a Drugged-up Nation, the Steroid Sports Star is King”, in which he illustrates how these “pharmaceuticals” have revolutionized sports around the world but mostly in America. These drugs have had a large influence in the overall performance of the players, even if it the use of drugs is “often denied or simply overlooked”(Sullivan 1), it will lead to a lack of judgment in what is right and what is wrong.
The number of players abusing drugs in the NFL is increasing every year (www.cbs.sportsline.com). This is concerning because it seems like more and more players each year get caught either using drugs, or being involved in some kind of drug activity. The only drug being used that is on the decline is anabolic steroids. This decline is due to several players in the 1970's and 80's dying before they could see their kids make it to high school. The first player to publicly come clean about being addicted to drugs was Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson. He was a Dallas Cowboys linebacker who played in three Super Bowls. He told the world about his addiction in 1981. He claims that a player using cocaine and marijuana was very uncommon at his rookie season. The more he played, the more drugs he began to take. He claims that since he came clean, the problems have been getting worse. More and more players keep doing drugs even after they hear of players having drug problems. If these...
In Forbes Magazine, David DiSalvo’s article “College football steroid use is rampant and little is done about it” talks about the use of performance-enhancing drugs in college football and its rising use in football today. Everybody always bashes baseball and other sports for steroid use but nobody really cares if it’s used in football and many people are starting to question why. Another question that needs to be answered is how are these football players not getting caught by the many drug tests they are forced to take. In most cases it’s blatantly obvious that most of these players are on something. David’s article has opened many of the football fans eyes and people seek the truth behind all of this.
The sport of baseball has demonstrated a bad example to those young folks in college, by giving them the idea that if one day they make it to the major leagues it is fine to use performance enhancing drugs. Baseball is a numbers game, if performance enhancing drugs are legalized, the inability to compare player’s statics from different decades of the game would hurt the principle of what baseball is, about what fans love (Caple). MLB cannot afford performance enhancing drugs going into the minor leagues therefore, MLB should make harsher punishments to stop performance enhancing drugs from spreading to the Minor Leagues. Since the outbreak of Biogenesis, “the Government is interviewing Porter Fischer and investigating whether the clinic sold performance enhancing drugs to college players” (Caple...
...ng drugs will have a huge impact on them and the people that they are around. When a person does drugs once, they will keep using them and eventually become addicted. Drug testing student athletes is a necessity because taking drugs affects relationships that the athlete has, drugs cause consequence that can be detrimental, and lastly taking drugs hurt the body causing the athlete to have health issues. Hence, drug testing should be done in all high schools around the country.
Mitten, Matthew J. "Is Drug Testing of Athletes Necessary?" USA Today. Vol. 134. 2005. 60-62. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.
Have you ever imagined a game played with rules that were adjusted to one of the player’s likings and style and how unfair that would be to the other players? Alex Rodriguez was recently suspended for the entire 2014 season over accusations of taking performance enhancing drugs and having ties with the biogenesis clinic. Steroids have marked a low point in time for sport’s reputations as the steroid phenomenon carries on. Performance-enhancing drugs include any substance taken to perform better athletically. This term is referenced often and typically refers to steroid use in sports by professional athletes. Steroids are taken by swallowing or injecting into the muscle. Users take steroids on a schedule known as a cycle, in which they "stack" or "pyramid" their doses. Doctors may prescribe steroids to patients for legitimate medical purposes such as: loss of function of testicles, low red blood cell count, delayed puberty and debilitated states resulting from surgery or sickness. However, today athletes will go to many lengths to increase athletic ability, including: steroids, HGH, Amphetamines, and even animal or human organs. “The most common illegal source is from smuggling steroids steroid’s into the United States from the countries such as Mexico and European countries. Smuggling is easier because a prescription is not required for purchase of steroids”(Anabolic Steroids). Although steroid use has several great pros that make it seem like an excellent supplement to one's exercise routine, they also have some very serious side effects. For one, there are a great many psychiatric consequences involved in taking steroids. Many individuals report severe depression during and after stopping use (Chiras, 2005). ...
“A medical dictionary defines a drug as ‘any substance that when taken into the living organism may modify one or more of its functions’” (Newton 12). However, when speaking of drug testing for abuse a person is usually thinking about illegal drugs or drugs that can alter athletic performance in sporting events. Mandatory drug testing was not allowed in public schools until June 2002 when the Supreme Court allowed for public schools to do random drug testing (Carroll 23). This decision allowed for drug testing in all schools throughout the United States not just for athletes but also students who are in any activities within the school, for example clubs and competitive events (Carroll 23). Even though drug testing is now allowed by the Supreme Court many schools do not yet have mandatory drug test policies. Mandatory drug testing for high school athletes should be required because it decreases drug use in schools, is relatively inexpensive, and can prevent drug use and or abuse that can lead to a lifelong addiction.
High school students are leaders to younger kids and many others in their community. As a leader these student must show others what good character is like, but instead they are destroying their lives by doing drugs. In the past decade the drug use among high school students is on the rise once again. With the internet, their exposure to drugs is much greater. High school students are convinced that they are able to get away with using drugs. These drug addicts soon influence other students into doing the drugs because there isn’t a rule preventing drug use. In order to protect these student’s future, drug tests must be enforced among all students ensuring a safe environment for students to learn successfully. Allowing random drug testing in high schools will shy away students from trying these harmful drugs. The stop of drug use among high school students is crucial because drugs prevents student from learning leading them to dropping out of high school. Students that become overwhelmed by these harmful drugs will ruin their lives forever, but if steered in the right direction they can be saved.