Drug Testing In Sports

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

The year 1998 was considered to be one of the most exciting years of baseball. Mark McGwire, first baseman for the Saint Louis Cardinals, and Sammy Sosa, outfielder for the Chicago Cubs were teeing off Home Runs in the midwest sky. Both Sosa and McGwire were chasing Roger Maris’s seemingly “unbeatable” record. In 1961, Maris hit 61 Home Runs, setting the record for most home runs in a single season. Throughout the years, players came close, but were unable to break the seemingly invincible record, until the 1998 season. Then, not only did one player surpass the 61 home run mark, but two players did: McGwire ended the season with 70 hits; while Sosa ended with 66. This was an exciting time for the MLB, 1998

Anderson, Jack. "Doping, sport and the law: time for repeal of prohibition?" International Journal of Law in Context. 9.2 (2013): 135-59. Print.

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.

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.

My point is that engaging in drugs while participating in sports can be very dangerous. Drug testing should be mandatory for athletes for their safety. The reason for drug testing are; teams depend on their teammates to always be available, drugs can change your athletic abilities, and students join sport teams as a positive activity to avoid getting into trouble and the presence of drugs in sports defeats the goal. I personally know how it feels to be on a team with others who use drugs. They practically “slow-down” the team. You can’t always count on them, and they can become aggressive and unpleasant to be around. In addition, you can get pressured to use the drugs along with them. Even though some people may think randomly testing everyone under no suspicion is an invasion of

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.

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.

Insulin, a drug used to save the lives of people who suffer from diabetes, has recently been used by many athletes to increase muscle growth. The problem is that these protein can have a severe side effect if taken incorrectly or in wrong amounts. It can cause serious health complications, and even deaths. Drug testing and the strict punishments that can come along with it need to be enforced much more than they are today. The fines and suspensions we have seen as of late are a stepping stone to rid athletics of the performance enhancing substances. These are necessary not only to “clean up” the different sports, but also for player

The use of performance-enhancing drugs, or PED’s, in sports has been a significant cause of athlete ridicule over the past several years in the United States of America and throughout the world. PED’s are considered a banned substance in nearly every athletic competition that is regulated at the highest level. In America, the National Football League (NFL), National Basketball Association (NBA), and Major League Baseball (MLB) are the largest professional sports companies, all of which have PED’s as a banned substance. Further, the players face significant fines, suspensions, and other penalties if they abuse the respective PED policies for each league. In this paper I will discover the history of PED use in sports, the side effects and uses,

Drugs have become an integral part of any modern day sporting event. Drugs give an unfair advantage to the user and the competitors that are using enhancements are not using their own full abilities to win the Olympic medal or championship. This makes it unfair to other competitors that are not using a drug or other enhancements to compete. Athletes like Lance Armstrong and Nadzeya Ostapchuk not only give sportsmen and women a bad reputation but influence the way the public think about sports and run the risk of addiction and long-term health issues. Such as liver failure and development of breasts.

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

Banning drugs in sports can make a difference in the athlete 's health Drugs like steroids

Throughout the United States, many high school athletes are abusing illicit drugs. The problem with teenagers today is increasing across the nation. Due to this, various schools have begun to require their athletes to perform random, mandatory tests. Drug testing athletes have been proven to fail in multiple situations, because of lack of funds. Not only has there been unsuccessful outcomes, drug testing has also been beneficial to students. In schools, positive drug test result decreases dramatically every time. When that happens, it gives school coaches and teachers the impression the students are being encouraged to stop. Unfortunately, that’s not always that case with students. A majority of athletes have zero resistance to drugs, so rather than getting help, they’ll find ways to release the drugs from their system.

There have been many instances of doping at the Olympics. The IOC began drug tests at the 1968 Games and since then, several individual athletes and teams have been disqualified and stripped of their medals. For years, Russia has been accused of doping their athletes. “Whistleblowers have alleged that up to 99 percent of Russian athletes have taken performance-enhancing drugs, with one explaining, ‘You can’t be on the national team without using [performance-enhancing drugs]. If you don’t take them, you have no future in sport.’” (Genser).