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Drugs and Athletes Athletes put their lives in danger by using performance enhancement drugs. They use these drugs to gain physical advantages for their sporting events. These methods have been around for thousands of years. According to research, “In ancient Greece, Olympic athletes would ingest huge portions of meat that contained testosterone and creatine before they competed. They would also consume large quantities of alcoholic beverages and lamb testicles” (“Steroids”). Today, sportspersons have a drug policy due to health hazards, violence and incapability’s of normal performances. From lamb chops to steroids, many athletes are willing to destroy their bodies to become “popular” legends. Performance-enhancement drugs are considered a violation to sporting ethics and are in contradiction of the law. Athletes use anabolic steroids to increase the mass and strength in their muscles. Studies show that, “In the 1800s, strychnine, cocaine, nitroglycerine as well as other antidotes, were used to sustain or improve an athlete’s performance” (“Steroids”). Not only do competitors’ consume these illegal drugs for performance reasons, but they also take them for pain …show more content…
management. It is no secret, injury has always been a natural cause in sports and competition. Now, “Injuries heal with time and therapy, but pressure to continue the athletic activity can drive an athlete to block out the pain the easy way” (“Hoyle”). There are many different types of narcotics used to dull the pain and relax the muscles such as, marijuana. Marijuana is a relaxant that decreases brain and nervous system activity, which allows the person to block out the pain easier. Medications used to cure pain are prescribed by doctors and sold over the counter. If they are prescribed by a specialist, they are only to be taken by the person that’s name is on the pill bottle. All directions that are printed on the prescription bottle are to be obeyed. If the dosage is abused, several health vulnerabilities may take place. Taking these drugs have positive effects, but the cons compensate the pros.
It is common sense that sports enhancing or any other drugs contain negative physical side effects. For instance, “males can become infertile and experience breast growth, while women can develop facial hair and an altered or completely suppressed menstrual cycle” (“Hoyle”). Balancing weight also starts to become an issue. In many sports, athletes wish to lose weight so they can compete in a lighter weight class” (“Diuretics”). These types of drugs are called Diuretics. Diuretics are used to remove water from the body. If the desired amount of fluid isn’t removed, the person feels that they should intake more until their mass goal is reached. If too many of these are taken, they can become very addictive, like any other
drug. Not only do these steroids affect people physically, but somewhere down the road, pessimistic changes in mental ability start to occur. “Mood swings and feeling of depression and aggression (commonly known as “roid rage”) can occur, as can liver damage and jaundice” (“Hoyle”). We have all witnessed some type of domestic violence between an athlete and his/her spouse. And in conclusion of the investigation, some type of drug was involved with the athlete to cause them to act in such violent manner. So, not only do these drugs lead a person to termination from their career, but they can also lead to serious jail time. Today, younger athletes find it okay to use these illegal cheat methods to become a superior athlete. If they continue to make these mistakes, the world will not have healthy athletes or even sports in the time that lies ahead. The future of drug testing will be very beneficial. It will allocate a secure environment for those miniature and upcoming athletes.
The first case of performance enhancing drugs in sports came before the discovery of anabolic steroids and is believed to be that of a British road bicycle racer named Arthur Linton. At the age of twenty four, he died during a race between Bordeaux and Paris in 1886. Controversy then soon arose when he was believed to have taken a stimulant called trimethyl at the time of his death.
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.
The problems with performance enhancing drugs are that they give the user unfair advantages over other athletes and come with many health risks such as baldness. Steroid use can result in very substantial legal consequences and can ruin the user’s reputation. There are many alternatives to steroids but not all of them are safe. Different organizations have different rules on steroids, but in most cases, the user can get suspended, fined, or even both. Various types of steroids can have various short-term or long-term side effects. There are several types of steroids, the most popular ones being anabolic steroids. Historically, steroids have been around for many years, but the debate surrounding them started recently, more specifically a few decades ago. An important term to know is anabolic steroids which are made to work with the user’s muscle mass. Another term to know is clarified by Ida Walker, author of the book, Steroids: Pumped Up and Dangerous, published by Mason Crest Publishers in 2008, defines, peliosis hepatis is a rare condition in which cysts filled with blood form in the liver, if the cysts were to pop then internal bleeding would occur. A positive argument about steroids is stated by Adrianne Blue, author of the essay, “Performance Enhancing Drugs Should Be Legal,” published in the book Athletes and Drug Use, published in 2009, disputes, “Blue concludes that legalizing performance- enhancing drugs can protect athletes from dangerously abusing them.” The utilization of performance enhancing drugs has left a giant scar on sports and has compromised the achievements of many athletes; therefore, they are transforming the sports world into a drug filled world.
