FREE ESSAY ON PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUGS

PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUGS

Many athletes of all ages are turning towards performance enhancing drugs as a way of
improving their performance by giving them that extra edge. This is not only wrong but
its cheating and harmful to the athlete.
Performance enhancing drugs have been around for hundreds of years. The Incas of the
South America country Peru used the burned leaves of coca trees to give them great
amounts of energy when faced with battles, hunts, ect. Even today they use coca leaves as
a way of giving them the energy to do a full days work. Today we know that the ashes of
the coca tree's leaves actually contained cocaine. The "first recorded drug related death
in sports"{1} was of a European cyclist in 1886. The drug responsible for the cyclist was
a "mixture of heroin and cocaine"{2} nicknamed the speedball. Tom Hicks of the U.S.
collapsed after winning the marathon in the 1904 Olympics. It was later found that "Hicks
had drunk a mixture of brandy and strychnine {Dolan 1986}."{3} As you can see, the use of
drugs to try to enhance performance is not a new idea; athletes have been experimenting
with drugs for years.
Probably the most recognized performance enhancing drugs are anabolic steroids. Steroids
have been used in medical practice for years. As with most drugs, steroids can be helpful
when used under medical supervision. The muscle-building capabilities of steroids were
soon discovered by the athletic world. Steroid use by athletes were already under way by
the mid 1950's. Steroids were first introduced to the U.S. by the late Dr. John Ziegler.
Along with "being a physician and scientist, he was also an athlete"{4}. He was a
"leading weight lifter"{5} in the U.S. In 1956 he traveled to Vienna, Austria for a
wrestling meet. While he was there, he talked to a Russian trainer who told him that
"Russian athletes had discovered a miracle drug"{6}, anabolic steroids. The athletes had
enormous strength gains from this new drug. Dr. Z. wanted to help his country keep up
with the Russian competition so when he came home he started prescribing them for his
weight lifting friends. The most popular steroid formed under his company is called
Dianabol, which still exists today. In time the doctor realized the incredible harm that
steroids caused and turned against them. Right before he died in 1984 "he said he wished
he had never heard of steroids {Dolan, 1986}"{7}. Of course steroids aren't the only
performance enhancing drugs. Amphetamines are another popular performance enhancing drug.
The popularity of amphetamines in sports is because of the drugs ability to give the body
an enormous sense of energy. Just like steroids, amphetamines are widely abused. In "1970
[the] U.S. government passed strict laws against amphetamine abuse {Dolan, 1986}"{8}.
These listed are just a few of the many abused drugs being used in athletics. All in all,
use by athletes is getting out of hand.
Even after all the research, which concludes that steroids are harmful to the body
"steroid survey.... Indicates use by.... Both sexes on the rise."{9} Now the question
that Don Herrmann, chairman of the sports medicine committee for the national federation
of the state high school association, and America ask is why? David Newton discusses the
question in his book Drugs and Sports. The claims for using steroids "vary from peer
pressure to enhanced performance."{10} As the competition is getting better each year
people feel they need to take steroids to enhance their performance so they can, just
compete. To some winning is everything and "what people are willing to do in order to win
[is] frighten[ing]."{11} Even when some of the steroid users already have the athletic
ability they use them anyway just to fit in. That is called peer pressure and it's more
common among adolescents. Another reason people give for using steroids "is for improving
the way they look."{12} That is where the majority of females fit in. A study shows that
highschool students who used steroids rose from 1.2% of 40 kids to 1.7% of 40 kids in the
last year. A question that plagues us all is "how much faster is it going to grow?"{13}
Though all is not lost for there are many kids like Joey Hess and Chris Lewis, athletes
at Southport High school, who claim "there is no temptation to use steroids."{14} I've
heard a lot of dangers. "Loss of hair and stuff like that," says Hess who plays Football
and Baseball. "I'd like to get big on my own, do something I could be proud of," says
Lewis a Basketball player. The overall reason people use performance enhancing drugs is
because they feel it is worth the risk. 
