The use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs like steroids and techniques such as oxygen tanks is now a common occurrence in sports. The prevalence of illegal doping is now raging between 14% and 30%, especially among elite athletes. There is still a controversial debate on whether doping should be allowed or not ( Savulescu, Creaney & Vondy, 2013) . However, it is a fact that the use performance-enhancing drugs create an unfair advantage in the sport while at the same time it is associated with a lot of health risks, which means that it should not be allowed.
Performance-enhancing drugs should not be allowed because they create an unfair advantage to people who use them. The essence of any sporting activity is that it should be fair to all players, and failure and success should be attributed to natural talent. There should be level play field in any sport. In the contrary, the use of performance-enhancing drugs violates such notions because they are mainly used to gain an unfair advantage. For instance, Tyson Gay who recently tested positives has been, for a long time, celebrated as the second fasted runner ever ( Savulescu, Creaney & Vondy, 2013) . This shows that his victory has not been fairly earned.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Apart from creating an unfair advantage, doping is also now a public health concern because it is associated with a lot of health risks. Some of the side effects of doping include depression, heart failure, irritability, suicidal thought, and kidney problems. A good example is the East Germany athletes who are now suffering from various diseases like depression, infertility, and heart diseases after using a lot of steroids (Armstrong, 2015). The drugs can bring short-term gains, but also long-term suffering.
However, some supporters of doping argue that it is not only performance enhancing drugs that create an unfair advantage in sports, but also new technologies and coaching techniques, which are allowed in sports. At the same time, they argue that people take risks daily, and health concerns should not be used to stop doping. Nevertheless, it is important to acknowledge that new sports technologies are used to train a large number of athletes and not individual and the long-term health risks of such drugs outweigh the short-term gains. Therefore, performance, enhancing drugs should not be allowed in any sport because it creates an unfair advantage and it is risky to users.
References
Armstrong, J. (2015, December 3). East Germany’s forgotten Olympic doping victims tell of illness, infertility and changing sex. Mirror. Retrieved from http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk- news/east-Germany's-forgotten-Olympic-doping-6949436
Savulescu, J., Creaney, L., & Vondy, A. (2013). Should athletes be allowed to use performance enhancing drugs?. BMJ , 347 , f6150.
