Performance enhancing drugs in sports - Essay Example

Introduction The use of anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing drugs has become an all too common occurrence in sports today at all levels, from high school to professional. These substances have the effect of enabling athletes to achieve somewhat superhuman levels of strength and endurance. The pressure on today’s athletes to perform and compete at very high levels is intense, and performance enhancing drugs are a very tempting way to easily push one’s natural performance capabilities to otherwise impossible levels. Unfortunately, they exact a tremendous toll on the athlete’s physical wellbeing, as well as on the integrity of the sport in which it is being utilized. The health ramifications of performance enhancing substances are staggering. They have the potential to wreak havoc on many of the systems in the human body; and have been known to lead to severe and irreversible physical damage to the body, and even death. The drugs constitute substantial risk to any athlete who chooses to utilize them. The peer pressure and other stress to perform in today’s sports environment nevertheless lead many to take that risk. Certainly, the short term potential rewards, often including fame and fortune, can be quite tempting. After all, those athletes in many professional sports who really perform at the top of their game are certain to eventually command unimaginable sums of money. The impact of performance enhancing drugs on the integrity of the game is also a major problem, as those who play clean and push their natural performance levels as far as possible still are often unable to compete with those utilizing these substances. It sets up a situation in which every player would need to use the substances in order to level the proverbial playing field. Ultimately, given the damage that performance enhancing substances cause to the athletes who use them, to the game, to fellow athletes trying to compete naturally, and to fans who love the game, all organized sports at all levels should exercise a zero tolerance policy for all performance enhancing drugs by permanently expelling those who use them from the game. Health Effects The effects of steroids and other performance enhancing drugs on the human body are well documented and alarming. On the less severe end of the spectrum, these substances have been known to cause conditions such as acne, water retention in tissue, yellowing of the eyes and skin, oily skin, abdominal pain, hives, chills, diarrhea, fatigue, general bodily aches and pains in muscles and joints, and weight fluctuation (Mishra, 1991). On the more severe end of the spectrum, these drugs may lead to genital changes, stunted growth, disease of the heart, liver and kidneys, sterility, depression, aggression, sexual dysfunction, and death. These repercussions are common among abusers of anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing substances. To be sure, an athlete who chooses to use them had better be willing to make some trade off on quality of life that is being sacrificed by any of these side effects. Social pressures play a substantial role in explaining why these substances are utilized even though they commonly lead to such horrific consequences. “Many young men feel they need to look ‘masculine,’ that is, strong and muscular. Body building stresses such muscularity, and some men – and women – abuse anabolic steroids to increase muscle mass and definition” (Mishra, 1991, para. 18). In short, the longer term consequences of these substances often pale and comparison to the short term gratification of looking good and excelling physically, particularly for young, impressionable boys stuck in the social pressure cooker of high school. To be sure, giving the average adolescent boy an easy means of quickly becoming physically dominant, more attractive to the opposite sex, and more socially popular is tantamount to putting a plate of cookies in front of him after he has not eaten all day. The choice is almost natural from his perspective – do what feels good now and worry about the ramifications later. Arguably, it is “the basic nature of young people not to concern themselves with long term effects. The desire to make the football team or to impress peers is much more immediate than the future prospect of possible damage to the liver, heart, and other vital organs” (para. 21). Another reason why these substances are used is the must-win-at-any-cost mentality that is intensely fostered at all levels of sports. “Some student athletes feel so pressured to succeed in their respective sports that they resort to steroids for help” (para. 19). Sadly, coaches and even parents help fuel that pressure often by imposing unreasonably high performance expectations on the children whose lives they touch. Certainly, that same pressure to win drives even professional athletes to resort to performance enhancing substances. After all, those who consistently lose are not likely to earn the big money down the road. Integrity of Sports The abuse of performance enhancing drugs has had tremendous ramifications for the integrity of organized sports. When major achievements such as an all-time home run title or most yards rushing are tainted by the use of these drugs, it calls into question not only the validity of the achievement itself, but of the fundamental fairness of the competitive environment. It is easy to resent the upset of records of legendary sports heroes who set those records with their own natural performance, when the upset results from artificial performance boosting drugs. It is essentially cheating, and these so-called records will forever have an asterisk under them in the history books. “Steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs will permanently taint baseball records set by Barry Bonds and other baseball players, including Mark McGwire” (“Steroids,” 2006, para. 1). Aside from professional sports, use of performance enhancing drugs can have a similar impact on amateur, collegiate, high school and other sports as well. First of all, it impacts the competitive environment, making it difficult if not impossible for those who do not utilize these substances to compete. In effect, when those at the top of the game are there because of either a real or perceived reliance on performance enhancing substances, it leads others to believe that they will need to do the same in order to stay on a level playing field, so to speak. The alternative is to resign oneself to the reality that there is little likelihood of becoming a superstar in the game. This creates a self-fulfilling prophecy in which the use of these substances becomes more widespread due to what could otherwise be a mere perception of their widespread use. Another category of sports that has been impacted by use of anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing substances is the Olympics. “Steroids have permanently damaged the records, reputations and bodies of Marion Jones and other Olympic track and field stars. Some saw their careers end early, after disciplinary actions taken by the U.S. Olympic Committee” (para. 2). These unfortunate incidents continue to occur despite an aggressive zero tolerance policy by the Olympic Committee. This goes to show that the pressures to perform that lead to use of these substances is so severe that athletes are willing to risk destroying all that they worked so hard to achieve in order to artificially enhance their performance. The signs of steroid abuse by athletes are not always obvious, but sometimes they become apparent over time. “Physical appearance is also compelling evidence. Once a slender, agile player, Bonds began playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1986 and won three National League Most Valuable Player Awards by 1993. After moving to the San Francisco Giants, he sported bulging muscles in 1999” (para. 4). In addition to his physical appearance, Bonds’ statistics also followed an unusual pattern that suggested performance drug abuse. “His statistics were always impressive. But his batting ballooned between 1999 and 2004, after Bonds turned 35, after he began using steroids. Historically, most baseball stars peak during their younger years, then taper off as they approach 40” (para. 5). Similar observations have been made about the New York Yankees’ Jason Giambi and other athletes whose steroid abuse were later substantiated. The fans have become another casualty of this kind of abuse. “Bonds is clearly one of the greatest hitters ever to play the game. But today, some fans boo him every time he steps up to the plate” (para. 6). The harm this has done to the image of national sports is quite possibly irreversible, as fans may always have some level of suspicion when an athlete performs exceptionally and/or breaks historical records. The only way to deal with this effectively is to maintain and strictly enforce a zero tolerance policy. In addition, athletes found to abuse substances that are banned by law should be criminally prosecuted. A few successful high profile criminal prosecutions of professional athletes who abuse performance enhancing drugs might be quite effective in tamping down their widespread use. When, in addition to damage to one’s body and reputation, there is also a possibility of a prison sentence, that could turn the tide in favor of fair and respectable sports competitions. Conclusion Performance enhancing substances such as anabolic steroids have become a widespread problem at all levels of sports, from high school and college, to Olympics and professional sports. The pressure to highly perform and to look good has led many athletes to disregard the potentially severe repercussions to their bodies and their reputations in order to artificially ensure their success. Obviously, zero tolerance policies have only had limited success in stemming this scourge. The next step should be aggressive high profile criminal prosecutions. Works Cited Mishra, R. (1991, September). Steroids and sports are a losing proposition. FDA Consumer, 25(7), 24. Steroids: Sports doping damage. (2006, May 16). The Charleston Gazette, p. 4A. Read More