Human beings have always had a strong competitive nature, and many people have a inclination towards achieving fame and glory. Professional sporting events measure the great spirit, unique natural talents, and competitive nature of humans as they attempt to heroically represent the entire race. Often times humans search for the ultimate advantage in sports to put themselves above and beyond the other athletes. Unfortunately, some athletes turn to unnatural agents to supplement their own natural talents. They often ignore the side effects of the drugs and more importantly ignore the damage they do to how they are perceived and how people view the game. Athletes who use performance enhancing drugs, also known as PEDs, create a monstrous persona,
The era in sports from the late 90s and into the 2000s has often been nicknamed “The Steroid Age” due to the raging use of anabolic steroids and other PEDs (performance enhancing drugs) by professional athletes. The usage of drugs in sports has never been more prevalent during this time, and many people are making it their goal to put an end to the abuse. Influential athletes such as Lance Armstrong, Alex Rodriguez, and Roger Clemens, who were once held as the highest role models to the American people, now watch as their legacies are tarnished by accusations of drug use. The American population, and lovers of sports everywhere, have followed in astonishment through recent years as many beloved athletes reveal their dark secrets. As organizations such as the USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) and BALCO (Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative) attempt to halt the use of PEDs, both the drug users and their high-end suppliers work diligently to avoid detection. The use of performance enhancing drugs in recent years has proven to be cancerous to the honesty and competition of modern sports. Although some strides have been made over the past few decades, the use of steroids is in full swing in Major League Baseball, The dangerous side effects of the drugs are often overlooked and many do not realize the message this sends to the youth. The support for halting the usage of PEDs is in need of attention or professional sports will face the loss of all progress made through the past two decades in its war on steroids.
Abstract: Since the beginning of sports competition, athletes have always looked for some kind of edge over their competitors. They will do whatever it takes to be one of the elite, and that includes injecting supplements into their bodies to make them bigger, stronger, and faster. Steroid use is probably one of the most common drug misuses in sports competition. Athletes found that with anabolic steroids, one could become a better athlete twice as fast. Not until 1975 was the drug first banned from Olympic competition because of the health risks it produced.
The two words Anabolic steroids are one of the most loved but also hated subject in the bodybuilding industry. Steroids obviously have more cons than pros when it comes to this drug enhancement but how many of the dedicated “Gym Bros” are willing to start injecting or taking pills to increase their size and strength? The numbers are substantial, in my small populated hometown alone the 25-35 dedicated males that worked out in the gym about 8-12 of them were using some sort of performance-enhancing drug. Being able to witness what they looked like before they started the drug into them being halfway through the cycle and then the crash and burn once they come off the cycle. The change in the body is quite intriguing.
Latiner, C. (n.d.). STEROIDS AND DRUG ENHANCEMENTS IN SPORTS. THE REAL PROBLEM AND THE REAL SOLUTION. Retrieved March 20, 2014, from https://laworgs.depaul.edu/journals/sports_law/Documents/Steroid%20Problem%20by%20Laitner.pdf
My issue over the concern of athletes have been struggling with the usage of steroids has widely spread among athletes and others; not only do steroids give an athlete a hard times but it’s also an unfair advantage to the other athletes and what they’ve accomplish. “Besides making muscles bigger, anabolic steroids may help athletes recover from a hard workout more quickly by reducing the amount of muscle damage during the session” (“Steroids in Sports”,2005). Now a days steroids are everywhere as an athlete. Many males and female young athletes preferably take it because they want to look and feel good when it comes to impressing someone and trying to become someone they look forward too. Young teens and adults try to cheat themselves in the career of their dreams. When it comes to a sport, teen athletes are not aware of what type of consequences may happen to them at the time. It may come to the time where it’s too late to take care of. In other cases, some athletes may like feeling the aggressive they get when they take drugs such as steroids. Athletes shouldn’t take steroids as the harmful health effects of the anabolic steroid in population wise. Many people have had their lives ruined by the use of illegal steroids and yet the desired effects are overwhelming that people tend to forget about the results and consequences that may effect. Athletes on steroids believe taking steroids will enhance their performance, strength, and size without having to put necessary work. These benefits, however, are associated with much short-term and long term risk.
