Should the use of Performance Enhancing substances (eg. Anabolic steroids, HGH, EPO)

be legalized in sports?    

   

   

   

No  –  Why    

Steroids   should   continue   to   stay  illegal   in   sports.   If   people   were   to  take   steroids   this   would   be  cheating.   Even   if   everyone   would  take   the   same   amount,   the   result  would   not   be   natural   because   you  have   token   a   chemical   substance   for   your   own   body   to  react   differently   from   your   own.   So   far   in   this   sports  world,   people   consider  performance-­‐enhancing  drugs   to  be  morally  wrong  and  hasn’t  been  accepted  by  a  majority  of  the  human  population.  People  use  these  performance-­‐enhancing  drugs  to  get  a  step  ahead  on  the  other  athletes  in   their  sport.  Athletes  have  had   to  give  up   their  medals  or  accolades  they  have  achieved  because  of  their  related  uses  to  anabolic  steroids  such  as  Ben  Johnson  and  Marion  Jones   in   the   Olympic   stage.   In   the   MLB   (Major   League  Baseball),   players   such   as   Barry   Bonds,   Jose   Canseco,  Mark  McGwire,  Roger  Clemens,  and  Rafael  Palmeiro,  are  being   testified   in   federal   court   on   the   use   of   anabolic  steroids.   The   general   public   and   sport   unions   do   not  accept   the   use   of   performance-­‐enhancing   drugs   and  people   that   use   them   will   be   severely   punished.   Many  think  this  is  also  unfair  for  the  people  that  are  only  using  their   natural   abilities   in   the   sport   and   have   to   go   up  against   players   that   are   cheating.   The   USA   considers  anabolic  steroids  to  be  federal  offense,  and  so  that  rule  is  not  going   to  be   rescinded  anytime  soon,  unless  a  doctor  can  prove   for   sure   that   the  use   of   steroids   is   healthy   or  life  threatening.      

 

Yes  –  Why    

All   athletes   want   to   improve   their   results  and  for  this  to  take  place,  a  lot  of  work  needs  to   be   made.   What   steroids   are   doing   is  helping  this  natural  process.    Steroid  help  reconstruct  your  muscle   faster.  A  normal  athlete,  who  is  not  using  any  kinds  of  steroids,  needs  approximately  48hours  to  rebuild  his  muscle.  However  an  athlete  using  steroids  only  needs  24  hours.    What   this   is  helping  a   athlete  do,   is  making  his  muscle  stronger  and  bigger   in   less   time.    Basically  what  this  is  making  to  your  body  is  helping  to  grow  muscle  faster.  Steroids   could   be   legalized   because   if   all  athletes   would   use   them   equally   it   would  not  be  cheating  because  all  would  use   them  at  the  same  time  and  amount.      HGH  is  a  drug  that  helps  you  muscle  fibers  to  react  faster.  Why  should  HGH  be  legalized?    HGH   is   helping   your   organism   react   faster.  There   are   some   bodies   with   slow   muscle  fibers   and   there   are   some  with   fast  muscle  fibers.  What  HGH   is  doing   is   just   improving  those  muscle  fibers.    EPO   is  a  drug   that  gives   to  your  body  more  oxygen.   EPO   should   be   legalized   because  what   it   is   doing   is   just   improving   your  oxygen   capacity.   Therefor   you   are   just  improving  your  oxygen  capacity.    

Teacher’s opinions: Trevor Kew:

“I believe that steroids should be illegal and that (ideally) all athletes at high levels should be tested rigorously. To make this work effectively, the exact definition of what is and what is not an illegal substance must be clearly defined by the governing body of the sport, so that athletes know exactly what they must avoid. This is particularly important with "supplements" which occupy a grey area between drugs and food. I also believe that punishments should be very harsh.”  

Louis  Manzon  Tyler  Adams  Noel  Kabe  Sports  Science  Y10