Should athletes be allowed to use performance enhancing drugs?

[undeterred]

Think of it... we live in the age of high technology and medicine. Why shouldn't we have a level playing field where all competitors are allowed to use drugs to do the very best they can?

10 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Yes, Athletes should be allowed to use whatever helps them win
	1 (10%)
	No, Athletes should have to rely on their natural abilities
	9 (90%)
	DU really needs an irony icon
	0 (0%)
	OTHER
	0 (0%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
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[Honeycombe8]

1. If you're in an athletic contest, it's about the body's ability...

to do the sport, the natural talent and ability of the person, the effort and time the athlete puts into it.

OR...

You can have a contest to measure ability to take drugs, find the appropriate mix of drugs, who has the best doctor to administer the drugs, and who has taken the best drugs in the right amount for the right length of time. You don't even have to bother with using bicycles. Just take the drugs and see who gets biggest or whatever. That's easier than riding a bike.

But those contests are two separate things and are incompatible.

[tridim]

2. No..

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/c53d48a4a1/all-drug-olympics

[DonRedwood]

3. The Chinese would start them out as infants...

[enough]

4. Maybe we need two tracks. Like the distinction between amateur and professional.

One track, you are free to take anything you want, do whatever you want to your body, including robotic implants, whatever.

The other track. No drugs, etc.

Of course there would be all the same problems with enforcement, etc. But it would be interesting to see the results, and especially the results over time as the athletes age.

[undeterred]

7. Enhanced vs nonEnhanced athletes

I think the druggies would always be more prestigious and get the endorsements (based on their faster times), but they should still have a league for those few who want to stay clean.

[flvegan]

18. They do that in professional bodybuilding.

You have the "natural" and the "everything else"

Very, very big differences.

[leveymg]

5. Only if it brings inner-enlightenment and peace.

Not going to happen with steroids.



Response to poll question: "Should athletes be allowed to use performance enhancing drugs?"

[undeterred]

8. My dog was on steroids for his allergies

until I got tired of cleaning up after all his accidents.

[Aerows]

6. Absolutely not

There would be athletes dying all over the place from taking whatever they can to win. We already have problems with steroid users shortening their life spans (and having emotional problems). Giving drugs the green light would make the problem infinitely worse. Many athletes take performance enhancing drugs as it is and get away with it. If they could do so with impunity, many would destroy themselves just to win.

[rfranklin]

9. That would make it more exciting!

Cheating goes on in every sport. From NASCAR to Olympic badminton. Why not institutionalize it so that the naive amongst us are not taken advantage of with false expectations of "fair play."

I rememember being shocked by a Boy's Life article which showed how to "draw a foul" in basketball, ostensibly written by a pro icon of the 1950's. It seemed like the sleaziest way to win but it is a time honored tactic at virtually every level of the game.

[Aerows]

10. I have no idea what drawing a foul is

But a tactic used to win is a lot different from an athlete that risks their health to gain an edge.

[rfranklin]

12. If you are worried about athletes destroying themselve to win just look at the NFL...

A 2000 study surveyed 1,090 former N.F.L. players and found more than 60 percent had suffered at least one concussion in their careers and 26 percent had had three or more. Those who had had concussions reported more problems with memory, concentration, speech impediments, headaches and other neurological problems than those who had not, the survey found.

A 2007 study conducted by the University of North Carolina's Center for the Study of Retired Athletes found that of the 595 retired N.F.L. players who recalled sustaining three or more concussions on the football field, 20.2 percent said they had been found to have depression. That is three times the rate of players who have not sustained concussions.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/f/football/head_injuries/index.html

[Johonny]

11. sure, it's their sport

but almost all the athletes claim they want "clean sports" in public so I'm not sure what the issue is. A lot of these players are in unions and support drug testing. If the union came out and said screw it within medical guidance we support legal use of enhancement, I'd not give a *. But they don't and most athletes gain these drugs through illegal means, so I think it is clear no matter how many do "cheat" the rules in theory are so they don't risk illegal and dangerous activity of drug taking to do their "job". They claim to believe this and they generally state this publicly. So I don't see this as a real issue. If 90+% of these people publicly said hell no we want the drugs and the union fought publicly to be drugged up... then it would be an interesting discussion.

Now in reality... there is vastly more illegal PED in sports than the testing finds and the reporters, athletes and owners/competition committees all know it. Which leads to the more interesting question: Is honesty about PEDS in sports (and society, go to a gym sometime) better than fake bands and public statements of "cleaness" or do we like living in our clean WAR ON DRUGS world. For POT I know the answer for most DUers, for PEDs the answer seems different. But the falseness in American society seems the same. We don't want to know how many of those Olympic athletes are taking, we just want a few pariah examples to show we really care!

[undeterred]

13. Is honesty something our society values?

Or do we want to believe that some people are superhuman, even if they really are not?

[Warren DeMontague]

14. Sometimes.

[madinmaryland]

15. Fuck NO.

[flvegan]

16. Performance enhancing "drugs" should be broken down further.

Adding "high technology and medicine" to the mix suggests "drugs" could include all sorts of supplements that aren't drugs.

If you want to make it pure athletic ability v outside enhancement, then you've got a whole new discussion.

[WillowTree]

17. The "level playing field" is the one where everyone relies on their own inherent abilities.

[MrSlayer]

19. Yes. Pro athletes should.

Performance enhancers don't make you better at your sport, they don't give you skill or make you smarter. PEDs did not make Barry Bonds able to hit the ball better, that was his natural talent. They did help him hit it further. They simply make you stronger, give you more stamina and lessen your recovery time from workouts and injuries. All things we should want from our multi-million dollar athletes. They help keep you on the field/ice/court.

I scoff at the notion that professional sports are somehow sacred bastions of integrity, it's a joke. They are entertainment and nothing more. Everyone has been cheating in one shape or form since day one. I want to see the top dollar athletes that I pay top dollar to be entertained by give the best possible performance.

I'm against them for amatuer and Olympic athletes. I'm against pros in the Olympics.

[tama]

20. Yup

As long as they don't perform.

Or what the fuck do I care, I don't watch sports anyway and grownups are free to destroy their bodies with any drugs they want.

[kentauros]

21. I'll change my vote to Yes on one condition:

That I'm not subject to random drug tests for an office cubicle job.

[SmileyRose]

22. An environment where an athlete feels they have no other choice is a real problem.

I don't agree with it being illegal. I do agree with them being thrown out of the sport and their records wiped from the books.

[Care Acutely]

23. Time for me to tun in. I read "Should Atheists be allowed to use performance enhancing drugs?"

And I'm thinking.... " Like Viagra?"

[undeterred]

27. Atheists should use PEDs as an alternative to prayer?

I wonder how many of the athletes who "give God the Glory" are using testosterone.

[bhikkhu]

24. No - if its not about fitness, what's the point?

...and being a cyclist and having followed cycling for many years, its nice to think that things are better than they were - a little bit at least.

[Skeptical George]

25. It's entertainment

Do I care if a comic who makes me laugh snorted coke before he took the stage? Not really.

[Politicalboi]

26. I voted no, but

They shouldn't be tested for Marijuana, or if it's in their system, they should still be able to participate. If Michael Phelps tested positive for MJ, he should still be able to swim. Steroids are different.