Should the use of performance enhancing drugs in sports be legalized? - Sports and Drugs - ProCon.org. Should performance enhancing drugs in sport be legalized under medical supervision? (A review) Journal Title (Medline/Pubmed accepted abbreviation): Sports Med.
Year: 2011 Volume: 41 Page numbers: 167-176 It is believed that some of the greatest sports achievements made were possible due to use of performance-enhancing substances. Some argue that permitting the use of performance-enhancing substances would eliminate “the fairness argument” since the use of drugs would no longer be considered cheating. Spectators are sometimes skeptical of great achievements and write them off because they may be attributed to use of illegal substances. Advocates of legalization argue that sports are inherently risky; performance-enhancing substances would simply be another risk associated with participation in sports.
If performance-enhancing drugs do become legalized, opponents argue that it would not change the outcome of any competition. Advocates of legalization argue that allowing performance-enhancing drugs would make sports fairer. How Performance-Enhancing Drugs Work" "If I could give you a pill that would make you an Olympic champion -- and also kill you in a year -- would you take it?
" Dr. Gabe Mirkin asked competitive runners that question in advance of a Washington, D.C., road race in 1967. Of the approximately 100 athletes who returned Mirkin's questionnaire, more than half responded that they would take the pill. The prevalence of performance-enhancing drugs in sports has increased in the 43 years since Mirkin, a physician and sports medicine expert, handed out his survey. The desire to win is, naturally, ever present while, at the same time, new research and technologies have expanded the number of options for cheating your way onto the podium.
Some athletes get away with using drugs; others wind up suspended from their sport or even in jail, and still others die prematurely. 4 Unsuspecting Performance Enhancing Drugs. The Movement to Drug Test Amateur Racers. Elizabeth Morse Hill is a 34-year-old building contractor and competitive cyclist. She has raced in hundreds of amateur and semipro events over the past 14 years. In all that time, she has never taken a drug test—she rides mostly for fun, after all.
But following a third-place finish at the Tampa Twilight Criterium this March, she was greeted by a chaperone, volunteering for the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), who told Morse Hill she needed to take a drug test. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Morse Hill told the volunteer. But the screening was no joke. Like many amateur athletes, Morse Hill knew little about what constituted a banned substance. Over the past few years, USADA has tested non-elite athletes in increasing numbers—and with resounding success. Is testing of amateurs warranted? Of course, the new focus on amateur doping has some wondering whether participation will further wane because of testing.
Don’t expect USADA to lend a sympathetic ear. Doping in Amateur Cycling. Andrew Tilin Tilin, post-testosterone, near his home in Northern California.
NOW I KNOW how Floyd Landis feels. A few years back, I had an idea for a magazine article: I'd profile an ordinary weekend athlete who cheats by taking performance-enhancing drugs. Although I found evidence of what I call citizen doping, I could never pin down someone who both fit the bill and would cooperate, so I decided to cut out the middleman and do the cheating myself.
Under medical supervision, I took testosterone for about a year, even as I continued to train and compete as an amateur bike racer. My experiment evolved into a book project, and I soon learned plenty about doping and the facts and myths that surround it. As word about my book project spread, I was treated to a small-scale version of the wrath Landis experienced when it was announced, shortly after his Tour victory, that he'd tested positive for synthetic testosterone. Of course, any similarities between Landis and me end there. I got warm.