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Performance Enhancing Drugs

The phrase “Performance Enhancing Drugs” is one we’re all familiar with; from baseball to football, to scandals in the cycling world and everything in-between, we’re all familiar with the phrase. There are many drugs that may be aptly labeled performance enhancing drugs, anabolic steroids and human growth hormone being the most commonly discussed but make no mistake, there are many others that fall into the category of performance enhancing drugs. In most sporting organizations the use of performance enhancing drugs is prohibited as is their use in general in the United States but for many this illegality is largely ignored as well as contradictory to common sense. Is this way of thinking justified; that is what we wish to discuss here today.

Performance Enhancing Drugs: The Basic Idea:

The idea is simple; with the use of various performance enhancing drugs one can increase their performance, they can “Enhance” it beyond what it would be otherwise. It is a practice frowned upon by many but let’s be honest, when it comes to the sporting world is it really all that different from many other forms of practice? Take two individuals in any sport, both who are genetically very similar; if one eats a better diet, if one eats foods on a regular basis that possess higher anabolic values the individual who does so will surpass the other in performance; he has enhanced his performance. Has this individual done anything out of the reach of the other individual? Of course not and according to most sporting organizations he has done nothing wrong. Take the same two individuals and replace highly anabolic food with performance enhancing drugs and you’ve now crossed a line deemed almost evil. If you ask many athletes this doesn’t make a lot of sense.

Why They’re Prohibited:

In most instances performance enhancing drugs are prohibited in sports because they are deemed an unfair advantage and one can’t argue, they do provide an advantage. Further, if a particular sporting organization wishes to deem them illegal in their sport, if their prohibited use falls within the rules breaking this rule is cheating; this should be simple to understand. However, as evident by their lack of enforcement in many sporting organizations it is a “rule” most organizations really don’t care anything about; it is largely accepted as part of the game; both football and baseball are two large organizations that prove this to be true. However, with increasing pressure by the U.S. congress most organizations have had to tighten the reigns in order to provide appeasement. According to the U.S. congress performance enhancing drugs cannot be used because they present a serious health risk to those who partake and this is where the real argument begins.

No one will disagree, abuse of performance enhancing drugs can lead to health problems and even though problems may arise the extent has never been proven. Abuse aside; responsible use of performance enhancing drugs has yet to show severe negative health effects; there has yet to be a death attributed to performance enhancing drugs such as anabolic steroids or human growth hormone, not one. Further, although there are only a few in-depth studies surrounding these drugs the in-depth and unbiased studies have all produced one similar result, that being positive results.

The Bottom Line:

The truth is simple, where the truth lies regarding performance enhancing drugs really doesn’t matter; most of society has opted for hysteria over logic and reason and it is because of this truth they remain generally illegal. Because of their largely illegal nature the use of performance enhancing drugs can lead to a lot of unwelcomed consequences far worse than any side-effect you’ve ever heard of due to their use. If you decide performance enhancing drugs are for you, you need to understand these consequences, as they can vary depending on where you live.

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