Drugs in Sport

Shane Warne, Andre Agassi, Marion Jones, Lance Armstrong, Ben Cousins. What comes to mind when we hear these names? Legends, greats, cheaters, or drug users? These champions in their respective sports have been role models to us, where we have modelled ourselves and watched them dominate their respective sports. But however all of these champions are just a few names associated with illegal performance enhancing drugs. Today in any sport around the world there will be traces and connections to performance enhancing drugs, some of the legends of sport are even connected with drugs! How do we prevent these incidents continuing, the only way is to increase penalties to a 6 year minimum from competition which will seriously deter athletes contemplating cheating the game.

The road to professional sports is so competitive and long that everyone is looking for that “edge”. But the “edge” of illegal performance enhancing drugs is not a fair advantage. Illegal performance enhancing drug use occurs for several reasons. For one, they really work to increase performance and recovery and athletes are pressured to use because “everyone else is doing it”. They are also readily available with a wide assortment of many different kinds to chose from including steroids, diuretics and narcotics just to name a few of a very long list. Trent Tschirgi, part of the University of Maryland Office of Substance Abuse Studies writes that “there is evidence that steroids enhance muscle growth if taken along with rigorous physical training and a high protein diet”. Along with the proven results of success and fame that comes with the drug users who become greats. Performance enhancing drugs are easily available even at the lowest levels of athletes with members of gyms and sportsclubs been offered them every day. At the pro level it is even easier to get a hold of drugs because of this added spotlight and exposure but also the pressure to perform.

Drug use in sports is seen as unfair by...