Should Drugs in Sport be Legalised?

Should Drugs in Sport be Legalised?


The use of drugs in sport to enhance performance is not a new concept and is constantly improving. The continued abuse of illegal drugs by athletes has made it clear they are willing to risk their future health, respect for themselves, other participants and their sport to be the best.  Since the illegalisation of performance enhancing drugs so that athletes do not have an ‘unfair’ advantage, organisations that do test for drugs in sport are fighting a losing battle as athletes and their trainers constantly devise new drugs and methods to beat drug testing (Bamberger & Yaeger 1997). For this reason, the question of controlled use of performance enhancing drugs in sport should be permitted has arisen.

It is no secret that performance enhancing drugs has been used by athletes for decades and those athletes will risk almost anything to gain a competitive edge. Bamberger & Yaeger (1997) reports of a scenario from a poll in 1995 where 198 athletes made up of US Olympians or aspiring Olympians were asked two questions: If they were offered a banned substance that comes with the guarantee that they would not be caught and they would win every competition they entered for the next five years, but then they would die from the side effects of the substance. Would they take it? More than half said yes. Research like this makes the notion of legalising performance enhancing drugs seem extremely immoral and unacceptable for sports organisations to expose their athletes to such risks, especially the athletes willingness to risk so much to win. Not to mention a violation of the ‘spirit of sport’ that has been created over the last century in elite and amateur competition.

However, Savulescu, Foddy & Clayton (2013) argues that if performance enhancing drugs were legalised and freely available, it would be the end of cheating. Moreover, if these drugs become legal and all athletes had access to the same enhancements does that violate the ‘spirit of sport’ any longer? Savulescu, Foddy & Clayton (2013, p. 667) uses the hypothetical example, “if all athletes responded to the approved doping measures in the same way and their performance improves in the same way, it that case, the results of the finishing order of a cyclist race would remain unchanged”. Therefore, there is no unfair advantage given; only the performance and the competiveness are increased.

Another argument is that with the advances is sports science and the high competitiveness of elite competition, sport discriminates against the genetically unfit and is only for the genetic elite” (Wiesing 2011). Savulescu, Foddy & Clayton (2013) states that nature is unfair, for example, Ian Thorpe has very large feet which gave him an advantage that no other swimmer can get, no matter how much they train or exercise. By allowing everyone to take performance enhancing drugs, we level the playing field and remove the effects of genetic inequality. Therefore, allowing performance enhancement promotes equality which indeed is a characteristic of the spirit of sport.

The argument for and against the legalisation of performance enhancing drugs in sport operates on different levels. There is the constant battle that organisations face with drug testing. Performance drugs and methods are continually improving to avoid detection and it is hard to justify the costs that are created from this as it is a losing battle. On another level, there is the argument that touches on the ‘spirit of sport’, the naturalist ideal with performance in sport and how legalising drugs would permanently damage the image of elite athletes and sport in general. Moreover, further studies are needed to investigate the pro’s and con’s of the concept of legalising performance enhancing drugs before any move to change laws and regulations can be acted on. 

By Jordan Reeve

Reference

Dudley, W (ed.) 2004, Drugs and Sport, Greenhaven Press, California  

Savulescu, J, Foddy, B & Clayton, M. (2013). Why we Should Allow Performance Enhancing Drugs in Sport. Journal of Sports Medicine, 38, 666-670

Wiesing, U (2011). Should Performance Enhancing Drugs in Sport be Legalised under Medical Supervision? Journal of Sports Medicine, 41(2), 167-176

The Physical and Psychological Effects of Anabolic Steroids on Athletes

The Physical and Psychological Effects of Anabolic Steroids on Athletes

The use of Anabolic steroids for performance enhancement in elite athletes has been evident for over half a century. The use of steroids has many physical and psychological effects on the individual both positive and negative and is used by both males and females. This use is not only found in elite professional athletes but also in amateur’s sportsman and sportswomen as the drug is surprisingly cheap and is readily available on the black market (Bowers, Clark & Shackleton 2009).

Anabolic Steroids are synthetic derivatives of the male hormone testosterone which when injected or taken orally can show strong effects on the human body that can benefit athletic performance (Hartgens & Kuipers 2004). The first recorded use of steroids to enhance athlete’s performance was in the early 1950’s by a doctor called John Ziegler. Dr Ziegler was a physician for the American weight lifting team and became interested in the use of steroids at the 1954 world championship when he learned of the benefits of steroids from the Russian team doctor (Bowers, Clark & Shackleton 2009). He then began trailing the drug on his athletes back in America in 1959 which in turn started a snow ball effect on the uncontrolled use of the drug by athletes. Once the weightlifters learned that this drug was the reason for their rapid increase in strength, demand grew and the regulation of the drug became uncontrollable. Bowers, Clark & Shackleton (2009, p.285) states that Dr Ziegler lost control of the “experiment” and due to the competitive nature of professional sport if ‘two tablets where good, four tablets would be better’ according to the athletes. Over the next decade, the use of steroids in American weightlifters, football players and strength athletes was estimated at 50% (Bowers, Clark & Shackleton 2009). 

