Top 10 Pros and Cons

ShouId performance enhancing drugs (such as

steroids) be accepted in sports?
The PRO and CON statements below give a Iive minute introduction to the debate over perIormance enhancing drugs in sports.
(Read more inIormation about our one star to Iive star Theoretical Expertise System.)
1. ealth Risk
2. Seeking an "UnIair" Advantage
3. Drugs vs. Technology
4. Coercion
5. EIIectiveness oI Drug Testing
6. Legalizing PerIormance Enhancing
Drugs
7. Sportsmanship
8. Athletes as Role Models
9. Sports Fans
10. all oI Fame Induction

PRO Performance Enhancing Drugs CON Performance Enhancing Drugs

1. Health Risk
PRO: "II each oI us ought to be Iree to assume risks that we think
are worth taking, shouldn't athletes have the same Ireedom as
anyone else? In particular, iI athletes preIer the gains in
perIormance allegedly provided by the use oI steroids, along with
the increased risk oI harm to the alternative oI less risk and worse
perIormance, what gives anyone the right to interIere with their
choice? AIter all, iI we should not Iorbid smokers Irom risking
their health by smoking, why should we prohibit track stars or
weightliIters Irom taking risks with their health in pursuit oI their
goals?"
Robert Simon, PhD
Professor of Philosophy at Hamilton College
Fair Play. The Ethics of Sport
2003
CON: "PerIormance enhancers, like steroids and other Iorms oI
doping, have a negative eIIect on long-term health. For then users oI
these enhancers are hurting themselves in the long run without on
the average improving their short-term rewards Irom athletic
competition, as long as competitors also use harmIul enhancers. This
is the main rationale Ior trying to ban steroids and other Iorms oI
doping Irom athletic competitions."
ary Becker, PhD
ProIessor in the Departments oI Economics, Sociology, and the
Graduate School oI Business at the University oI Chicago
"Doping in Sports," Becker-Posner blog
Aug. 27, 2006
. Seeking an "Unfair" Advantage
PRO: "There is no coherent argument to support the view that
enhancing perIormance is unIair; iI it were, we would ban coaching
and training. Competition can be unIair iI there is unequal access to
particular enhancements, but equal access can be achieved more
predictably by deregulation than by prohibition."
orman Fost, MD, MPH
Professor and Director of the Medical Ethics Program at the
University of Wisconsin
"Steroid Hysteria. Unpacking the Claims," American Medical
Association Journal of Ethics
ov. 2005
CON: "Remember that athletes don't take these drugs to
level the playing Iield, they do it to get an advantage.
And iI everyone else is doing what they're doing, then
instead oI taking 10 grams or 10 cc's or whatever it is,
they'll take 20 or 30 or 40, and a vicious circle simply
gets bigger. The end game will be an activity that is
increasingly violent, extreme, and meaningless, practiced
by a class oI chemical and or genetic mutant gladiators.
The use oI perIormance-enhancing drugs is not
accidental; it is planned and deliberate with the sole
objective oI getting an unIair advantage."
Richard Pound, BCL
Former President of the World Anti-Doping Agency
Intelligence Squared US debate titled "We Should Accept
Performance-Enhancing Drugs in Competitive Sports," moderated
by Bob Costas
Jan. 15, 2008
. Drugs vs. Technology
PRO: "Sport is Ior enjoyment and competition, and usually aims to
improve; but what is the diIIerence between increasing skill and
perIormance by training, and taking drugs? II it is the use oI
personal eIIort rather than outside help, then what oI ropes,
crampons and oxygen Ior climbing? What oI advanced training by
teams oI sports physiologists who wire athletes to equipment
monitoring heart, muscle, brain and nerves to optimise activity; or
teams oI sports psychologists improving your responses and
neutralising those observed in competitors? What oI dieticians
tampering with Ioods and additives - drugs by any other name - to
improve perIormance?
What is more 'Iair' - the use oI a team oI sports specialists or a
simple pill? What is the diIIerence between training at altitude and
taking erythropoietin to achieve a similar eIIect? And why are the
strips oI adhesive plaster on the nose - absurdly believed to
increase oxygen intake - more acceptable than a drug which
reduces airway resistance?"
Sam Shuster, PhD
Emeritus Professor of Dermatology at ewcastle University
"Theres o Proof That Sports Drugs Enhance Performance," The
uardian
Aug. 4, 2006
CON: "When used by Iully trained, elite athletes, |perIormance-
enhancing| drugs can improve perIormance to a much greater extent
than any combination oI the most intensive, sophisticated, and costly
nonpharmaceutical interventions known to modern sports science.
ScientiIically based training regimens, special diets, and complex
physiological and biomechanical measurements during exercise and
recovery cannot match the enhancing eIIects oI drugs... Thus, drug
use in a subgroup oI athletes who -- even in the absence oI drugs --
are able to compete at an elite level causes their separation into a
