Steroids in Sports

Performance – Enhancing Drugs in Sports

Over the past few decades there has been a rising epidemic of professional athletes and the use of illegal steroids and PED’s (Performance-Enhancing Drugs). This topic has become a very debatable subject. A person can look at this matter one of two ways. Either the fans do not care, or are outraged. For the fans who do not care, they only think that the athlete is causing physical harm to himself, but support that the athlete is doing dynamic things in the game, making money for the team and selling out stadiums. As for the fans against this will argue that this is cheating, illegal and immoral. Whether you are for or against this, let us explore the moral and legal dilemmas that go along with the use of steroids in sports.

First and foremost, steroids are considered a controlled substance. The possession or distribution of steroids is punishable under state and federal laws. Even though these are controlled substances and illegal to possess, athletes still continue to use them. This subject in itself causes controversy. Athletes like Barry Bonds, or Roger Clemens who have been caught with steroids, were never criminally prosecuted in court. So just because they are professional athletes, does this put them above the law? Granted they lost their spot in the Pro Baseball Hall of Fame for this, but why weren’t they criminally prosecuted when the law clearly states that this is illegal?

One would think that just because steroids are illegal, that it is morally wrong to use them. Seems to be true, but there is a loophole, such as the situation with Hall of Famer Mark McGwire. Mark McGuire first began his steroid use during the 1989 season. Mark was injured and just sitting on the bench, watching his team lose. He knew he needed to be playing and could do nothing about it from the dugout. Mark McGwire knew that steroids were illegal and against MLB policy, but he thought he had good moral justification...