For many years, the medical community argued that there was no proof that steroids enhanced athletic performance. It wasn’t until advances in medicine and drug testing that the adverse effects of steroids on the human body became clear; still it wasn’t until the late 1960’s that efforts were made to catch steroid cheats in sport (McBride & Williamson 1993).

The most appealing effect of the use of Anabolic steroids is the predicted increase in muscle mass and strength which far outweighs the increase without the use of the drug. Hartgens & Kuipers (2004) concluded that short term administration of anabolic steroids can increase strength about 5-20% of initial strength and an increase of 2-5kg in body weight. The same study found that there was no reduction of fat mass and no effect on endurance performance. However, George (2003) states that diet and intensive training are equally important in producing the significant increase in strength. Although, no matter how positive these results seem to be on performance, the negative physical and psychological effects, both short and long term, far outweigh the positive effects. Bahrke et al. (1992) found in a study done on weightlifters, that short term psychological effects of steroid use included extreme aggression, high irritability and insomnia. Apart from the increase in muscle mass and strength, the negative physical effects according to Hartgens & Kuipers (2004) include severe acne and the increased growth of body hair. However, it has been found that the short term physical and psychological can be reversed with discontinued use of the drug (George 2003).         

It is the long term effects of constant abuse of steroid use that cause permanent damage. Due to the physiological effect of the body retaining water and salt when exposed to steroid abuse, this has been proven to cause high blood pressure along with high cholesterol (Hartgens & Kuipers 2004). After long term use of steroids it has also been established that the body will begin to have a psychological dependency which in turn, causes further issues. Hartgens & Kuipers (2004) found that once a long term user stops using steroids, the dependence on the drug caused psychological dissatisfaction with their body which is now being called ‘reverse anorexia syndrome’. The discontinued use of long term abuse has also been linked to withdrawal effects which lead to depression and in some cases has lead to criminality and even suicide (George 2003). Also, constant use of steroids has also proven that it disturbs the natural production on testosterone in the body (George 2003). One long term physical effect that has become common among steroid users is the development of gynaecomastia which is an increase of breast tissue on the male and causes their chest to look feminine. This is caused by the steroids creating excess testosterone levels in the body and the bodies reaction to this is to turn the excess testosterone into the female hormone estrogen (George 2003); which also can go on to cause further psychological effects. Almost all studies on the effects of steroids have been conducted on males and there are very few done on the effects on women. One study done solely on women reported results very similar results as studies done on males. Interestingly, apart from finding an increase in muscle mass and masculinity in the subjects, the study predominantly found major psychological changes in the women. 76% of the subjects reported at least one adverse effect of the steroid use which included major depression, development of eating disorders and chronic dissatisfaction and obsession with their physiques (Gruber, A.J & Pope, H.G 2000). However, much more research must be done to further understand these changes in women.                                                                                                                                   

Solid medical research has proven that all these physical and psychological effects are linked to the use of anabolic steroids, but Bahrke, Yesalis & Wright (1990) show that these vary greatly from person to person.

The use of Anabolic steroids for performance enhancement has become a pressing issue in the sporting world. The studies done that have proven the effects of the drug on the human body show there is an appeal for all classes of athletes, from the elite to young men and women in youth development programs, no matter how severe the negative effects of the drug are. Thus, it is clear that more research must go into the use of steroids so that people can be better educated about its dangerous properties and the abuse of the drug to be controlled. However, in the foreseeable future, it’s evident that the misuse of the drug will continue.

By Jordan Reeve   

References

Bahrke, M.S, Wright, J.E, Strauss, R.H & Catlin, D.H (1992). Psychological Moods and Subjectively Percieved Behavioural and Somatic Changes Accompanying Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid use. Journal of Sports Medicine, 20(6), 717-724.

Bahrke, M.S, Yesalis III, C.E, Wright, J.E (1990). Psychological and Behavioural Effects of Endogenous Testosterone Levels and Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids among Males. Journal of Sports Medicine, 10, (5), 303-337.

Bowers, L.D, Clark, R.V & Shackleton, C.H.L (2009). Steriods:A Half Century of Anabolic Steroids in Sport. Detection of Anabolic Steroids Abuse in Sports, 74(3), 285-287.

George, J (2003). The Actions and Side Effects of Anabolic Steroids in Sport and Social Abuse. Journal of Andrologie, 13(4), 354-366.

Gruber, A.J, Pope, H.G (2000). Psychiatric and Medical Effects of Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid use in Women. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 69 (1), 19-26.

Hartgens, F & Kuipers, H (2004). Effects of Androgenic-Anabolic Steroids in Athletes. Journal of Sports Medicine, 34(8), 513-554.

Mcbride, A & Williamson, K (1993). Anabolic Steroids in Sport. British Medical Journal, 307(6897), 204.