Performance-Enhancing Drugs in Elite Athletes
Performance-Enhancing Drugs in Elite Athletes
Shelby Morose
Concordia University Spring 2012
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One of the biggest problems in with elite athletes is steroids and if they should be allowed
or kept out. You can find someone in the NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL who is more than likely on
steroids or have used them at some point in their life. Steroids are used for muscle-building.
They can always be prescribed legally if you have delayed puberty or loss of lean muscle mass
for a disease (2009). A long term effect of steroids could be: tissue repair, helping organs not to
swell, improve bone density, and help prevent muscle wasting diseases (2012). Norman Frost
once said “Anabolic steroids do have undesirable side effects: acne, baldness, voice changes ...
infertility. But sport itself is far more dangerous, and we don't prohibit it. The number of deaths
from playing professional football and college football are 50 to 100 times higher than even the
wild exaggerations about steroids. More people have died playing baseball than have died of
steroid use" (Katz, 2008). More often than not steroids are used to enhance performance and
improve physical appearance (2009) instead of using them to help improve their health. The use
of steroids with elite athletes takes away from the hard work that previous athletes have
developed to set the standards. They do not need to put in all of the work that an athlete who
does not use steroids also it is showing children who look up to them that it is OK to ‘cheat’ to
get better. Dale Murphy said “We need better testing, harsher punishments and people will
decide not to get involved with performance-enhancing drugs. Gambling in baseball is the
perfect example. The culture of professional baseball players is the one thing they know, and one
thing they learn from the minute they sign a professional contract, is that if you gamble on the
game in any way, shape or form, your career will be over” (Katz, 2009). The law against steroids
with elite athletes needs to be followed more closely and enforced more than it is now.
Laws are set in place to be followed. They are there to help protect everyone and hold
everyone accountable for their actions. The Labor Law states “In professional sports, the conduct
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of the players is governed by a contract that is negotiated between the league, representing the
owners, and the players’ association, representing the players. The contract or collective
bargaining agreement addresses the conditions of the athlete’s employment. Because drugtesting programs affect an athlete’s condition of employment, if they test positive, they cannot
play” (Cotton, 2010). I believe that if they tested once for performance-enhancing drugs, the
likelihood of them tested positive or using them again is very high. To make sure that elite
athletes choose not to take performance-enhancing drugs, the rules need to be set more in stone.
One and done. There are several other laws set in place so that athletes won’t take performanceenhancing drugs. For example: the International Olympic Committee banned the use of
performance-enhancing drugs in the Olympics. “In March 2003, the World Anti-Doping Agency
announced a consolidated drug-control program for all international sports” (Cotton, 2010).
Before the first statute was set in place the use of steroids for performance was already
happening. In 1963, many elite athletes in the Olympics started using steroids to prepare for the
1968 Olympics. The first statute came in 1975 when the International Olympic Committee
banned the use of steroids in the Olympics (Doherty, 2009). Less than ten years later, in 1981,
the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act was passed which only allowed steroids to be prescribed for
medical use by a physician (Doherty, 2009). The 1990s brought about another statute. The
Anabolic Steroid Control Act was passed. The Anabolic Steroid Control Act states that there will
be no unauthorized distribution, possession, or use of anabolic steroids with a prescription and
you could be fined up to $1,000 and a year in prison (Doherty, 2009). This is when there was
first rumored of steroids being used in professional sports. The use of anabolic steroids was
added to the Controlled Substance Act in 1990 after the scandal with Ben Johnson. The Anabolic
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Steroid Control Act of 2004 made the penalty doubled for manufacturing, distributing or
possessing an anabolic steroid within 1,000 feet of a sports facility (Doherty, 2009).
