Athletes and Anabolic Steroids

The use of drugs in sports is so rampant that a research (Di Pasquale, 1992b) found that most athletes used them to remain competitive. Their willful use however is labeled as cheating by all the sports bodies and adds a stigma to an athletes reputation if they are caught using them. Come Olympics and you can be sure some athletes are bound to be caught and loose not only be stripped of their records and medal but also loose their reputation and be barred from sports for a a few years. The list is endless and almost all sports have had their tall heroes fall from epitome of glory to disgrace – some have even committed suicide unable to handle the backlash.

The ethics of drugs to enhance performance of a person has been fiercely debated. Some say that even drugs for ‘Erectile Dysfunction’ such as Viagra or Sildenaphil or Tadalaphil enhance sex performance and can often cause harm to the user. Some people think that if sex were a sport these drugs would be banned as well.

Some experts have believed legislation against drugs in sports has increased an already thriving black market and organized crime and drug education has been highly ineffective (Di Pasquale, 1992b). However as the incentive for winning are so high that drug usage will never stop. (Di Pasquale, 1992b; Landry & Primos, 1990).

Di Pasquale (1992b) has proposed -

"Education, an anti-prohibitionist stance, and extensive, realistic, and knowledgeable medical input and monitoring would make a substantial difference in how and when drugs are used. The result would be fewer short and long term side effects (both due to excessive use of these compounds and to contaminated or dangerous black market drugs), less crime and violence, and likely, in the long term, a decrease in the overall use of performance-enhancing compounds."