distinct athletic population, distanced Irom 'natural' humans by a
margin determined by the potency oI the drug combinations that are
used."
Timothy oakes, MD, DSc
Discovery Health Professor of Exercise and Sports Science at the
University of Cape Town
"Tainted lory," ew England Journal of Medicine
Aug. 26, 2004
. Coercion
PRO: "Why should we think that those who take drugs to remain
competitive with the drug users are coerced into doing so? No one
is Iorced to become a competitive athlete. The pressures that the
non-drug users may well Ieel are no diIIerent than any other
pressures that come with committing oneselI to playing the game at
a relatively high level oI competition. II some athletes spend much
more time in the weight room than others and thereby build their
muscular strength to levels signiIicantly higher than their
opponents, those opponents who want to remain competitive may
Ieel compelled to also put in more time with weights. But there is
nothing unethical or immoral about the situation that should lead
those interested in maintaining sportsmanship to Iorbid or severely
regulate weight training..."
Peter A. French, PhD
Director of the Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics at Ari:ona State
University
Ethics and College Sports
2004
CON: "One athlete's decision to use perIormance enhancing drugs
also exerts a powerIul eIIect on the other athletes in the competition.
As reported by Sports Illustrated, halI oI all recently surveyed
Olympic athletes admitted that they would be willing to take a drug -
- even iI it would kill them eventually -- as long as it would let them
win every event they entered Iive years in a row. This type oI 'win at
any cost' mentality is pervading sports at all levels oI competition
and results in athletes Ieeling coerced to use substances just to
remain on par with other athletes."
ational Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse
"Winning at Any Cost. Doping in Olympic Sports," ational
Commission on Sports and Substance Abuse Report
Sep. 2000
. Effectiveness of Drug Testing
PRO: "According to the IOC |International Olympic Committee|
director general... the Iact that only eight athletes out oI 11,000
Olympic competitors tested positive is prooI that 'the war on
doping is being won.' But the argument that the small number oI
athletes testing positive is indicative oI the low prevalence oI
doping is nonsense.
The number oI positive tests is an extremely poor indicator oI the
prevalence oI doping... There is general recognition among those
involved in elite level sport that those testing positive represent
only the tip oI the iceberg. It is impossible to estimate precisely
how big that iceberg is, but it is clearly very large...
Firstly, drug-using athletes oIten beat tests because they have
access to specialized medical advice Irom sports physicians...
Secondly, there is evidence oI collusion between dope-using
athletes and senior oIIicials. Positive tests have been 'lost' at
several Olympics."
Ivan Waddington, PhD
Jisiting Professor at the University of Chester and the orwegian
School of Sport Sciences
"Olympic Tests for Drugs eed a Shot of Candor," International
Herald Tribune
Oct. 4, 2000
CON: "The detection methods are accurate and reliable. They
undergo rigorous validation prior to being introduced... WADA is,
oI course, keenly interested in the eIIiciency, as well as the
eIIectiveness, oI the global anti-doping system and supports research
to help enhance testing eIIiciency...
Working collaboratively with national anti-doping agencies such as
the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in the sharing oI
inIormation has uncovered the designer steroid TG, and WADA-
certiIied laboratories continue to keep a watchIul eye Ior previously
unknown doping agents...
The I.O.C. retains ownership oI the athlete's samples (blood and
urine) Ior eight years Iollowing the Olympic Games... During the
ensuing eight years, iI a technique is developed that would enable
the detection oI a prohibited substance... the stored specimen could
be tested Ior that speciIic substance and the athlete would be held
accountable."
ary I. Wadler, MD
Chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agencys (WADA) Prohibited
List and Methods Sub-Committee
"Dr. ary Wadler of the World Anti-Doping Agency ives His
Answers to Your Questions (Part I)," ew York Times
June 26, 2008
. Legalizing Performance Enhancing Drugs
PRO: "We believe that rather than drive doping underground, use
oI drugs should be permitted under medical supervision.

Legalisation oI the use oI drugs in sport might even have some
advantages. The boundary between the therapeutic and ergogenic -
i.e., perIormance enhancing - use oI drugs is blurred at present and
poses diIIicult questions Ior the controlling bodies oI antidoping
practice and Ior sports doctors. The antidoping rules oIten lead to
complicated and costly administrative and medical Iollow-up to
ascertain whether drugs taken by athletes are legitimate therapeutic
agents or illicit.

