BLOG 5:

Response to:

http://sportsanddrugs.procon.org/viewanswers.asp?questionID=1200

Should performance enhancing drugs (such as steroids) be accepted in sports?

Jasmin Guénette, MA, Academic Programs Director of the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University, wrote the following in his June 18, 2006 article titled "In Defence of Steroids," published in the webszine Le Québécois Libre:


"Now, should baseball-or any other professional league-ban performance-enhancing drugs? The answer is yes, if they want to...

Private companies and associations should be able to define what rules will govern them without any intervention from politicians. A private association has no obligation to accept me if I don't agree to their rules, just as I should not be forced to join any associations I don't think are fit for me. This logic should also prevail when it comes to the sale and use of steroids. If a group of people, let's say Bodybuilders and Co., think performance-enhancing drugs are OK, they should be left alone if they don't force anybody to follow their path. Sadly, this is not how things are done. Today, the debate about steroid use is widely dominated by morally superior do-gooders who believe it's not right for an athlete to use products that help him or her perform better...

I am not suggesting that people should take steroids or use other drugs. But just as I don't want other people choosing what's right for me, I don't want to choose what's right for others. This is what respect is all about; not forcing other people to think like you, to act like you and to obey laws simply because vote-seeking politicians and their allies think some products should be illegal."


Believing:

I agree with the above-mentioned statement – athletes have to buy steroids on the black market because of illegality of performance enhancing drugs. This is certainly harmful to their health since such drugs are not controlled, and their dosage is not monitored. The performance enhancing drugs should be allowed in order help the athletes not to overdose and not to cause damage to themselves.


Doubting:

I disagree with the statement because people should have some limits for their needs which are destroying their own health. If everybody would be allowed to do everything they wish, then, what would be the use of rules and restrictions? Drugs break and damage person’s health so badly that it no longer works. The government should intervene in this in order to prevent chaos in society. If there would be no punishments, how could the government guarantee the healthy generation? If drugs would be legalized in sports, this would cause the chain reaction: the illegal substances like cocaine or heroine used for pleasure would not be the barrier for people anymore because governmental permission of drugs for the sportsmen to hold the organism active and “healthy” would mean that every kind of drugs could be consumed by people.