points for permitting peds

as was stated in the very first post on this blog, i want this blog to stimulate conversation, which includes bringing together as many viewpoints as possible. as such, the following is a guest post from a good friend and colleague, who i hope will keep lending their voice to the conversation.

---

this post was not written in order to take sides. rather, this was written in order to present a topic relative to that of the usage of peds in professional and olympic sports that is controversial in nature, but requires discussion. we are all aware that ped usage has occurred in multiple professional and olympic sports, has been investigated, constantly tested for, and essentially “banned” for competitive use. however, we are also all aware that when being honest with ourselves, peds still play a relevant role in today’s professional athletic settings despite extensive screening and random drug testing policies. advances in technology and a greater understanding of timing issues associated with ped testing has allowed professional athletes to successfully (and some unsuccessfully) use peds for the purpose of maximizing their performance.

the most recent events in russia paint a clear picture that this still occurs present day. not only in russia, here in the united states, both football and baseball players, in addition to some olympic athletes, continue to be suspended for usage of banned substances. professional athletes’ continued usage of peds indicates that (1) they obviously think the pros of taking banned substances outweigh the cons, and (2) they believe that despite newly renowned screening and testing processes, they still have a significant chance of not getting caught. it’s apparent that ped usage will never stop and that technology will continually become more sophisticated in order to avoid positive drug tests. this brings up the primary focal point of this post: should peds be allowed in sport? and if so, regulated to what extent? below, i will present a number of potential positive aspects of legalizing ped use in professional athletics. while some pros can potentially be considered cons, we’ll have to leave that up to public opinion.

1) leveling the playing field

although a small percentage of athletes have won the genetically lottery, most athletes are on relatively equal footing when it comes to physiology and the quantity and quality of their training, with only miniscule, fractions of a percent difference between the top level competitors. when one athlete is taking a banned substance, they are inevitably doing so because it will give them an advantage over their competition. by permitting peds and making them available to all athletes, each athlete can choose to once again compete on a level playing field – or at least know why they are consistenly being bested by those athletes on peds.

2) bodily autonomy

it can be argued that banning peds takes away a human right. ultimately, athletes and humans in general have a choice as to what they put in their bodies. by banning peds, this right is stripped. to my knowledge, peds are the only drugs that are banned by professional organizations, and we are not even 100% sure of their long-term side effects. we as a society are perfectly aware of the detrimental effects that cigarette smoking and tobacco and general can have on an individual’s overall health. however, this substance is not banned. why ban substances where the effects are not necessarily known? if allowed to use, athletes can use them up to a certain extent before exceeding regulatory levels while those who oppose still have the right to refrain from using peds.

3) research on long-term side effects

This may not be the most ethical reason to conduct research, but legalizing peds would finally allow researchers to objectively research the long-term side effects that have been said to occur with ped usage. with peds being banned at this point in time, there is no way to do the research to truly determine if their usage causes what some claim. by legalizing the usage of peds, researchers can track these side effects, such as the few stated above in the previous paragraph. important questions could finally be answered. what mechanism from a particular ped causes a particular side effect? is a combination of drugs? we don’t know. we need to the research to be conducted before any validated statements can be made.

4) entertainment value

with superior human performance comes greater entertainment. obviously, ped usage provides spectators with spectacular human performances that are most definitely entertaining. given, just because a cyclist puts up a superhuman performance, does not mean he or she is using peds, especially without evidence against them. regardless, the best example that i can give of peds providing a dramatic increase in entertainment value, and in some ways saving a sport, is major league baseball. in 1994, the infamous strike occurred, threatening baseballs regular season and their popularity. this showed when the season finally got under way, exhibiting lower ticket sales, attendance, and overall notoriety. despite this, there were 3 distinct individuals that single handedly brought baseball back into the spotlight; maybe not in 1994, but definitely in the future. these 3 were mark mcgwire, sammy sosa, and barry bonds (and arguably others, such as conseco). as these individuals (essentially the godfathers of steroids) began bashing homeruns, baseball revenue dramatically increased. fans were finally entertained again and baseball was back, at least until ped users were caught. long story short, society loves excitement, the big homeruns, the record-breaking sprints; and they pay about anything to watch it.

5) black market ped usage

one reason ped usage is hard to stop to this day is that they are still easily accessible to athletes, especially on the black market. is this a safe practice? definitely not. if professional sport organizations were to legalize and regulate peds, the black market would disappear, as would the sketchy nature of the black market. when purchasing on the black market, nobody knows how the drug is made, what setting the making of that drug was in (sterile or not), and what ingredients were used (some can be more harmful than others). not to mention it is extremely expensive, but that’s a moot point once an athlete has made their descision to dope. allowing peds would eliminate the dangerous nature of the black market, arguably keeping athletes safer.