Performance Enhancing Drugs in Sports - Essay Example

PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUGS IN SPORTS The rigorous and competitive nature of sports of our time and society’s boundless pressure for excellence has caused athletes to use performance-enhancing drugs to enhance their ability and broaden their competitive edge. The use of these drugs legal or safe is an outright disrespect to the reputation and integrity of sport. It is cheating in every sense of the word and deserves no consideration whatsoever in the athletic world.   Sport is an assessment that requires physical and mental exertion to attain excellence for the development of a skill (Wikipedia n.d. p.1) whereas sportsmanship is a behavior or attitude considered as befitting participants, including a sense of fair play, courtesy toward teammates and opponents, a striving spirit, and grace in losing (Wikipedia n.d. p.2) . These clear definitions of sports and sportsmanship will tell us that physical and mental exertion is the primary concern of an athlete. He should strive and push himself to the limit of human power to attain excellence and develop his skill. He should have a sense of fair play and determination to win. The use of performance-enhancing drugs is a direct violation of these virtues and a mockery of sportsmanship and the institution. There is one argument that says we should not condemn athletes taking these enhancing drugs. It asserts that we are being hypocritical (Simpson 2000 p.1) by reproaching people who lacks the drive to do things the hard way because we are continually doing the reverse in our daily lives. For instance, we are maneuver things to make our work easier and we take drugs that would make us feel good and revitalized our energy. This kind of reasoning would not stand in court. It came apparently from a theory that society defines an individual needs where in order to gain acceptance within a group, one must do something extraordinary (Simpson 2000 p.1). Let us remember that sports are a test of human power and skill. It is not an ordinary people’s activity. It is an endeavor with sets of rules to follow and an opponent to beat. It is a contest where humans are supposed to win using their own biological strength and determination in a fair and honorable way. In sports, the term dope was first used to describe the illegal drugging of racehorses in the 20th century (Mehlman 2005, p.1). There are number of ways doping is currently use in sports, the practice of autologous or homologous hemoglobin transfusion or simply blood doping is one of them but less known. The most popular is the anabolic steroids and human growth hormone, treatment to grow skeletal muscles. The next and probably very common are stimulants that can enhance cognitive function and control tiredness (Mehlman 2005, p.1). Athletes and others abuse anabolic steroids to improve their performance and physical appearance (NIDA 2005, p.1). In cycles of weeks or months, steroids are taken orally or injected, getting multiple doses of steroids over a specific period. They usually mix several varying types of this drug to make the most of their effectiveness while reducing negative effects (NIDA, 2005, p.1). Sponsored by the International Olympic Movement, several organized group in sports banned the use of these performance-enhancing drugs and established testing programs punishing athletes caught positive of these substances. In 1967, the International Olympic Committee formulated the first anti-doping principles (Mehlman 2005, p.1). These are: a) the protection of the athletes health b) respect for medical and sports ethics c) ensuring an equal chance for everyone during competition The first principle is true and correct considering the danger that these enhancing drugs may bring to an athlete. The National Institute on Drug Abuse recently confirms the major side effects from abusing anabolic steroids. This can include liver tumors and cancer, high blood pressure, increase in bad cholesterol, and some gender specific side effects such as: a) Shrinking of the testicles, reduced sperm count, infertility, baldness, development of breast and increased risk of prostate cancer for men. b) Growth of facial hair, male-pattern baldness, changes in or cessation of the menstrual cycle, enlargement of the clitoris and deepening of voice for women. c) Adolescents may experience premature growth halt if they take anabolic steroids before the typical adolescent growth spurt. Based on scientific research according to NIDA 2005 p.1, anabolic steroids may cause aggression and psychiatric effects. Anabolic steroid users usually feel good about themselves but a sudden change of mood can result in violence. It was noted that depression occurs when the drugs are stopped, an indication of dependency or addiction. The users feeling of invincibility results to extreme paranoia, bad temper, delusion, and prejudicial judgment. The principle of defending the sports ethics is probably the most crucial among the other principles. The possibility that one day, an athlete who put tremendous hard work to be a winning participant maybe crushed by an athlete who