Should Performance Enhancing Drugs Be Allowed In Pro Sports Essay

540 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Ethical issues in sports

The spirit of sporting activities celebrates the human body and mind. Sports value ethics, honesty, health, and dedication. Why then, have professional sports become all about seeking an unfair advantage in order to overwhelm and dominate the competition? In today’s society, we see a multitude of athletes using performance enhancing drugs (PEDs), which defeats the purpose of competing in pro sports. Performance enhancing drugs should not be allowed in pro sports because it provides them with an unfair advantage, as well as being a risk to their health and diminishing their reputation as role models to young athletes. Athletes use PEDs such as steroids, creatine, ephedrine, etc. to create an advantage for themselves (speed, strength, agility) in their competitive sport, which is a complete violation of sporting rules. The basis of a sporting event is …show more content…

Men take anabolic steroids\ in doses that are much higher than the amount medically prescribed. There’s not much information known about the effects of taking such large doses, therefore the dangers of athletes taking these drugs are very high. PEDs have a variety of serious side effects including infertility, liver abnormalities and tumors, heart problems, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, inhibited growth and development, and in some cases, even death. These side effects only begin to cover the incredulous amount of dangers that stem from taking these drugs. Athletes are putting their long-term health at risk just to improve their performance for a short period of time. And even the short term improvement comes with many possible risks that all together makes taking PEDs an incredible hazard. People may state that it’s completely up to the athlete to take these drugs and suffer the effects, but most athletes aren’t fully aware of all the dangers associated with these

Show More
Related

  • PED in Sports

    1628 Words  | 4 Pages

    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 ...

    Read More

  • Professional Athletes: The End of "Roid Rage"

    876 Words  | 2 Pages

    Those who believe the use of anabolic steroids should be allowed in professional sports have numerous arguments for those in opposition. Professional sports leagues have tried to stop the use of steroids by drug testing players and punishing those who do not pass. A number of major athletes, such as Lance Armstrong, have been stripped of their athletic accolades due to discoveries of drug use. Despite witnessing the fall of great competitors due to “doping,” people continue to use. Because of unsuccessful attempts at banning the drug, many people believe “it may be time to head in the other direction: legalize performance enhancers” (Smith 1). No matter how many rules and regulations are made against the use of steroids, athletes will continue to abuse the drug in order to get ...

    Read More

  • Performance Enhancing Drugs: Steroids

    1672 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Steroid Era

    1228 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Steroids Should Be Banned

    904 Words  | 2 Pages

    For those who've never heard of the term PED's, Performance enhancing drugs are any supplements that are considered to allow one perform better in their respective sports ,such as anabolic steroids and HGH( Human Growth hormones). The effects of these supplements can range from expediting muscle to increasing one's stamina. PEDs began to become the center of controversy when the I.O.C set up a medical commission to oversee the fight against doping, which ultimately lead to the ban of PED's in professional sports. Stemming off from the I.O.C...

    Read More

  • Steroids Should Not Be Allowed In Sports Essay

    318 Words  | 1 Pages

    Performance Enhancing Drugs should not be allowed in sports. PEDs are a form of cheating. Not only are they cheating, but they can harm the athlete's body too. There are many long-term health risks we don't even know about! Finally, PED’s make the game unfair because the kids with natural talent are not able to showcase their great skills.

    Read More

  • Athletes and Performance Enhancing Drugs in Sports

    4514 Words  | 10 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Performance Enhancing Drugs

    844 Words  | 2 Pages

    The problems for males is that PEDs gives them breast tissue development, shrinks testicles, Cause baldness, and also reduces sperm production. For females it deepens their voice, hair grows more everywhere, and also ends breast development. PEDS also cause blood cancer, strokes, heart attacks, thyroid problems, and for men feminization. These drugs are easy to take but can also easily kill you. Once you start seeing some of your body changes, you will want to have more. Once you get addicted you might see some bad physical appearances. People who take anabolic steroids should know they come with major physical side effects. Once you start getting those appearances and everybody notices it will be the time your coach or trainer realizes it.

