WI Crippler
DP Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2006
- Messages
- 15,427
- Reaction score
- 9,577
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Centrist
Legalizing performance enhancing drugs in sports would mean that athletes who do not want to harm their bodies would be at a competitive disadvantage.
The disdain for such an action is of course because of their usage in athletic competition, which obviously makes fans feel cheated. However, if they were legal, it obviously wouldn't be possible for a player to actually "cheat" by using them since every other player would have the same opportunity. I used to be an avid proponent of the "legalize and tax" perspective, but as I've become aware of more forms of market failure, I've become aware of more deficiencies with that. I'd say that I still broadly favor legalization, however.
Reports indicate that use of anabolic steroids produces increases in lean muscle mass, strength, and ability to train longer and harder. Many health hazards of short-term effects are reversible. The major effects of anabolic steroid use include liver tumors, jaundice, fluid retention, and high blood pressure. Additional side effects include the following: for men shrinking of the testicles, reduced sperm count, infertility, baldness, development of breasts; for women growth of facial hair, changes in or cessation of the menstrual cycle, deepened voice; for adolescents growth halted prematurely through premature skeletal maturation and accelerated puberty changes. Researchers report that users may suffer from paranoid jealousy, extreme irritability, delusions, and impaired judgment stemming from feelings of invincibility
Their status as "performance-enhancing" is irrelevant to me, as vitamins, legal supplements, and even training are "performance-enhancing in a sense"; the basis of athletic competition is centered around performance enhancement.
The most significant effects of steroids (heart damage, "roid rage") are disputed and the latter seems to be a varying effect more than anything else, and while steroids can cause increased blood pressure and cholesterol levels, those are not deficiencies that could not be alleviated to some extent by a regularly exercising athlete anyway. The possible adverse effects of human growth hormone are even less apparent. All in all, users of these substances aren't comparable to "junkies," and often use them in a well-calibrated and researched manner.
As it is, athletes in particularly arduous sports place themselves at a higher risk of harming their bodies than the normal individual could be expected to be subject to anyway.
In another thread, there was a discussion about the use of performance enhancing drugs in atheltic events. That brought to my mind a question.....
It seems that our society is leaning towards favoring the legalization of recreational drug use, however slowly. But with regards to the use of PEDs by professional(or amatuer) athletes, there seems to almost be immediate and universal disdain for such an action.
Where do you stand on the issue, and why?
Poll to follow shortly.....
There are so many holes in your argument, I don't know where to begin.
First fan feel cheated, because the athletes are cheating.
Putting their health at risk for the sole purpose of making more money or breaking records. Is that what sports have become? Say you have a kid who's a great high school athlete and want to pursue it farther, but will not get anywhere without taking roids. Would you be okay with that? Especially considering the consequences of using (and this is only short-term effects):
Here's a lot more info on the ill-effects of steroids:
Anabolic steroid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
So I ask again... would you want your kid to be pressured into taking this drug in order to pursue his athletic dream???
You got to be kidding me, LOL. Vitamins??? :doh
It's like claiming an athlete is cheating because he eats all of his veggies, LOL. Give me a break.
They are legal, because taking extra vitamin C will not make you hit more homies.
I once heard Stallone quoted in support of HGH, claiming that unless it was abused, it had no lasting negative side effects.
Any truth to that?
I think it remains to be seen. Its a relatively new PED(not really new, but new in its popularity amongst athletes) that not many athletic companies test for. I don't even know if they can test for it yet.
Does it make your dick shrink, give you testi-cancer of want to rip a baby in half, or what?
I have no personal experience with HGH, so I couldn't say. If it makes your penis smaller, just counter that with extenze. Ripping babies in half, you don't need steroids to feel like doing that.
Does it make your dick shrink, give you testi-cancer of want to rip a baby in half, or what?
Actually, steroids themselves don't make your dick shrink. The androgenic effects make your balls shrink...if that makes you feel better. :rofl
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?