Drug Use in Sports
Akins Banton
Writing One
October 17, 2017
Research Paper
Drug Use in Sports.
One of the major problems in today's sports word is the use of performance enhancing drugs. Professional athletes are always looking to get a leg up on the competition, but this is taking it too far. Sports enhancement drugs are special drugs that are used to heighten an athlete normal capabilities. If these drugs were allowed, we would see much closer races, world records broken, stronger, faster and more skilled athletes, more exciting viewing and increased ticket sales and revenues. There would also be an increase in the amount of athletes that are across the world. However, there are also many disadvantages of allowing drugs in sports. There is the cost of buying and administering the drugs, the unknown side effects of using the drugs. It also makes it even harder for new athletes to reach the top level of their respective sport choice. People see this topic as a major issue, as many people believe that drug takers gain a huge advantage over competitors and are therefore "cheats".
There are many unhealthy side effects from the use of performance-enhancing drugs. In article I read, physician, Angela Christian said “These behaviors can include "steroid rage" or "roid rage," an inappropriate intense anger response. Although these side effects are indirect they are still life threatening. Liver failure and increased chances of heart attacks are two of the most harmful side effects. These side effects can cause anyone who uses them to never be able to play again. Another effect is permanently deformed bones. Not only can the deformation of bones prevent you from playing further it can prevent you from doing the simple things in life like walking or feeding yourself. Two other side effects are damage to your kidneys and muscles. Those who take performance-enhancing drugs are not looking at the consequences.
There are three mostly used performance enhancers that are used by athletes: Amphetamines, Anabolic Steroids, and The Human Growth Hormone pill. In almost every sport there is some form of performance enhancer; one of the more common sports of all is the one that requires power and strength to carry the activity out. There are a few different ways to ingest these drugs: orally, by injection, and there are also creams and gels. Sports officials today are having more problems with performance enhancers because of the growing rate of the three most common performance enhancers: Amphetamines, Anabolic Steroids, and The Human Growth Hormone pill. These drugs are found in football, baseball, and even the Olympics, and no matter how young or old there are a lot of users. Performance enhancers are in just about all athletic organizations such as: pro sports, college sports, and high school sports.
All athletes feel pressure to get faster, stronger, and slimmer. Why would an athlete want to spend all those countless hours in a gym when they can easily inject this dirt into them? No athlete has time to spend in the gym, its either now or never for them. An interview was done with Malik Palmer (Ancilla soccer Captain) at the Ancilla soccer field. He had a strict adherence to the sports enhancement drugs being used in various sporting activities. When asked the reason for this adamant belief in not taking drugs his response was “I have been working too hard for far too long for all the opportunity given onto him be taken by him making a mistake he could have simple avoided knowing the risk if tested and proven positive”.
Malik being from a country like Jamaica where many athletes that are engaged in various different sports being tested and coming out positive and being banned for life or a long band span, he knew the risk of doing it and was doing everything I his power to prevent the situation. He also made mention of some of the long term effects in will have on an athlete’s body and that this was also one of the reasons why he is so strict in the use of drugs as an athlete.
[pic 1]
This is an image of an athlete that has been banned for using sports enhancement drugs breaking the world record. (Athlete’s name Ben Johnson)
In the article written by the author Edmond Angling, it can be noted by the statistics attained that there are a lot more persons that are starting to use the drug enhancement drug methods “to do the impossible.”. In the article, the most recent enhancement drug incident was one that happened at the 2008 Olympics where the athlete named Nesta Carta from Jamaica was tested positive and found in the year 2017 as an enhancing drug. This having his fellow member of the raced getting stripped of their gold medals and the achievements of that race in which they also had the world record.