    Read More

  • Should Performance-Enhancing Drugs Be Banned?

    1125 Words  | 3 Pages

    Steroids can seem harmless to the uninformed user but they actually have harmful side effects. According to the article “News examines relationship between steroids and heart-related deaths,” published by New York Daily News, “The study (presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions in Chicago on Nov. 12, 2006) shows that deaths jumped from 476 from in 1980-1992 to 987 from in 1993-2005. Overall, 1,463 young athletes died between 1980 and 2005”(NY Daily News). This is a terrifying statistic and will only continue to rise.

    Read More

  • Steroids Essay

    809 Words  | 2 Pages

    With all the lights and cameras, of course, athletes want more attention than the others and for them steroids is the answer. Steroids not only affect your body physically, but your brain emotionally and that’s why there is a higher risk than thought when it comes to the decision to use steroids or not. For your body, you are essentially quickening its deterioration and actually weakening it while you are trying to strengthen it. It’s a domino effect of future health problems. From

    Read More

  • Should Drugs Be Allowed In Sports?

    549 Words  | 2 Pages

    Forty-eight percent of high school students use steroids to improve athletic performance. Steroids can increase performances for athletes but steroids also affect the mind and character of the person. Some effects of steroids are impaired learning and hearing, violent behavior, and overly aggressive behavior. When women take steroids they start to show signs of masculinity such as deepening of the voice, increase in body and facial hair also the skin starts to roughen. Anabolic steroids give the one who takes them an unfair advantage in athletic competition. The advantage that they receive is not the same as natural born characteristics of ability.

    Read More

  • Why Do Professional Athletes Use Steroids?

    1652 Words  | 4 Pages

    the use of performance-enhancing drugs in sports has been at the center of an international ethical debate for many years. Some professional athletes use steroids and other drugs to gain a competitive advantage in their sport. Such an advantage is generally considered by most athletic organizations to be cheating. In an effort to minimize the use of illegal supplements and other substances, drug tests are conducted frequently by most professional sports organizations.

    Read More

  • Should Performance Enhancing Drugs Be Legalized In Professional Sports?

    1288 Words  | 3 Pages

    In all professional sports in the United States, the use of PEDs are prohibited. However, there is only one acceptation to that rule. If an athlete is injured, prescriptions to certain drugs which are used in recover are allowed. These drugs may consist of certain chemicals that enhance muscle grow. Some athletes have used this to their advantage and have got prescriptions to these drugs for their own personal benefits, will other athletes are using it for recreational purposes. This, however, is not the only way to obtain PEDs; there are also other ways such as buying them from an underground market. Athletes with the intention to cheat will take the risk of using PEDs, since if they are successful they will achieve fame and money.

    Read More

  • Performance Enhancing Drugs In Sports Essay

    699 Words  | 2 Pages

    On June 30, 1994, the U.S. Figure Skating Association stripped Tonya Harding of her 1994 National Championship because of her involvement in an attack on fellow competitor Nancy Kerrigan (Brennan). In her sport, Tonya Harding was punished for committing a crime. Baseball players across the country however are convicted of breaking the law by using performance-enhancing drugs with few repercussions. Professional athletes who are guilty of using performance-enhancing drugs should not be allowed to be inducted into their hall of fame. This can be argued through sportsmanship, the moral imperative, and legality despite the claim that exceptions could be made.

    Read More

  • Doping In Sports Essay

    1475 Words  | 3 Pages

    Overall it is clear that the need to use performance enhancing drugs is outweighed by the consequences and issues caused by performance enhancing drugs. Sporting events such as the world cup, the Olympics or the World Series make young children feel inspired and encouraged about what they could achieve through dedication and hard work. I feel it is important for the sporting industry as well as the athletes to return respectability to the sport. By

    Read More

More about Should Performance Enhancing Drugs Be Allowed In Pro Sports Essay

Open Document