Should Performance-Enhancing Drugs Be Legalized In Sport?
Should Performance-Enhancing Drugs be legalised in Sport?
Performance enhancing drugs have been illegal thorughout the Olympics since the International Amateur Athletic Federation banned them in 1928. Although ways of testing and taking illegal perfomance-enhancing drugs have become more effective, it is not a new thing and has been around for a long time. In 1992, Vicky Rabinowicz interviewed small groups of athletes. She found that Olympic athletes, in general, believed that most successful athletes were using banned substances.
Recently, people have been wondering why the use of performance-enhancing drugs is still illegal when times have changed drastically since the law was first put in place. Many people argue that using the drugs is part of the evolution of sports, like improving training techniques, desgning new technology and making the Olympics much …show more content…
more elaborate to attract sponsers. Elite athletes can earn tens of millions of dollars every year in prize money alone, and millions more in sponsorships and endorsements, yet the penalty for using performance-enhancing drugs is so small (like a ban on competing in sports for a year), that it seems like the most appealing option for most athletes.
Another reason to leagalise perfomance enhancing drugs would be because many athletes already use them and therefore gain an advantage over their fellow competetors, as not all drugs are easily detectable.
The legalisation of the drugs would help level out the playing field and create equality throught the games.
The most common counter argument to that however would be for economic reasons. The fact that the Olympic games are already comercialised and the athletes need sponsers and endorsers to get anywhere would help add to the fact that if the drugs were legalised the winners would not only be the athletes with the most expensive sponserships, but the athletes with the most expensive drugs.
Also, many people argue that the long-term effects of performance enhancing drugs may be potentially fatal or harmful, causing the user to either die young or suffer irrepairable damage to their body. Many of the atheletes also may not be willing to take drugs but be forced to by their trainer or the governement or simply just comply with using them due to the new Olympic standards set by those using the
drugs.
Lastly, the Olympic games are very inspirational to children and the recent slogan of the London 2012 games was “inspire a generation”. If performance enhancng drugs were to be legalised, the Olympics would no longer be inspirational and would be sending the wrong message to the young, vunerable children who will believe that using drugs will be the right thing to do in the future.
To conclude, I think the use of performance-enhancing drugs should not be legalised because the repercussions are much more damaging than the reasons to use them are beneficial.
Performance enhancing drugs have been illegal thorughout the Olympics since the International Amateur Athletic Federation banned them in 1928. Although ways of testing and taking illegal perfomance-enhancing drugs have become more effective, it is not a new thing and has been around for a long time. In 1992, Vicky Rabinowicz interviewed small groups of athletes. She found that Olympic athletes, in general, believed that most successful athletes were using banned substances.
Recently, people have been wondering why the use of performance-enhancing drugs is still illegal when times have changed drastically since the law was first put in place. Many people argue that using the drugs is part of the evolution of sports, like improving training techniques, desgning new technology and making the Olympics much …show more content…
more elaborate to attract sponsers. Elite athletes can earn tens of millions of dollars every year in prize money alone, and millions more in sponsorships and endorsements, yet the penalty for using performance-enhancing drugs is so small (like a ban on competing in sports for a year), that it seems like the most appealing option for most athletes.
Another reason to leagalise perfomance enhancing drugs would be because many athletes already use them and therefore gain an advantage over their fellow competetors, as not all drugs are easily detectable.
The legalisation of the drugs would help level out the playing field and create equality throught the games.
The most common counter argument to that however would be for economic reasons. The fact that the Olympic games are already comercialised and the athletes need sponsers and endorsers to get anywhere would help add to the fact that if the drugs were legalised the winners would not only be the athletes with the most expensive sponserships, but the athletes with the most expensive drugs.
Also, many people argue that the long-term effects of performance enhancing drugs may be potentially fatal or harmful, causing the user to either die young or suffer irrepairable damage to their body. Many of the atheletes also may not be willing to take drugs but be forced to by their trainer or the governement or simply just comply with using them due to the new Olympic standards set by those using the
drugs.
Lastly, the Olympic games are very inspirational to children and the recent slogan of the London 2012 games was “inspire a generation”. If performance enhancng drugs were to be legalised, the Olympics would no longer be inspirational and would be sending the wrong message to the young, vunerable children who will believe that using drugs will be the right thing to do in the future.
To conclude, I think the use of performance-enhancing drugs should not be legalised because the repercussions are much more damaging than the reasons to use them are beneficial.