Should performance enhancing drugs be legalized?

Performance Enhancing Drugs / Wordonfire.org

Performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) are very prevalent in sports, but only a small majority of players are caught using them. PEDs are considered to be unsportsmanlike in their use because of the unfair advantage that they offer. In addition, there are many risks in taking them, like psychological issues and permanent nerve damage. Knowing the risks, multiple players still use these drugs to gain an upper hand.

With so many players getting caught using PEDs, some have come to the conclusion that PEDs should be allowed in professional sports. In Major League Baseball alone, 31 athletes have been caught doping and in the National Football League over 20 athletes have also been caught doping. On a global scale, the Olympics and the Tour de France potentially face a great doping problem.

“Eighty percent of the Tour de France medalists between 1996 and 2010 have been similarly tainted by doping',” according to a 2013 USADA report on Lance Armstrong.

By legalizing PEDs and allowing all players to use them, the drugs could be monitored and regulated. This would allow players to take the drugs in safer and more knowledgeable conditions, leveling the playing field for all players. By doping, players could hit harder, run and react faster, putting the game on a higher level.

Extreme records could be achieved and this is shown through top athletes who have taken PEDs, like seven consecutive winner of the Tour de France, Lance Armstrong. Even though legalizing these drugs seem like it would make the game better, it wouldn't fix all of the issues that already exist. In addition, it would bring forth new problems.

If PEDs become regulated, they are still dangerous and can injure players. After seeing their heroes take drugs, it may influence children to take drugs as well. There are many side effects to taking drugs like heart and circulatory problems. Knowing these severe risks, it is hard to justify the legalization of these drugs

Allowing PEDs to be available to all athletes may not even level the playing field, since some players have a moral code against using drugs or are scared of the risks it presents. Sports are considered to be so sacred because they showcase the pinnacle of human skill. By taking drugs, it would no longer be about how far a human can push himself, but on well we can create them.

“We want humans to do superhuman things -- but only in a very human way. Yes, you can try to make steroids legal. That doesn't mean they will ever seem OK,” Michael Rosenberg wrote in a 2010 Sports Illustrated article.

Written by Justin Wu and Kofi Odame