The first big case of steroids could be considered to be Ben Johnson, a Canadian sprinter,
who had his cold medal taken away from him in 1988, less than 15 years after the banning of
steroids in the Olympics. Johnson tested positive for performance enhancing drugs, although he
claimed that his health drink had been spiked (CNN, 2004). Years later he stated he would have
won without the performance-enhance drugs and was tested again and failed therefore banning
him for life (CNN, 2004). In 2006, Floyd Landis won the Tour de France but later after he won
he was stripped of his title. He was tested positive for synthetic testosterone but still continued to
deny it until 2010 when he sent out an email admitting to using performance-enhancing drugs
throughout his career (New, 2010). “Landis became the first champion in the history of the race
to lose the title because of a doping offense and was barred from the sport for two years,
retroactive to Jan. 30, 2007” (New, 2010). Landis also made accusations against other cyclists
that he claimed used performance-enhancing drugs alongside with him. “The doping scandal
surrounding Landis is only one of many that have hovered over cycling for years. Before the
2006 Tour, several top riders were barred from the race for being implicated in a doping ring in
Spain” (New, 2010). One of the top stories in the MLB is Barry Bonds. Barry Bonds was one of
the top hitters in the league hitting over 100 homeruns a season. In 2003 Bonds was taken to
court for using performance-enhancing drugs. Bonds told the jury that he had used a clear
substance and cream that was given to him by a trainer (Joyner, 2006). Bonds was told that it
was nutritional supplement and a pain relieving balm. To the court, Bonds said “I’m dealing with
pain. All I want is pain relief, you know? And you know, to recover, you know, night games to
day games. That’s it. And I didn’t think the stuff worked. I was like, ‘Dude, whatever,’ but he
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was my friend. “… If it’s a steroid, it’s not working” (Joyner, 2006). Luckily for Bonds, the jury
did not find evidence that Bonds knew what he was taking and he was acquitted from the charges
or knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs (Ortiz, 2011). Kathy Hoskins quoted Bonds
during her testimony telling her after being injected “"Got to have a little somethin', somethin'
for when I go on the road. You can't detect it" (Ortiz, 2011). After winning the World Series in
2010 his teammates said on multiple occasions that they couldn’t believe that he got away with
what he did. Well others, including Giants pitcher Matt Cain, were satisfied with the jury’s
decision. Men are not the only ones who choose to use performance-enhancing drugs. Marion
Jones was an Olympic sprinter and had won three gold medals and two bronze medals. Jones had
at first denied using performance-enhancing drugs to federal investigators but later admitted she
had used “the clear,” the same performance-enhancing drug that Bonds had used. She had
willing gave up her medals before they could have been stripped from her by the Olympic
Committee.
Like I stated in the opening paragraph an athlete who uses performance-enhancing drugs
can be affected in a number of ways. Yes, they can make you bigger and possibly into a better
athlete in the short term, but what can they really do to you in the long term? Short term results
can be seen quickly, less than a year, whereas long term results can take up to a decade to appear.
When used correctly, steroids can be used to treat certain disorders (Association). Sadly, they are
not used in that way very often. “Medical research shows steroid users subject themselves to
over 70 side effects ranging in severity from liver cancer to acne, and include psychological as
well as physical reactions” (Association). Short term effects range from acne, high blood
pressure, high cholesterol, liver malfunction, and even aggression. What many elite athletes do
not realize are the long term effects. Most athletes can come in contact with HIV through the
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sharing of needles. Cardiovascular problems are already one of the leading causes of death in the
United States now and the use of performance-enhancing drugs only add to the likelihood of
developing a problem. Lifting weights help strengthen your ligaments and joints. “Steroids
increase muscle mass and muscle strength, but they leave the joints and ligaments out of the
equation. Steroid abusers can expect to eventually put too much strain on ligaments that cannot
properly anchor the new muscle strength, leading to possibly severe injury and future surgery to
correct torn shoulder joints or knee ligaments. The muscles are exerted, and the joints simply
can’t handle it” (Association). These are just a few problems that any athlete can develop if they
do choose to use performance-enhancing drugs. As a whole, society is against the use of steroids
for elite athletes. It takes away from the hard work that some athletes put in all throughout their
life just to be outshone by athlete’s who cheat their way into the record books. In most of the
cases where an elite athlete has chosen to use a performance-enhancing drug they have stated
that they wish they hadn’t taken any and they deeply regret it. In all cases where they are found
guilty the people who look up to them the most are extremely disappointed.
As shown above, elite athletes reject the idea of using performance-enhancing drugs after
they have taken them. There is proof from previous athletes that they can perform just as well, if
not better, without the use of performance-enhancing drugs. For example: Babe Ruth had over
seven hundred homeruns, almost three thousand hits, and over two thousand RBIs. Lance
Armstrong, who rode alongside Floyd Landis and had cancer, won the Tour de France seven
years in a row. In every sport, there are athletes overcoming obstacles, like cancer or arthritis
(Like Barry Bonds) that choose not to use performance-enhancing drugs that put in the time and
the effort to better themselves the right way. In most cases the only way they will end up
disappointing someone who thinks of them as a hero is if they don’t win which seems like a
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better deal to me. Making a “one and done” policy could be considered harsh, but it could make
athlete’s step back and really think before they decide to take performance-enhancing drug.
Making elite athletes take a drug test throughout their season or before the Olympics trails and
before the Olympics actually start can also hold athletes accountable.
Performance-Enhancing Drugs in Elite Athletes
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