Simply put, performance-enhancing drugs are drugs or substances that athletes use to alter their body,physically or psychologically, in a way that improves their performance.  Examples of common performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) include steroids, hormones, stimulants, narcotics, amphetamines and many more.  The use of these has become a controversial issue in society due to the fact that proponents believe these drugs should be allowed to be used while opponents argue against their use because of other reasons.  We will get further into those reasons later in this blog.  In addition, the “medical community has not defined where restoration of normative function ends and performance enhancement begins.” (1) While performance-enhancing drugs produce many unpleasant side effects, athletes choose to use them because of a do-anything-to-win attitude.  A survey asking competitive runners if they would take a pill that made them an Olympic champion but killed them in a year returned shocking results.  More than half of the athletes responded that they would take the pill.  This is why the controversy surrounding these drugs is so prevalent in society. These drugs have the power to increase oxygen flow, relax athletes, increase muscle mass, and even mask pain and cope with stress.  They provide a quick solution for problems that may negatively affect performance.  They come in many forms: pills, creams, and injections are just a few (16).

Performance-enhancing drugs can be illegal or legal and can be natural or synthetics.  There are many forms of PEDs, which makes it difficult to regulate the use.

• Anabolic Steroids–> Used by athletes to recover after workouts and prevent “microtears” in muscle fibers during workouts. Decrease recovery time between workouts.
  • Example: In 2007, Barry Bonds was accused of using a steroid cream given to him by his trainer, Greg Anderson.  He used this cream to treat arthritis and prolong workouts (24).

• Amphetamines –> Used by athletes to stimulate the central nervous system to increase energy, motivation, strength and power.
  • Jason Giambi: In 2007, he failed a drug test for amphetamines. He used it to increase energy and focus (25).

• Cocaine–> Used by athletes to increase energy, confidence, and short term memory.
  • Michael Irvin: He was arrested in 1996 for possession of cocaine and was sentenced to four years of prison (25).

• Testosterone –> Used by athletes to increase muscle mass and bone density and strength.  It also helps reduce fat.
  • Floyd Landis: He won the Tour de France in 2006, and his urine test came back with results of high testosterone.  He was banned from the sport for two years and stripped of his title (25).

While much attention from the media focuses on the negative aspects of PEDs, there are some proponents of substance abuse who point out the positive aspects of the issue.  First, doping can increase oxygen delivery to muscles and improve performance (10).  Improved performance is the number one positive effect of substance abuse.  Similarly, substances such as steroids,  “can prevent muscle tears, (and) prevent the muscle sheath from shredding” (12).  These effects can prevent athletes from injuring themselves in some circumstances and can improve healing in rehabilitation (20).  Additionally, performance- enhancing drugs are not necessarily bad because athletes are able to receive drugs for injuries, and drawling a line to decide what is and isn’t allowed may be difficult.  Allowing performance-enhancing drugs would be much more effective in sports to avoid controversy and allow athletes to act how they want.  In reality, life is not fair and some individuals will always have an advantage over others (11).  In this way, performance-enhancing drugs are simply another aspect to consider in the equation regarding how athletes train and what makes some athletes better than others.  The athletes have a personal choice to take the drugs or to avoid the drugs, and they are aware of the side effects.  Additionally and finally, athletes taking these drugs are giving the spectators watching the sports exactly what they want (13).  Fans want to see baseball players hitting home runs and football players running faster.  It is a natural instinct to want to see good performances.  Substance abuse would create a spectacle for fans by enabling athletes to make bigger plays.  Allowing performance-enhancing drugs would take away the negative stigma as well.  Finally, allowing doping would allow for leagues to save money by eliminating all drug testing (20).

Although performance-enhancing drugs help athletes improve their performance, there are a multitude of side effects that lead some individuals to question why athletes use these drugs.  Some major negative effects of anabolic steroids  are liver damage, acne, stunted growth, baldness, and depression if they drugs are taken away.  For men specifically, steroids can cause shrinkage of the testes, breast tissue development, impotence, and decreased sperm production.  For women, these drugs cause facial and body hair growth, a deeper voice, abnormal menstrual cycles, and a cessation of breast development.  These are just the side effects for one category of performance-enhancing drugs.  Each category has its own set of effects similar to these. (3)  Some other effects include hypertension, strokes, nausea, insomnia, etc.  The side effects are only one aspect of why performance-enhancing drugs are bad.

