Why Do Young Aspiring Athletes Do Drugs?

For centuries sports has been the favorite past time and for decades drugs, steroids and Performance enhancing drugs and regular street drugs have been used. In many locker rooms the motto is “if you’re not cheating, you’re not trying” (Schafer). Over the past decades many see the need to drug test athletes in order to maintain integrity of the sports. Drug testing athletes has to many lawsuits and even has gone to the U.S. Supreme Court many times because some feel that drug testing is an invasion of there privacy. Albiet, drugs have increased the entertainment when watching sports, it has also decreased the sportmanship and integrity. Drug testing is a deterrent that is needed in all sports to decrease the number of unethical players while increasing the integrity of a given sport.
We first must ask ourselves why do young aspiring athletes use drugs in the first place? Young aspiring athletes use drugs because they feel it is the only way to make it to the major leagues. Dr. Michael Schafer an orthopedic surgeon reports that eighty percent of all athletes feel drugs are the only way to become a professional athlete. While seventy- seven percent of athletes are pressurized to use drugs in order to get ahead reports the Taylor Hooten Foundation. Many young athletes view many professional's like Barry Bonds, Brandon Browner, or Lance Armstrong as role models and will do anything to play like them. In fact that’s how sixty percent of them feel (Schafer). When Bonds, Browner or Armstrong are suspended for drug abuse, it does not deter young athletes instead it fuels them to take drugs and to not get caught. This ambition often comes at a cost.
Drug abuse is a pervasive epidemic affecting high school athletes all across the Uni...

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Yes, drug testing cost money. It can cost up to $30 per athlete reports Ryan Grim. However, the National Institute of Health reports that drug abuse cost $524 billion dollars per year. You can get thirty dollars back, but you can never get your life back. Additionally, a common misconception is that drug testing deters innocent student. However, this is untrue because the Department of Education reports that there were no reports of inconsistencies of participation in extracurricular activities.
These athletes will be our future leaders. It is imperative that we teach these athletes the importance of being conscientious and clean. Everyone does it is not a justified reason to why you should have unnatural abilities over others. Hard work, dedication and good practice is how you enhance your physical abilities and not through drugs.