Performance Enhancing Drugs Essay
As we look deep into sports in our society today, we discover there are many aspects to the athletic world that are often hot topics, or controversial issues. One of the biggest, most popular topics in the society of sports is whether performance enhancing drugs should be legalized and used, or banned altogether. In my own opinion, these performance enhancing drugs should not be legalized, or allowed in the world of sports. There are many reasons that the use of performance enhancing drugs should not be allowed in athletics.One of the biggest reasons is to make the game fair for each athlete. If only certain athletes in sports chose to use these enhancing drugs, they would become incredibly strong, fast and powerful, much more than their competition.
This would give the athletes that opt out of performance enhancing drugs a disadvantage in the game. Secondly, it wouldn’t be fun for those who use drugs not to have competition. I believe that some athletes are coerced or pressured into using these performance enhancing drugs, just so they are able to keep up and remain competitive.The next reason I believe performance enhancing drugs should be banned is because of the danger involved. Each year, whether it’s in the newspaper, on television, or even in a nearby town/city, we hear of athletes taking enhancing drugs to an extreme while involved in sports.
They want to become the best of the best; they’re even willing to put their bodies in harm’s way to get there. Health is yet another large issue within the athletic world, and often these enhancing drugs become an interference with that.Stimulants and steroids can cause serious problems, and are often destructive and dangerous. Many stimulants or performance enhancing drugs today can cause heart abnormalities, drug dependency, and in the worst case, even death. In the opposing viewpoint, performance enhancing drugs should be legalized and used in sports. The argument is simple; these athletes want to become the best, so they are going to do anything to be just that.
This includes the use of enhancement drugs.Though it would increase competitiveness and raise the bar in athletics, the opposing viewpoint is recognized, but to many, this is still considered wrong. Of course it is an athlete’s choice whether or not to use the illegal enhancers, but when it comes to the bigger picture, sometimes it’s not fair for everyone involved. In the professional sports industry, using the performance enhancing drugs would be unfair for those who do not, and would also take the fun out of the game. Most spectators in sport enjoy competition which involves athletes as a whole, rather than individual performances.Using drugs such as steroids give athletes an advantage over others, and often make the sport that is being watched less amusing, due to the fact that the athlete using enhancing drugs would be at an ultimate advantage over the other athletes. This concludes that drugs can most certainly take away from the purpose of sports.
All in all, I believe performance enhancing drugs should be banned, simply because they are not healthy, they take away from the game, and are often unfair when comparing to athletes who choose to not use them.In our society, we must become more aware, and also start to closely watch and protect the health and safety of our athletes in today’s world of sport, as they are our future. Both adults and children look up to athletes in many ways, whether in professional sport, minor leagues, college, high school etc. By banning performance enhancing drugs, we take away health risks, bad publicity and controversy, and give athletes a chance to play the game they love, while keeping it both fair and purposeful for everyone involved.
