Ethical Questions on Doping Answered:

“Remember that athletes don’t take these drugs to level the playing field, they do it to get an advantage. And if everyone else is doing what they’re doing, then instead of taking 10 grams or 10 cc’s or whatever it is, they’ll take 20 or 30 or 40, and a vicious circle simply gets bigger. The end game will be an activity that is increasingly violent, extreme, and meaningless, practiced by a class of chemical and or genetic mutant gladiators.  The use of performance-enhancing drugs is not accidental; it is planned and deliberate with the sole objective of getting an unfair advantage.”

“Performance enhancers, like steroids and other forms of doping, have a serious negative effect on long-term health. For the users of these enhancers are hurting themselves in the long run without on the average improving their short-term rewards from athletic competition, as long as competitors also use harmful enhancers. This is the main rationale for trying to ban steroids and other forms of doping from athletic competitions.”

“One athlete’s decision to use performance enhancing drugs also exerts a powerful effect on the other athletes in the competition. As reported by Sports Illustrated, half of all recently surveyed Olympic athletes admitted that they would be willing to take a drug — even if it would kill them eventually — as long as it would let them win every event they entered five years in a row. This type of ‘win at any cost’ mentality is pervading sports at all levels of competition and results in athletes feeling coerced to use substances just to remain on par with other athletes.”

“For many male high school athletes, pro athletes are major influences. They are the role models. They choose the jersey numbers of their favorite professional players. They emulate their training regimens. They emulate their style of play. And they are influenced by their drug use. When a professional athlete admits to using steroids, the message young athletes hear is not always the one that is intended. Young athletes often believe that steroid use by their role models gives them permission to use. That it is simply part of what one must do to become an elite athlete.”

Even though skill, strategy, and effort would still play a central role in athletic success, pharmaceutical technology and athletes’ bodily responses to it would also play a significant role. It is not that people are not interested in science fairs; it is just that people expect sport to be a different kind of test, one in which athletes’ own qualities are the major determinants of success-not how good their doping regime is.”