Furthernore, legalisation oI doping, we believe, would encourage
more sensible, inIormed use oI drugs in amateur sport, leading to
an overall decline in the rate oI health problems associated with
doping. Finally, by allowing medically supervised doping, the
drugs used could be assessed Ior a clearer view oI what is
dangerous and what is not...

Acknowledging the importance oI rules in sports, which might
include the prohibition oI doping, is, in itselI, not problematic.
owever, a problem arises when the application oI these rules is
beset with diminishing returns: escalating costs and questionable
eIIectiveness."
Bengt Kayser, MD, PhD
Professor of Exercise Physiology, Faculty of Medicine of the
University of eneva
Alexandre Mauron, PhD
CON: "There are several reasons to ban perIormance-enhancing
drugs: respect Ior the rules oI sports, recognition that natural talents
and their perIection are the point oI sports, and the prospect oI an
'arms race' in athletic perIormance...

The rules in each sport in eIIect determine which characteristics
among all possible sources oI diIIerence inIluence who wins and
who loses...

Rules are changed at times to preserve a sport. Basketball banned
goaltendingswatting the ball away just as it was about to go into
the hoopwhen players became so tall and athletic that they could
stand by the basket and prevent most shots Irom having a chance to
go in...

Sports that revere records and historical comparisons (think oI
baseball and home runs) would become unmoored by drug-aided
athletes obliterating old standards. Athletes, caught in the sport arms
race, would be pressed to take more and more drugs, in ever wilder
combinations and at increasingly higher doses...

The drug race in sport has the potential to create a slow-motion
public health catastrophe. Finally, we may lose whatever is most
graceIul, beautiIul, and admirable about sport..."
Thomas H. Murray, PhD
President of the Hastings Center
"Sports Enhancement," chapter in From Birth to Death and Bench
to Clinic. The Hastings Center Bioethics Briefing Book for
Professor of Bioethics, Faculty of Medicine of the University of
eneva
Andy Miah, PhD
Reader in ew Media and Bioethics at the School of Media,
Language, and Music at the University of the West of Scotland
"Jiewpoint. Legalisation of Performance-Enhancing Drugs," The
Lancet
Dec. 2005
Journalists, Policymakers, and Campaigns
2008-2009
. Sportsmanship
PRO: "ow, exactly, does the spirit oI sport Iorbid gene transIer
but not carbo-loading? The |WADA| code doesn't say. It deIines
the spirit oI sport as 'ethics,' 'Iair play, ' 'character' and a bunch oI
other words that clariIy nothing. The deIinition includes 'courage'
and 'dedication.' Doesn't it take more courage and dedication to
alter your genes than to snarI a potato? uman growth hormone
appears on WADA's 'Prohibited List' oI substances and methods,
even though the Food and Drug Administration, the National
Institutes oI ealth, and the American Association oI Clinical
Endocrinologists have vouched, to varying degrees, Ior its saIety.
Evidently growth hormone violates the spirit oI sport, but stuIIing
yourselI with steaks doesn't."
William Saletan
Journalist for the Washington Post
"How High Is Too High in Turin?," Washington Post
Feb. 19, 2006
CON: "Anti-doping programs seek to preserve what is intrinsically
valuable about sport. This intrinsic value is oIten reIerred to as 'the
spirit oI sport'; it is the essence oI Olympism; it is how we play true.
The spirit oI sport is the celebration oI the human spirit, body and
mind, and is characterized by the Iollowing values:
O Ethics, Iair play and honesty.
O ealth.
O Excellence in perIormance.
O Character and education.
O Fun and joy.
O Teamwork.
O Dedication and commitment.
O Respect Ior rules and laws.
O Respect Ior selI and other participants.
O Courage.
O Community and solidarity.
Doping is Iundamentally contrary to the spirit oI sport."
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)
World Anti-Doping Code
Mar. 2003
. Athletes as Role Models
PRO: "Survey data actually shows that teen steroid use has
mirrored the use oI other illicit drugs over the years. It went up
mildly in the 1990's, and has since either dropped oII slightly, or
leveled oII since 2000. It's likely that the same trends that govern
cocaine or marijuana use govern teen steroid use Iar more than
what's happening in the sports pages. In Iact, a study released last
year, and one oI the Iew studies to actually attempt to Iind out what
motivates teen boys to take steroids, Iound that the most reliable
indicator oI steroid use was a teen's own selI, selI esteem and body
image. The suggestion, and I think we can all agree it's pretty
intuitive, is that teenage boys who do take steroids do so not
because they want to look like Barry Bonds or Mark McGwire, but
because they want to look good Ior teenage girls."
Radley Balko
Senior Editor of Reason maga:ine
Intelligence Squared US debate titled "We Should Accept
Performance-Enhancing Drugs in Competitive Sports," moderated
CON: "For many male high school athletes, pro athletes are major
inIluences. They are the role models. They choose the jersey
numbers oI their Iavorite proIessional players. They emulate their
training regimens. They emulate their style oI play. And they are
inIluenced by their drug use. When a proIessional athlete admits to
using steroids, the message young athletes hear is not always the one
that is intended. Young athletes oIten believe that steroid use by
their role models gives them permission to use. That it is simply part
oI what one must do to become an elite athlete."
reg Schwab
Testimony for the hearing "Steroid Use in Professional Baseball and
Anti-Doping Issues in Amateur Sports" before the US Senate
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs, Foreign Commerce, and
Tourism
June 18, 2002
by Bob Costas
Jan. 15, 2008
. Sports Fans
PRO: "In America's major league sports, particularly Iootball and
baseball, the widespread perception oI drug use does not seem to
have had a negative impact on audience interest. The Iascination oI
watching Mark McGwire break the home-run record in 1998 was
undiminished by his overt use oI nandrolone (not a banned
substance in baseball), which stimulates the body to produce more
oI its own steroids.
And do spectators believe that the number oI US Iootball players
weighing 300lb, which has risen Irom 10 in 1986 to more than 300
today, is solely through muscle build-up achieved by eating the
concentrated protein contained in egg whites? The estimate oI a
Iormer proIessional is that at least 30 oI US major-league
Iootball players are taking steroids; most people say that the Iigure
is much higher. Fans are not put oII by this, and players say they
would trade a longer liIe Ior a chance oI glory."
Lincoln Allison, DLitt
Founder of the Centre for the Study of Sport in Society at Warwick
University
"Faster, Stronger, Higher," The uardian
Aug. 9, 2004
CON: "To the extent that the public perceives that a PED
|perIormance enhancing drug| reduces the role oI skill and replaces
it by chemically induced brute strength and endurance, it is likely to
lose interest in the sports in which it is used. The harm would be
primarily Iinancial, but this in turn could lead to the demise oI
proIessional leagues and contests...