Another reason opponents are against their use is the cheating aspect.  Many believe that “doping” or the use of the drugs gives athletes an unfair advantage.  It is considered cheating because cheating is classified as “Cheating is the deliberate, knowing, and voluntary violation of certain constitutive rules in order to gain a competitive advantage” (4). Any athlete using these drugs clearly has an understanding that it will give them a competitive advantage and that in itself is unethical and unfair.

Additionally, performance-enhancing drugs are bad is that it promotes a bad image for the athletes that children look up to as role models.  When children or young adults see athletes using drugs to enhance performance, it increases the likelihood of them trying the drugs for themselves.  This is another reason why substance abuse is on the rise.  As more professional athletes use the drugs, youngsters begin to try them.

In the past, there have been several events that led up to performance-enhancing drug use and many reasons why people began to use them.  There have also been attempts to reduce this substance abuse.  The first recognizable use of drugs to improve performance occurred in the 1950’s.  The FDA approved the first anabolic steroid for sale in US in 1958.  Then, in 1960, Knud Jensen, a danish cyclist, crashed and an autopsy results revealed traces of amphetamines.  Following that incident, in 1967, Tommy Simpson died during the 13th Tour de France–> he took overloads of amphetamines to fight against fatigue and illness. Then in 1967, the IOC established the medical commission to fight doping in sports and keep athletes safe. Then, the first drug testing at the Olympics occurred in 1968. In 2002, 50% of MLB players admitted to using steroids. Also, steroid testing began to be included in MLB labor agreement (17).

The main reasoning for the start of performance-enhancing drug use was to increase athletic performance. Also, the pressures of TV and bodybuilding sites have pressured people into a new attitude about health and appearance(18).

In our culture, winning is valued over almost anything.  Coaches and players have a sole focus to win, and in many cases they will do anything to achieve that goal.  Performance-enhancing drugs are one way that athletes choose to improve their performance.  The culture of sport has become increasingly important in our society.  In the article “American Sport in the New Millennium”, Eitzen writes that sport is important, even though we claim that it is a trivial pursuit.  Sport give us an opportunity to identify with something larger than ourselves, and sports give us a way to measure who won, by how much, and how they did so (2).  Because winning at any cost is of such great importance in our culture compared to other cultures, the idea of being able to know who won is crucial.  Having said that, athletes have now become concerned with being the winner and choose to take performance-enhancing drugs to improve their performance.

This image above shows the connection between performance-enhancing drugs and winning.  Performance-enhancing drug use has escalated due to the cultural importance of winning in sport.

Our society is organized in such a way that promotes athletic excellence.  As mentioned in another post, our culture values winning.  There have been bodies established to attempt to control performance-enhancing drug use.  In 1968, the Medical Commission was established was to address the doping problem in sports.  Then, WADA was established in 1999 which is a regulatory body for substance abuse.  There are many organizations that have adopted the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) Code which bans 192 performance-enhancing drugs and methods (4). BUT, the MLB, NBA, and NFL have not adopted the code as of 2010.  WADA requires sports to accept the code, implement the code, and enforce the code.  WADA is an institution responsible for regulating the substance abuse in the United States and other countries and may be a reason why substance abuse is looked down upon by some. It aims to connect anti-doping regulations in all countries and sports.  On the other hand, the fact that the MLB, NBA, and NFL have not adopted the policy is most likely the cause of the dramatic increase in the use of performance-enhancing drugs.  Because those leagues do not accept, implement, or enforce the code, athletes are not held to such standards to avoid doping.  In conclusion, there are organizations responsible for controlling substance abuse but those organizations have policies that vary, and that is another factor leading to the controversy.

If you are interested in finding out more about the WADA code, please visit their website listed below:

WADA Code

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After critically looking at all aspects of performance-enhancing drug use, we have conclude, as a team, that doping is negatively affecting sports.  Performance-enhancing drugs are a bad thing for several reasons.  They have terrible side effects on athletes and destroy their bodies in the long run.  They give athletes an unfair advantage in sports which is a form of cheating in our opinion.  They also promote a do-anything-to-win attitude and an attitude that “ideal” bodies cannot be achieved through hard work and effort.

Most importantly, this topic is becoming a social issue because of the prevalence and the effect that it is having on our youth and teenagers.  Athletes using drugs are encouraging young people ,who view them as role models, to use these drugs to improve their performance and the looks of their bodies.

Science has created many drugs and made the population aware of the harm they can do.  They have promoted the use in the medical field to speed the healing of injuries.  They have in no way recommended the use of these drugs as performance-enhancing drugs in sports.  Science has played a huge role in the use of performance-enhancing drugs but they have not made them for this reason.

Doping should be banned in all sports leagues, and a no tolerance policy should be enforced.