Carla Mooney's Thinking Critically: Performance-Enhancing Drugs

Every couple of weeks or so, you hear stories of professional athletes having their sport taken away from them, because of the drive to be the biggest, strongest and best they could be. Due to this drive, they begin to use Performance Enhancing Drugs. PED’s are a danger to athletes and their health, and they should remain banned. Some of these dangers are cardiovascular difficulties, dangerous side effects, and illness in the liver.

Drug abuse is nothing to look lightly on. Drugs tear down an athlete’s body, or anyone that is abusing the drug. The liver is a vital organ, which means no one can live without it. Drugs will make an abuser over work this organ and kill it and that person. Steroids give results right way that are good signs, but that athlete or human is killing things inside them that really matter. Many players have been caught using these drugs. Stats from the greats have proven that the performance-enhancers have really stepped up the game in a player. Great players that did not start their career out so great, ended in with great stats. Some players picked the wrong path by getting into drugs, like steroids. Players need to do everything naturally, and work hard to be at the top of their game. Players are taking the easy and fast way of getting to the top by using drug, but it is the wrong way. Athletes need to prove to their selves that working naturally can work if they dedicate themselves to it. Drug abuse is a serious matter and can destroy a human’s body, so as athletes or people that can help someone struggling need to take a stand against the use of

This article is written by Dr. David R. Mottram, B.Pharm., Ph.D., F.R.Pharm.S. who is an Emeritus Professor of Pharmacy Practice at Liverpool John Moores University in Liverpool, UK. This article tackles multiple subjects on the topic of performance enhancing drugs. Firstly, it tackles the many reasons why athletes would use performance enhancing drugs. It dives deep separating the use of PEDs by athletes to several categories from therapeutic use to treat medical conditions to recreational use to most important of all performance enhancing use. The article tries explain how an athlete can get PEDs for therapeutic use, it also explains the limitations of this process. It also tries to explain that the reasons that may sway athletes to take illegal PEDs are very complex, these factors range from peer pressure to misleading information on PEDs to many other factors. In addition, the article also examines the dangers of the use of PEDs from a health stand point and a professional stand point. This article I believe provides valuable information for my research as I am trying to formulate the many reasons why an athlete would use performance enhancing

For two straight years and possibly even longer, Alex Rodriguez spent over $12,000 a month for performance enhancing drugs (PED) to gain an unfair advantage over his competitors (Weaver). Professional athletes like him are subject to huge contracts and an incredible amount of pressure to perform at a high level. As a result of this, many resort to steroids as a training aid. It is difficult to keep regulations on steroids in different sports leagues. Some steroids can be undetectable in drug testing and some leagues simply do not have strict enough rules on steroid use. This is extremely unfair to players that work unquestionably hard to be a professional athlete while some athletes are cheating through the use of steroids. It also destroys the integrity of the sport because awards, records, and championships seem to be fallacious.

Drugs are a big issue in the sports industry. Many athletes will take performance-enhancing drugs, such as steroids, to help them play better. These types of drugs should not be allowed because it gives the player a greater advantage over other players who are playing with their natural ability. This issue could be solved if there was monthly drug testing and if the drug was not so easy to get ahold of. Many major league baseball players are getting caught using performance-enhancing drugs. Mostly power hitters and pitchers will use these steroids.

Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs) have been used in sports for many years. The common term for it is doping. It is one of the most important issues among professional athletes today. Doping should not be allowed in professional sports. The use of performance-enhancing drugs creates a disadvantage for the athletes that don't use PEDs since they will not perform as well as the athletes that used the drugs during the game or competition. Also, when drugs are used it takes the human effort away from sports where athletes have trained hard.

Every year the size of players ascends and these abusers continue to get away with little to no punishment. Highly sought after high school recruits turn to these to put on size before their first season of college football and collegiate players use them to prep for their possible future in the NFL. Due to the lack of testing, the upside for student-athletes to juice has almost become greater than the latter. Particularly in high school, the chance of a player actually getting busted does not deter them from cheating and trying to pack on excessive amounts of muscle. Every year parents lose kids that have thought they needed steroids to get bigger or improve their image. This does not end once the player goes off to the next level either. Major college programs produce soft policies that allow their athletes to get away with steroid abuse; however some do punish them. Athletes at numerous institutes face few consequences by deciding to use a growth hormone to gain an edge over their opponents. Many begin using performance enhancers at the collegiate level and often increase use once they make it to the league. In the NFL, many may argue that the problem has gotten worse considering the increase in weight of players. The league has tried to strengthen their policy, but the statistics show it has not made a significant difference in drug use. Experts

Athletes use of performance enhancing drugs has become all too common in today’s society. With many athletes testing positive for doping, sports are becoming tarnished with athletes trying to gain an unfair advantage on their competitors. Although players are tested often for such drugs, there are still many loopholes and some drugs are not detected by current systems. So what would cause an athlete to put their body at risk to gain just a slight edge on their competitor? Sports should be a test of real skill, not artificial skills given by doctors. With the numerous side effects performance enhancing drugs have, they are simply not safe for anyone to take, let alone a professional athlete. Taking performance enhancing drugs is detrimental

Not only can athletes jeopardize their careers with drug use, but in doing so, they also send a message to youth and society that using drugs is okay. “But athletes themselves must put forth the physical effort of training and practice—they must still build their skills even in the murky area of legal and illegal drug use” (Jenkins D11). Some professional athletes try to find loopholes and ways around illegal drug use to enhance their

Performance-enhancing drugs have been widely used in sports for centuries. The first recorded use of PEDS in sports was during the ancient Olympic games in 776 BC when athletes experimented with herbal medication 2. However, what qualifies as cheating to us was perfectly acceptable to them and the athletes that participated weren’t

“Before steroids, records were made to be broken. Now they’re stolen,” is a quote that many know. The number of athletes who use steroids is staggering. First of all, the health effects could create huge problems for the athletes. Next, the consequences for using steroids are huge. Lastly (transition), many athletes that use steroids are better than their opponents, by cheating. Athletes that use steroids should have bigger consequences.

Performance enhancement drugs used by professional athletes who strive, or want to separate themselves from mediocrity and desire super stardom these athletes should not be penalized. Furthermore, athletes who are willing to take the journey down the path of using foreign substance on their bodies they should be allowed. Therefore professional athletes, functioning on their own recognizance, they have the monetary means, and it’s their body which is their own property. Consequently no athlete, or professional organization sets out to finish second or doesn’t attempt to win the highest honors in their respective sport. The athlete hands should not be tied because others haven’t

Athletes using performance enhancing drugs have always been in the media. When a beloved athlete is caught using drugs the media tears them apart. Any one’s favorite athlete could become nothing to them after a drug test. The articles “Cheating and CHEATING” by Joe Posnasnski and “We, the Public, Place the Best Athletes on Pedestals” by William Moller, show two sides of the effects of media as well as fame for athletes.

Picture this every athlete in sports using drugs no one depends on skill anymore everyone

Many people argue that athletes should be able to enhance their performance while others disagree. From a neutral point of view, there are advantages and disadvantages of using PEDs. The advantage, obviously, is increased performance, wether that comes from faster recovery periods or increased oxygen retention o and multiple other methods. This gives an advantage over competitors that do not take drugs. Disadvantages include side effects, which are numerous and can cause life long damage to abusers (the major issue with the use of drugs), unfair advantages and can cause disqualification from competitions and tarnishing of reputations. For example, Lance Armstrong was stripped of titles, banned from the sport and his reputation was destroyed. For some athletes, the short term goal is more important than the