Sporting events would increasingly become tests oI rivals' access to
good pharmaceutical technology and knowledge and their bodies'
ability to use these chemicals eIIiciently.

Even though skill, strategy, and eIIort would still play a central role
in athletic success, pharmaceutical technology and athletes' bodily
responses to it would also play a signiIicant role. It is not that people
are not interested in science Iairs; it is just that people expect sport to
be a diIIerent kind oI test, one in which athletes' own qualities are
the major determinants oI success."
icholas J. Dixon, PhD
Chair and Dykstra Professor of Philosophy at Alma College
"Performance-Enhancing Drugs, Paternalism, Meritocracy, and
Harm to Sport," Journal of Social Philosophy
May 27, 2008
10. Hall of Fame Induction
PRO: "Let's stop pretending that the Baseball all oI Fame is a
real-liIe Iantasy world -- a place where we celebrate only the
people and events we can all unanimously agree deserve to be
celebrated -- and transIorm it into an institution that reIlects both
the good and bad oI the sport. Wait -- wasn't that Cooperstown's
mission all along? Shouldn't it be a place where someone who
knows nothing about baseball can learn about its rich history? Isn't
it a museum, aIter all?

II that's the case -- and I say it is -- then how can we leave out Pete
Rose, the all-time hits leader and most memorable competitor oI
his era? And how can we even consider leaving out McGwire,
Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa, the three most memorable hitters oI
the 1990s? We're supposed to stick our heads in the historical sand
and pretend these people were never born?"
Bill Simmons
Columnist for ESP
"A Hall of Justice," ESP The Maga:ine
Jan. 15, 2007
CON: "It doesn't matter whether the player's production, either
home runs or hits, was drug enhanced once, twice or ten times. It
doesn't matter; it's still cheating and impugning the integrity oI the
game and the player's accomplishments... Those great players
currently enshrined in the all oI Fame achieved that honor strictly
on the merits oI their god-given talents and not by utilizing artiIicial
means to enhance their accomplishments.
The game has been tarnished by steroid charges, and the issue oI
enshrinement in baseball's all oI Fame oI players who have used
steroids, regardless oI their career statistics, is a critical issue that
may well impact the standards and integrity oI the all oI Fame
itselI."
Lou orman
Former eneral Manager of the Boston Red Sox
High and Inside. My Life in the Front Offices of Baseball
2007
PRO Performance Enhancing Drugs CON Performance Enhancing Drugs