In SportThere are many powerful forces in the world, but few are as powerful in sportsas this.
It is so powerful that 50% of athletes would keep using this knowing itwould kill them. This force is so powerful that 40% of professional athletes usethem (Bohan 21). This force is performance enhancing drugs. There are manyreasons for taking performance enhancing drugs. The first is and most obviousfacto is the improved performance. Another is pressure for results.
That factoris the leading reason for taking drugs. Another factor is money. Since the mainusers of the drugs are professional athletes, who need results for money, theyare usually the select few that can afford them. The reasons for not using thedrugs are more numerous and considerably more dangerous than the reasons fortaking them. The most sever, of course, is death. One example of this tragic endis Florence Griffith Joyners death.
Though she was tested and found with nodrugs in her system, she was rumored to have taken small doses of anabolicsteroids during her illustrious track and field career. Another reason is manyhealth risks, many not resulting in death though. These include stoppage ofgrowth, loss of bodily functions, dehydration, and many more. Plus, these drugsare illegal in sports. Many are available only through a doctors prescriptionfor certain diseases. The sport that sees the highest rate of competitors usingperformance enhancing drugs is bodybuilding.
Many of these athletes were skinnyand not very popular during their high school years. They use the steroids tobulk up and create a shield against the criticism. Due to this fact ofpsychological instability and the effect of the steroids, a violent person iscreated from a once calm person. This has been illustrated in the many murdersinvolving bodybuilders recently. An example of one of these murders was themurder of Kristy Ramsey.
She was engaged to Gordon Kimbrough, with whom she wonthe 1991 USA pairs bodybuilding title. After she admitted to have an affair,Kimbrough strangled and stabbed her twice, and afterwards tried to dill himself. “According to a family member, Kimbrough was meek and shy when not on steroidsand became short-tempered and violent when using them” (Harris 99). There aremany types of performance enhancing drugs.
Stimulants, which includeamphetamines, cause you to “speed up” too much. In large doses stimulantsoverride a persons normal felling of exhaustion, which causes people to pushthemselves too hard. Strong painkillers are another type of performanceenhancing drug. The increase a persons pain barrier and are extremelyaddictive, resulting in permanent injury. Anabolic steroids cause heart attacks,growth stoppage and violent outbursts. Women develop deep voices and facial hairif taken too long.
Many snooker (pool) players use beta-blockers, which slowsthe beating of the heart. This helps them stay calm in pressure situations. Aside effect of this drug is bonchospasm, which causes the lungs to tighten,making it difficult to breath. Diuretics are used to remove water from the body,which improves muscle tone and subtracts weight from water in the body. Takingthis drug can cause serious dehydration, sometimes resulting in death. I believeall performance enhancing drugs should be banned from sports.
There are just toomany risks to athletes taking them. But that is a very unlikely scenario, mainlybecause testing cant keep up with the new drugs being produced. New drugs arecreated everyday. This is illustrated by Mark McGwires historic home runbinge. Before this year, nobody knew about androstenedione. McGwire admitted totaking the drug, which helps build muscle.
His record will forever have anasterisk beside it because of that fact. But if these drugs are banned, you willsoon see all of the asterisk disappear from the record books. BibliographyBohan, Janet. Drugs in Sports.
New York: Broderbund Publishing Company, 1988. Harris, Gary. “Brady Hits Em in Bunches. ” Sports Illustrated.
April 28,1997, pp. 96-106. Reilly, Rick. “Muscle Murders.
” Sports Illustrated. May18, 1998, pp. 99-107. Encarta Encyclopedia.
Microsoft, 1998.
