antiknight
New member
That's a great point.Caffeine is a performance enhancing drug.lain:
toldailytopic: Should the use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport be legalized?
- Thread starter Nathon Detroit
- Start date
- Status
Part of me agrees with Newman, who said that they should be legal, but have the leagues ban them. I'm not sure why the government should get involved with this stuff. However, I do not like the idea of professional athletes using them. Natural ability is impressive, not artificial ability.
However, what line is drawn between steroids and things like caffeine like TomO mention?
However, what line is drawn between steroids and things like caffeine like TomO mention?
Where do you draw the line between a supplement and a drug. Many athletes are big fans of vitamins, which are completely legal and could possibly enhance performance. But most vitamins, when taken, are far from their natural form. Is drinking protein drinks cheating? Apparently, chewing on a cocoa leaf before a game is cheating, but drinking a completely manufactured drink and popping a few vitamin pills is okay. The line between acceptable and unacceptable enhancements seems totally arbitrary.
Edited for spelling
Edited for spelling
I wouldn't say "legalized" as much as I would say "decriminalized." It bothers me that our legislature is spending any time at all on the topic. I couldn't care less how much athletes pump themselves up, and I certainly don't want my tax dollars involved.
Let the various sports organizations worry about it. If the fans don't like it, then they can quit paying for over-priced tickets.
nicholsmom
New member
Not true in today's world. Medical advancements have been made in this field as well and all sorts of performance enhancers are quite safe under the care of a knowledgeable doctor.
I don't know why it should be any of our business - or the government's business. Sure, make sure that these drugs are dispensed by doctors, but other than that, there need be no regulation.
The sports part is irrelevant. All drugs should be regulated and only prescribed for needs. If the FDA says something is safe over the counter, I don't care if they take it. And at the same time, it shows you aren't as good.
Does Usain Bolt need help? Did Joe Montana need help? How about Satchel Paige.
Does Usain Bolt need help? Did Joe Montana need help? How about Satchel Paige.
The Berean
Well-known member
I think Bolt is using PEDs. :noid: I hope I am wrong though. He's fun to watch.
nicholsmom
New member
Without hard work performance enhancers enhance nothing. The athlete still has to do all the work to build all the muscle and stamina, and make other structural improvements - the enhancers just make it faster and easier to heal from the strain, increase the amount of time that the athlete can do the hard work, and improve the efficiency of the body in training.
So the natural ability has to already be in place and the willingness to work extra hard for added hours is still needed when using performance enhancers.
So it is a false dichotomy - natural ability vs. enhanced ability.
nicholsmom
New member
And how, exactly, do performance enhancers alter that?
Not at all the same thing because the athlete still has to put in the extra hours in the gym lifting heavier weight and doing more reps. Whereas cosmetic alteration requires resting at a spa until the bruising and swelling are gone. There is a clear difference between enhancing performance, and enhancing appearance.
Not to mention that make-up (and appearance enhancer) is already allowed in pageants - why not implants as well?
nicholsmom
New member
People take steroids all the time, Rusha. My mom takes them whenever she gets into poison ivy because it goes into her system and pops up all over the place. They inject cortisone into inflamed joints; asthmatics take them; they are given to people who absolutely must increase their appetites and to people who need the boost to heal more quickly.
Steroid use is safe under the direction of a doctor. Other performance enhancers are as well.
Mr. Beeks
New member
The trouble with athletes is that they don't all have a history of 'sticking to the rules', so who's to monitor them, to ensure that they don't go doctor shopping (not to mention black market sources)? There are also some doctors out there that are 'less than ethical' - ask Michael Jackson's family. We also don't know the long-term effects of anything that alters the body's chemistry. It's simply insane to mess with people's long-term health for a few years of artificial peak performance. If people don't have the natural ability and talent, too bad. Don't force everyone to wreck their health just to compete with the cheaters.
Mr. Beeks
New member
That's just wrong. Any athlete who relies on raw strength and bulk can benefit from steroids. I used to lift weights for fun - but I liked to lift as much as possible. I hit a plateau after a few years, and that was it, no matter what I did, I didn't go any further. Meanwhile people that we on the juice blew right by me. I didn't care enough to ever consider steroids, but obviously some people did. But it was well known in the weight rooms that if you didn't juice up, forget about any kind of competitive life in either power lifting or body building. Football players are in pretty much the same boat, from what I've heard from people that played in in college. And I'd lay odds that pro basketball players are too, from the way they look now, compared to in the 60's and 70's. The bottom line is - if some do it, all have to do it, if they want to be in the elite class... and in some sports, they have to do it if they even want to be in the game in the first place.
Work with what God gave you, or stay out.
Mr. Beeks
New member
People on steroids recover faster between workouts. Their muscles grow at a much faster rate, and far beyond what natural people's can. People on steroids actually don't have to work as hard as natural people in order to accomplish a lot more. It's cheating, pure and simple. If they want to let athletes destroy their bodies for our entertainment or their egos, fine. Put them in separate leagues so everyone isn't forced to do the same just to earn their paychecks.
Makeup hasn't been known to cause people to go into rages and kill their families. It also doesn't cause brain cancer.Not to mention that make-up (and appearance enhancer) is already allowed in pageants - why not implants as well?
All those reasons you listed were for *legitimate* medical conditions. I was prescribed a prescription of steroids years ago for a bout of asthmatic bronchitis. My father took them for years for to treat his CDL.
Taking a drug that is known to make a person aggressive just for the purpose of beefing up for sports and enhancing their performance is, IMO, foolhardy, dangerous and cheating.
Not to mention that make-up (and appearance enhancer) is already allowed in pageants - why not implants as well?
Quite simple really ... IF you don't have the necessary assets to compete in sports or pageants, then you shouldn't be in the competition.
I am more worried about the price of a draft beer at the game
why should I worry about this stuff?
why should I worry about this stuff?
:chuckle:
- Status