merely infused himself a dose of enhancement genes. Imagine these enhanced athletes effortlessly walking away with Olympic Medals without going through the ordeals of exhaustive physical and emotional training. The medal who some time ago symbolizes distinguished works and a natural talent is now a reward for a better drug instead and not the person himself. The assertion and defense for sport ethics is valid since the enhancement drugs violate the rules of sports. Some may argue that rules in sports can be change like any other rules but “it would be a mistake to dismiss the significance of rules”(Mehlman 2005, p.4). It is without a doubt that rules can be change but limited to a certain level. Sports rules can say that a game must be played in a certain way but definitely cannot say play it with steroids. We must understand that rules and traditions are imperative because they set the level of expectations between the athletes, coaches, judges and spectators (Mehlman 2005, p.5). Every athlete should play by rules and be the role model for the young. Do not underestimate the expectations of the audience or the public. They do not like people who cheat and they may put the law into their hands like the angry soccer fans. Last but equally essential is to ensure an equal chance to all participant in the competition. Using performance enhancement drugs some competitor is definitely a great advantage over the remaining competitor, it would seem unfair for those who only rely on their natural ability and strength. Others may say that athletes are never equal at the moment of competition (Mehlman 2005, p.3) because some athletes were gifted with better natural abilities. Few are rich and capable of hiring excellent but expensive trainers and those who are just born lucky. This means that there are possibilities that an untreated athlete may win over an enhanced competitor. This maybe true in some cases but still not fair. Competitors must be always equal in size and weight. For example, the boxer’s weight in boxing that classifies them into division and the equal number of players in each team. The objective of handicapping is to alter the impact of uneven playing field in order to have a fair competition. Cheating is an act deception, fraud, trickery, imposture, or imposition (Wikipedia n.d., p.1). It is typically use to establish an unfair advantage at the expense of others. Performance-enhancing drug users in sports are no better than cheaters. Infusing these drugs into their bodies to enhance their performance is an act of cheating that impairing the true intention of sports. It does not reflect the structure of human excellence that sports in its long history determined to honor. The true skill, hard work and excellence of the athletes are hiding behind a form of blatant cheating. The true intention of sport is to gauge the athlete's natural skill, rather than a synthetically enhanced performance that masks any human potential within the athlete (Simpson 2000, p.4). Cheating grew in proportion because we want shortcuts (Barr n.d,. p.1). Our society, the sports fans and the media, more often praised only those who finished first. They care less for second best or for those who came late but give their best effort. To win is the normal way of thinking today (Barr n.d., p.1) and becoming persistent in our minds particularly our athletes who are doing whatever it takes to win. This irresistible craving to enjoy the fruit of success, financial gains and ego, is leading them to the false sense of security (Barr n.d., p.2) and success and into the dark culture of cheating. This competitive moral erosion has no beginning and certainly has no end (Barr n.d., p.2). Performance-enhancing drugs have no place in sports and certainly not applicable in any human competition. It is like a duel between a knife and a gun where the later will surely win. The danger of complications and side effects is enough to discourage its use and ban these drugs in sports. References: Drug Abuse.Gov, n.d., “Research Report Series- Anabolic Steroid Abuse”, , 05/05/06, http://www.drugabuse.gov/ResearchReports/Steroids/anabolicsteroids3.html Barr R., n.d., “Cheating in Sports, Our National Pastime”, Sports Byline USA Insight, < online>, 05/05/06, http://www.sportsbyline.com/roncomm/roncom47.htm ESPN, 2005, “Anabolic Steroids”, , 05/05/06, http: / / espn . go . com / special / s / drugsandsports/steroids.html Mehlman M., 2005, “Performance Enhancing Drugs in Sports”, , 05/04/06, http://www.thedoctorwillseeyounow.com/articles/bioethics/perfdrugs_10/ NIDA, 2005, “Steroids”, The Science of Drug Abuse and Addiction, , 05/05/06, http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofacts/Steroids.html Simpson W., 2000, “Drug Use in Sport”, , 05/04/06, http://www.louisville.edu/~wcsimp01/finaldraftpaper4.html Weber M., 2004, “Drug Testing in Sport”, , 05/04/06, http: / / www. ilstu.edu / ~ mlweber/foi/Drug%20Testing%20in%20Sports.htm Wikipedia, n.d., “History of Sports”, , 05/04/06, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sport Wikipedia, n.d., “Cheating”, , 05/04/06, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheating Read More