Hastings 1

Karen Hastings

Mrs. Barnes

English 112

10 May 2017

Performance-Enhancing Drugs

1 in 10 retired NFL (National Football League) football players reported that at one point

in their career that they used some type of PED ( performance-enhancing drug).Since there are

1,696 players in the NFL, that means that about 170 players have taken part in some sort of

PEDs ( 1 in 10 Ex-NFL Players). The athletes that decide to participate in PEDs are not only

cheating but also putting their life at risk. Performance-Enhancing drugs can lead to liver

damage, blood clots, and heart damage ("Performance-Enhancing Drugs Are Dangerous.").

Since performance-enhancing drugs are dangerous and a form of cheating, there should be more

testing and stricter consequences when used.

Although testing for PEDs has gone up tremendously in the past two decades, there are

still holes in the system. Within the last 12 years, there have been 62 reported cases of drug use

in the MLB (Major League Baseball). Most of these players that got caught using drugs, ended

up serving from a 10-day suspension to a whole season (MLB drug suspensions database.).

Many of them continued to use PEDs after their suspension. This is proof that the consequences

should be harsher for athletes caught using PEDs. So why do athletes still decide to use PEDs

even with the chance of getting caught, and the health risks? They either think that they wont

get caught, or they feel that its worth the risk. This is why there should be more advance testing

for PEDs that catches all types of drugs, even when they are being hidden. Most of the time
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when officials test for PEDs, they dont test everyone, instead, they test random players. This

means that if a player did use PEDs, and didnt get caught, that they are more likely to do it

again the next game/competition. Some professional athletes can go up to a whole year without

getting tested. An example of this happening is top ten tennis player Jelena Jankovic. She did

not have to participate in any out of competition blood testing in all of 2013 (Sports, Douglas

Robson). This means that for a whole year she could have gotten away with using

performance-enhancing drugs and cheating. Athletes are also finding different drugs that dont

show up in blood or urine tests. These drugs, such as peptides, are not only harder to find, but

also can be very dangerous. Peptides have already caused several deaths, and are almost

impossible to detect. The only way you would be able to detect peptides ( or more specifically

GHRP) would be to have a biological report. Drugs like these prove that in order to make sure

that professional (and college) sports are played clean, that we need to raise the amount of testing

and improve the testing for athletes (Carroll, Will. Little-Known PED).

In a recent survey it, showed that only 1 out of 30 people believe that athletes should be

allowed to take performance-enhancing drugs, even if it increases the level of performance

(Hastings, Karen. English Research Survey) . For instance, in the MLB it was found that when

there was no testing at all for players in the 1990s, not only was steroid use up, but a number of

home runs players hit were up too. All these home runs helped attracted more crowds and made

the sport more enjoyable to watch, but the players werent playing clean (The Steroids Era.

ESPN ). Years later, the players who took PEDs are now seeing the effects even after retiring

from baseball. Whereas the effects can be minor such as slower reaction time, they can also be

very serious like cancer. Many former MLB baseball players are now regretting their use of
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PEDs. An example of this happening is with past professional baseball player Jose Canseco. He

stated, It destroyed my life. These days, Jose Canseco can no longer get any job connected to

the MLB because of his use of steroids. Canseco also makes it a point that in order to succeed in

athletics, that you don't need performance enhancing drugs. He expressed that PEDs take out the

hard work and determination that sports are supposed to teach you and switches it with cheating

(Fish, Mike. Canseco: Steroids are overrated). These qualities, among other things, are just

some of the consequences of PEDs and why athletes should stop taking them.

In conclusion, performance-enhancing drugs are a serious problem in all professional

sports and college sports. The athletes that are taking these drugs are seeing both short-term and

long-term effects. Some of these effects have affected athletes years after retirement. PEDs are

also a way athletes can cheat which is why performance-enhancing drugs are such a problem and

why there should be more testing and stricter consequences when used.
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Works Cited Page

Carroll, Will. Little-Known PED, Blamed in Player's Death, Is Major Threat to Anti-Doping

Fight. Bleacher Report, Bleacher Report, 12 Apr. 2017,bleacherreport.com/articles

/1626500-little-known-ped-blamed-in-players-death-is-major-threat-to-anti-doping-fight.

Accessed 13 May 2017.

Fish, Mike. Canseco: Steroids are overrated. ESPN, ESPN Internet Ventures, 2 June 2010,

www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=5244705. Accessed 13 May 2017.

MLB drug suspensions database. Newsday,

sports.newsday.com/long-island/data/baseball/drug-suspensions/. Accessed 13 May 2017.

"Performance-Enhancing Drugs Are Dangerous." Performance-Enhancing Drugs, edited by

Roman Espejo, Greenhaven Press, 2015. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints in

Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010934211/OVIC?u=mass12242&xid=a68f

d5f0. Accessed 11 Jan. 2017. Originally published as "Performance Enhancing Drugs and

the Modern Olympian,"http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/insidenova/2012/07/ped.html.

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Ross, John J. "How Performance-Enhancing Drug Testing Works, or Doesn't: Olympic

Edition." Performance-Enhancing Drugs, edited by Roman Espejo, Greenhaven Press,

2015. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints in Context,link.galegroup.com

/apps/doc/EJ3010934216/OVIC?u=mass12242&xid=3cc755cf. Accessed 11 Jan. 2017.

Originally published in Shakespearestremor.com, 24 July 2012.

Sports, Douglas Robson. Analysis: Tennis drug-Testing more stringent, but holes remain. USA

Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 1 Apr. 2014, www.usatoday.com/story/

sports/tennis/2014/04/01/holes-remain-in-tennis-drug-testing-program/7171213/.

Accessed 13 May 2017.

The Steroids Era. ESPN, ESPN Internet Ventures, www.espn.com/mlb/topics/_/page/

the-steroids-era. Accessed 13 May 2017.

1 in 10 Ex-NFL Players Used Steroids, Poll Reports.

U.S. News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, 20 Feb. 2009,

health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/pain/articles/2009/02/20/1-in-10-ex-nfl-pla

yers--used--steroids-poll-reports. Accessed 11 May 2017.