Now that we know performance enhancing drug use is increasing, people find themselves
asking what can we do to prevent it. That is exactly what the National Institute on Drug
Abuse {NIDA} and other organizations thought of. The NIDA "has a campaign to prevent drug
abuse in sports."{15} There is also a program setup in Oregon where they take the
football players to a personal trainer who talks to them about the effects of performance
enchanting drugs and show them alternative supplements and goes over workouts to help
strengthen them. Many people believe that most performance enhancing drug users are
ignorant of the side effects and believe that educating them will help them better choose
the right thing.
There is no doubt that steroids make you perform better. Many athletes have proved that
already. Apparently many athletes must feel it is worth the risk to use these
performance-enhancing drugs. "The truth is though if you get caught it will ruin your
athletic career"{16} as it did for 1988 Olympian Ben Johnson who never competed again
after he was caught for steroid use in the 1988 Olympic games. Even if Johnson were to
ever run again, everybody would suspect him of steroid use even if he didn't test
positive.
Sports-drug issues being hotly debated range from the fairness of the drug testing to
whether steroid use should be allowed in sports. There are impressive arguments on both
sides of each issue, and most people agree that these questions have no easy answer.
Perhaps that is because the use of drugs by athletes is so deeply rooted in both the past
and present of human experience. Indeed, the topic of drugs and sports "is as old as
humanity itself and as new as tomorrow morning's headlines."{17}
There are always opposing viewpoints and here is another way you can look on the
performance enhancing drug, steroids. The primary reason that steroids should be legal
because steroids are abused. According to an Australian physician steroids should be
legal and monitored by doctors because "danger is not a deterrent to use, citing alcohol
and hard drugs as example" If steroids were monitored, doctors could prevent abuse. The
danger with using steroids is with the abuse of the drug. By preventing the abuse, the
danger is minimal. If danger levels could be decreased, steroids should be legalized. It
would also stop people wanting the drug so much, because they would have it at their
disposal. The reason people want steroids so bad are because they are so hard to find
and, people don't know if they are going top find anymore when they want it. That is a
reason why when people get the drug they think the more they take at one time the longer
it will last, and the bigger they will get. Once again if steroids were legal people
would not be able to take as much or buy as much, because of the monitored use by doctors
and physicians. Steroids are not addictive. Steroids are nothing more then a
physiological belief that you have to have them or you will not achieve your goals. 
Less cost is another reason for legalizing steroids. Over 400 million dollars per year is
spent on steroids and other sports drugs in the black market. By legalizing steroids, the
demand on the black market for steroids would end, and the price of steroids would be
competitive. If steroids were legal, law enforcement costs would also decrease.
Legalizing steroids, therefore, would reduce costs to both steroid users and taxpayers.
Some have called this posture "accepting reality" and say that it would lessen the level
of hypocrisy in sports and bodybuildong. You also wouldn't see the number of steroid
pusher on our streets, and in our gyms. Instead of pushers trying to make a quick buck
you could buy steroids in a store, you know what your buying how much they really are.
Legalizing steroids would prevent the selling of fake steroids for 200 dollars more. 
A third reason for legalizing steroids is because they would be a safer product because
of Gov. regulations. Legalization would ensure a safe product. Physicians would also be
able to determine the amount that a person should take and monitor the results.
Legalizing steroids would prevent a person from over doing the amount and dying on the
spot. Yet, steroids are not legal and consequently a person can take as much as he or she
wants. Taking to many steroids causes to many deaths because the steroid user doesn't
know what or how much they should take. The U.S. should make steroids legal so people
will be educated about steroids by receiving a prescription for them. All steroids are
not all toxic, meaning they are not hard on the body.
Finally, legalization would allow effective studies of steroids. Most of our knowledge
from steroids comes from our reassert with animals. Research is a necessity to
understanding the advantages and disadvantages of steroids. Legalizing steroid would
allow better research and more effective studies on animal and humans.
In conclusion many athletes are taking drugs to enhance their performance and there are
many ways to go about to prevent that. You have to take the first initiative and tell
your friends and families about the harmful effects of performance enhancing drugs. If we
all do that we can make the future of America almost drug free. It all depends on you!