Performance Enhancing Drugs
David Stone
Performance-Enhancing Drugs and Athletes
There has been a debate of epic proportion for the past few decades on whether professional athletes from around the world have the right to use performance-enhancing drugs. As for now these world athletes are not permitted to use most of the performance-enhancing drugs that are available by the World Anti-Doping Agency. The athletes are randomly tested by their professional leagues. Each American league has their own method of dealing with athletes who abuse banned substances. These methods of punishment can range from a fine to expulsion from the league. The use of illegal drugs to enhance performance is called "doping." "What doping involves is misusing medicinal products or techniques" (European Commission). Doping is not a new concept. It has been around as early as the Neolithic era with the use of poppy and opium. Doping did not really come into the scene OF THE SPORTS WORLD as an issue until the nineteenth century. Heroin and morphine were the first drugs to be used illegally. Heroin was used in horse-racing and morphine was used in boxing and other endurance sports. In the beginning of the twentieth century is when doping started to become a problem within American sport leagues with the use of strychnine, ephedrine, and steroids. It was not until the past few years when doping suddenly became more complicated with the transfusion of growth hormones. "All this has changed the whole course of doping. Drugs used to be taken just for a one-off effect which activated various standard bodily functions, but now they may bring about the biological reprogramming of the body" (European Commission). In the past decade and a half, technology of performance-enhancing drugs has grown and will continue to grow. WithOUT THE knowledge and the continued use, there is no means of knowing what these drugs will be able to do in the future. Athletes have specific reasons to use certain drugs.
Performance-Enhancing Drugs and Athletes
There has been a debate of epic proportion for the past few decades on whether professional athletes from around the world have the right to use performance-enhancing drugs. As for now these world athletes are not permitted to use most of the performance-enhancing drugs that are available by the World Anti-Doping Agency. The athletes are randomly tested by their professional leagues. Each American league has their own method of dealing with athletes who abuse banned substances. These methods of punishment can range from a fine to expulsion from the league. The use of illegal drugs to enhance performance is called "doping." "What doping involves is misusing medicinal products or techniques" (European Commission). Doping is not a new concept. It has been around as early as the Neolithic era with the use of poppy and opium. Doping did not really come into the scene OF THE SPORTS WORLD as an issue until the nineteenth century. Heroin and morphine were the first drugs to be used illegally. Heroin was used in horse-racing and morphine was used in boxing and other endurance sports. In the beginning of the twentieth century is when doping started to become a problem within American sport leagues with the use of strychnine, ephedrine, and steroids. It was not until the past few years when doping suddenly became more complicated with the transfusion of growth hormones. "All this has changed the whole course of doping. Drugs used to be taken just for a one-off effect which activated various standard bodily functions, but now they may bring about the biological reprogramming of the body" (European Commission). In the past decade and a half, technology of performance-enhancing drugs has grown and will continue to grow. WithOUT THE knowledge and the continued use, there is no means of knowing what these drugs will be able to do in the future. Athletes have specific reasons to use certain drugs.
Bibliography: Anonymous. "Performance-Enhancing Drug Testing Is Ineffective", Greenhaven Press. At Issue Series, 2003. Barnard, Matt. "Athletes Will Never Stop Using Performance-Enhancing Drugs", Greenhaven Press. At Issue Series, 2003. European Commission. "Performance-Enhancing Drugs Tarnish Athletics", Greenhaven Press. At Issue Series, 2003. Freudenrich, Craig Gladwell, Malcolm. "Performance-Enhancing Drugs Should Be Regulated, Not Prohibited", Greenhaven Press. At Issue Series, 2003. Heath, Thomas. "Senate Warns Baseball on Steroids Testing", Washington Post. Thursday, March 11, 2004; Page A01. Litke, Jim. "Litke: Bad Guys Have Won War on Drugs", The Associated Press. Wednesday, February 25, 2004. McCarthy, Dan. "Eliminating the Doping Problem", The Stanford Daily. Thursday, August, 12, 2004 Mihoces, Gary Newsweek. "A Performance-Enhancing Problem", Newsweek, Inc. March 10, 2004 O 'Reilly, Bill Sunday Herald, The. "Devil 's Advocate: Scrap the drug laws and let athletes take what they want", The Sunday Herald. March 14, 2004.