Doping is defined as the infringement of the World Anti Doping Agency regulations.1 It is said that most sportsmen and women have been using steroids and even stars like former American sprinter Marion Jones pleaded guilty of using these drugs. Some stars who do not use steroids claim that those who use them break the rules in the sporting industry.
They create unfair advantage. These athletes are putting their lives and health at risk and they are encouraging youngsters to do the same in a bid to be stars. It would be wrong to think that it is good to let players use steroids. This does not portray a sensible message to the American youth who look up to these sports figures as their role models or icons.
Steroids are harmful to the health as they cause bodily harm; probably not early enough but during the late stages of life, one tends to feel the effects of these drugs. An example is Arnold Schwarzenegger who had a heart operation at his later age and this was as an effect of the steroids he took when he was in the sporting industry as a professional body builder. Steroids are also said to be a major cause of a wide range of emotions; the most common being depression which has led to many users of these steroids committing suicide.
Steroids when used correctly are not bad or harmful to the health. The only problem is that they are highly addictive. Thinking that one can use these drugs to enhance performance is in itself a shallow decision and lack of self-discipline.
Clearly, this shows that the person does not believe in himself or herself. All forms of sports need to be regulated and it is the respective governing bodies’ responsibility to decide what should be regulated and the substances that should be used as well as those that should not be used at all in the sporting fraternity.
Some people argue that performance enhancement drugs and steroids will forever be around because of the demand there is for the drugs by the users who are already addicted. By banning these performance enhancement drugs, criminal lines are opened up and thus regulating them becomes even more difficult.
Some experts argue that it is not wise to ban them as this only aggravates the situation. They say that what needs to be done is coming up with rules and regulations that show which drugs can be used in the sporting industry and those that cannot be used. This is because ambiguous and complex leagues govern their sports and create an organizational decisional making structure2. Using steroids is in itself a moral dilemma.
We are also asked as sports lovers, by the sporting management, to be realistic in what we expect of our athletes because the human body can do just as much. Steroids are also used in suppressing some diseases and thus banning them or declaring them illegal will just cause more harm to those who use them out of good will.
Some diseases like asthma are suppressed using some forms of steroid drugs. Prohibiting steroids and performance enhancing drugs really does not necessarily work; they make the activity in question more dangerous by pushing this habit underground, creating room for formation of cartels.
A drug like valium is normally prescribed to athletes so that they can get some sleep. It was used awhile back as a drug to calm nerves before a shooting sport. The drive to win in sports is competitively fierce.
This has increased the use of performance enhancing drugs due to the pressure that athletes feel in terms of accomplishing personal goals, winning their countries medals and making it to the first teams in a country or sports club. This usage of these drugs comes with its high prices because the health of the user is greatly affected. The human growth hormones are also affected as one may end up having uneven muscle growth.
The reason most sportsmen and women take these performance enhancement drugs is that they make the muscles bigger. These drugs are also preferred by athletes due to their ability to enhance fast recovery by minimizing chances of damage on muscles. This enables athletes endure hard training without wearing out. Hair analysis is used mostly in the doping detection test in a bid to make sure that both sportsmen and women stay clean and free of any stimulating substances3.
At this rate, it would be safe to conclude that taking these performance enhancement drugs is clearly not the way to go despite the minimal advantages that they posses. The disadvantages that they tag along clearly outweigh the advantages and thus using the drugs is not worth the risk.
Upon being discovered that one is using these performance enhancing drugs in the professional sporting industry, athletes risk being suspended by the authorized governing body. They also stand a chance of being prosecuted in a court of law and losing credit to what they had achieved, whether they achieved on a clean record or not.
Bibliography
Conrad, Mark. The business of sports: A primer for journalists. New York, NY: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2006.
Wilson, Wayne, and Derse Edward (eds). Doping in elite sport: The politics of drugs in the Olympic movement. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Inc., 2001.
Verner, Moller. The ethics of doping and anti-doping: redeeming the soul of sport? York, NY: Routledge Conrad Publishers, 2010.
Footnotes
1 Moller Verner. The ethics of doping and anti-doping: redeeming the soul of sport? (York, NY: Routledge Publishers, 2010), 12.
2 Mark Conrad. The business of sports: A primer for journalists. (New York, NY: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2006), 12
3 Wayne Wilson, Derse Edward (eds). Doping in elite sport: The politics of drugs in the Olympic movement. (Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Inc, 2001), 19