Steroids became an option to athletes in the Olympics and other major sporting events during the 1950’s. But this use of steroids among athletes only became widely apparent when Canadian sprint runner Ben Johnson tested positive for steroid use after winning the gold medal for the one hundred-meter dash during the 1988 Olympics (Francis, 45). Now a skinny fifteen-year-old can just walk down to the local gym and find people who either sell or know how to get in contact with those who sell the drug that will make him envious of his friends. Steroids are an attractive drug. While steroids seem harmless to the unaware user, they can have a risky effect. Most of the time whether the users are new or experienced, they do not know the dangerous consequences steroids can have on their bodies and their minds. Though steroids cause a relatively insignificant number of deaths in our society, the banning of steroids is justified because steroids have a lot of side effects not known to the uninformed user.
Currently it is an estimated that at least 6.67 percent of high school seniors in the United States have tried steroids, which is 500,000 males between the ages of 17 and 18 (Anabolic Steroids). The pressure of steroids on teenagers is constantly drilled into their heads because they associate increased strength with perfection. Teenagers are under immense pressure to be perfect. Kids are pressured to do well in school, sports, and any other activities that they are participating in. Anything other than the best is unacceptable and failure which strikes and leads to disrespect. Failure has the sole purpose of tearing people from their self confidence and lending them to be insecure, questioning their abilities and themselves. It does not help that kids have role models that choose the easy way to accomplish their goals. It also sends a message to those who admire them that taking certain sacrifices to reach self-goals and standards are very much acceptable. Hard work and determination has become something of the past when it is possible to do the same amount of work and receive results faster if you just take a couple risks. Steroids should not only be banned from sports, but athletes who are found to have used steroids should receive a more distinct and severe punishment. No matter how it is said or defended steroids truly are cheating. Steroids are becoming a substitute for hard work and determination.
The use of performance enhancing drugs has become more and more common due to the pressure to win. The majority of serious athletes know the competitive urge to be victorious can be intense and often rely on performance enhancing drugs to succeed. There are many types of performance enhancing drugs out there such as anabolic steroids, androstenedione, gonadotropin, and erythoropoietin. Performance enhancing drugs are tempting to athletes because it give athletes a forceful feelings and it helps athletes recuperate from a difficult workout extra fast by diminishing the muscle loss that happens during the workout. This allows athletes to exercises faster and often without over working their body. The benefits of these performance-enhancing drugs aren’t worth it since there are more cons than pro because it can be dangerous to the human body and nobody wants to be known as a cheater. Athletes know the side effects but they ignore it due to the desire to succeed. “In response to the increased international awareness of the use of illegal PEDs, and the individual sporting associations’ apparent inability to successfully level the playing field, national governments have taken notice, and, in some cases, have instituted comprehensive national drug testing legislation for professional sport” according to "Safe At Home? Assessing U.S. Efforts To Protect Youths From The Effects Of Performance Enhancing Drugs In Sports." Performance enhancing drugs should be excluded from sports because it is not fair to athletes that aren’t using it and drugging can be very harmful to the body and it can even lead to death if use too frequently.
06 Jan. 2014. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9780470510544.ch70/summary>. Haugen, Kjetil K. "Why We Shouldn’t Allow Performance Enhancing Drugs in Sport." Academia.edu. Academia.edu, 1 Apr. 2011.
Doping is a practice that has been going on since the time of "ancient Greek athletes, who supposedly ate herbs, sesame seeds, dried figs, and mushrooms for this purpose" (Hoberman, 1992, 104). Likewise, athletes have readily consumed such drugs as caffeine and alcohol to improve performa...
The usage of performance-enhancing drugs in sports is commonly known as Doping. Doping is banned worldwide in every sports administration and competitions and doping gives an unfair advantage to those using illegal substances, such as steroids to boost their performance. It also puts at stake the integrity of those athletes who do not use performance-enhancing drugs also known as “clean” athletes. In fact it seems that we’re now entering the era of performance-enhancing drugs within professional sports. Doping rids the true athletes of what they truly deserve and is wrong; because why should those who put in a hundred per cent of their effort, be outshone by individuals who are choosing to use substances to enhance their physical and mental abilities? Doping damages the sports industry as a whole because it has a serious physical and mental effects on the athletes, as well as damaging the idea of sportsmanship and it also breaks the trust of the fans, as they realise their idols are hypocrites.