Why Should Sportsmen Be Concerned About Performance-Enhancing Drugs?
The use of performance enhancing drugs in sport is not only dangerous but it is also illegal. Some athletes are using banned substances which could lead to their disqualification from competition. Other athletes have been found guilty of doping offences even though they were not taking any prohibited substance.
Athletes are not just competing against each other; they are also competing with recreational drug users who may or may not be professional. Athletes must compete under the same rules as everyone else. If they do so, then there will be no need for them to resort to illegal methods of improving their abilities.
In addition, athletes are risking their health and careers if they take illegal drugs. They risk losing sponsorships and contracts. Their reputations may suffer.
These are all things that athletes cannot afford to lose.
There is a reason why many countries around the world ban performance-enhancing drugs in sport: it’s because of safety concerns. There is no point in allowing a person to perform at his/her best when they are being impaired by something harmful like alcohol or drugs.
If an athlete is taking performance-enhancing drugs then they are not likely to perform at their best. They may have a high-performance heart or they may run faster than ever, but it is not natural. Their abilities will drop at some point and there is no way of knowing when that will be.
Understand the Risks
It can be hard for someone to understand the risks behind drug use without actually trying it themselves.
Sources & references used in this article:
Dietary Supplement Safety: a 25 Year Retrospective Assessment by BJ Gurley – 2019 – egrove.olemiss.edu
Why we should legalise performance-enhancing drugs in sport by J Savulescu – Routledge handbook of drugs and sport, 2015 – books.google.com
Dangerous liaison–deadly gamble by A RACY – A Journal of Academic Writing, 2013
The value of human resource management for organizational performance by MW Ho – 1998 – ecommons-new.library.cornell.edu
Doping scandals, Rio and the future of human enhancement by Y Liu, JG Combs, DJ Ketchen Jr, RD Ireland – Business horizons, 2007 – Elsevier
Genomics illuminates a deadly brain cancer by J Savulescu – Bioethics, 2016 – ora.ox.ac.uk
How Hardiness Facilitates Functioning in Military and Safety Roles by BM Kuehn – Jama, 2010 – jamanetwork.com
The ADHD explosion: Myths, medication, money, and today’s push for performance by S Maddi – Hardiness, 2013 – Springer
