Savich 1

Ben Savich
Stacie Weatbrook
English 1010
December 3, 2015
The Battle with Performance Enhancement Drugs
Lance Armstrong was been stripped of his seven Tour de France titles by cycling's
governing body. Steroids, doping and other illicit performance enhancing drugs and treatments
have become the biggest conflict in professional sports leagues. Many athletes take drugs to
enhance their physical performance in an attempt to prevent them falling behind other
competitors, even if it damages their health and risks their sports careers. Other athletes may use
drugs to help them wind down and relax, to cope with the pressures and stress associated with a
constant battle to win all the time, to boost their own self-esteem and confidence, to mask the
pain of certain sports injuries, and to control and reduce weight. There are several types of
performance-enhancing drugs: anabolic steroids, stimulants, human growth hormone and
supplements that athletes use to gain an advantage over their competition. The issue is: should
athletes be allowed to take performance-enhancing substances?
The one reason why doping is illegal in professional sports is that it gives the user an
unfair advantage over the rest of the playing field. Most professional sports leagues have a tried
to set a level playing field by testing for drug use and suspending those that are guilt. Chris
Smith from Forbes argues that its clearly not working; Stiff punishments have done little to
reduce the number of cyclists caught cheating every year; as Deadspin helpfully points out, the
inheritors of Lance Armstrongs seven abandoned Tour de France titles have all been implicated

Savich 2

in doping scandals. Major League Baseball also hands down suspensions each season to players
caught using outlawed substances, and its absurd to think those players are the only ones guilty
of juicing(refers to a person who uses steroids). So if we really want to level the playing field, it
may be time to head in the other direction: legalize performance enhancers. He continues with
saying that a huge part of watching sports is witnessing the very peak of human athletic ability,
and legalizing performance enhancing drugs would help athletes climb even higher. Steroids and
doping will help pitchers to throw harder, home runs to go further, cyclists to charge for longer
and sprinters to test the very limits of human speed.
Surender Kumar, assistant professor at GSVM Medical College, writes that the use
of doping agents is unhealthy in sports. It is necessary to protect the physical and spiritual health
of athletes, and the value of fair play and that is why testing of performance enhancing drugs
should continue. Anabolic steroids are a generic term for male hormones. The idea behind their
use in sports is that they promote muscle growth and protein synthesis. However, use also has
side-effects such as cardiomyopathy, hepatic dysfunction and psychiatric and behavioral
disturbances Cardiomyopathy is when the heart muscle becomes enlarged, thick, or rigid. In rare
cases, the muscle tissue in the heart is replaced with scar tissue. As cardiomyopathy worsens, the
heart becomes weaker. It's less able to pump blood through the body and maintain a normal
electrical rhythm. This can lead to heart failure or irregular heartbeats called arrhythmias. In turn,
heart failure can cause fluid to build up in the lungs, ankles, feet, legs, or abdomen.
Although steroids can expand muscles, they can also shrink careers. Many players say
they don't want to take that risk. "Guys do them, but I don't," says New York Yankees outfielder
Shane Spencer. "I think, 'Do I want to be crippled when I am done with baseball?' I make good
money now. I don't need to risk my health to make more. Orthopedic surgeon James Andrews,

Savich 3

who treats many professional athletes, says he is seeing an increase in the number and severity of
joint injuries involving tendons and ligaments. He can't attribute these to steroid use, but notes
that enlarged muscles put extra stress on the tendons and ligaments that hold them in place. "We
see four to five times increased incidence in tendon and muscle ruptures in my practice
compared to what we saw 10 years ago," he says. Hamstring pulls, once a relatively minor
problem, have become more severe. "Not only do they pull them, but they tear them in two," he
says. Achilles' tendon ruptures are now frequently seen in football and basketball professional
sports.
Thomas Murray, PhD, President of the Hastings Center, wrote the following in his Oct.
2003 article titled "In Search of the Spirit of Sport," published in the magazine Play True: "I
understand the spirit of sport to be embodied not only in the Olympic Games, but in the strivings
of every amateur athlete who kicks a ball, runs on country paths, or pedals up steep hills. The
glory of sport is learning what we can do with the natural talents we have, perfecting them
through admirable, persistent effort. Humankind could devise a transhumanist competition for
cyber-athletes if it wished. I would not be at all surprised. But, as long as people care about
human excellence, natural talents, and the dedication and intelligence required to perfect those
talents, I believe the spirit of sport, and the Olympics, can and should survive."

In researching this topic I believe that athletes in professional sports, have the right to do
what they want with their own body. They are not stupid, they have a team of experts, trainers
and doctors; of course they know that drugs, if abused, can be dangerous in their health, but
some people still choose to use them because they know that they can benefit from them. Of
course, it is understandable why the government enforce laws regarding the use of substances,

Savich 4

especially if it harms others. Being an athlete is a health a risk in itself because of the abuse they
endure when being on the field or the track. If they want to ban performance enhancing drugs
because of health risks, they should ban the sport altogether, so nobody gets hurt.

Savich 5

Works Cited
Manning, Anita Steroids can build muscles, shrink careers USA TODAY (2002)
Murray, Thomas, PhD, "In Search of the Spirit of Sport" Play True. Oct. 2003
Smith, Chris, Why It's Time To Legalize Steroids In Professional Sports Forbes. AUG 24,
2012
Surender Kumar PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUGS IN SPORTS R.K.S.D. (P.G.)
College, Kaithal (Haryana)(2103)