Conflicting essay

Conflicting Viewpoints Essay

Bryan Pearson

Professor Muhammad

PHI 210

10/19/2015

The topic I chose from the procon website is "should performance enhancing drugs such as steroids be accepted in sports?”. I chose this topic because at one point in my life I was an athlete. If I worked my butt of in the offseason and you just did half the work and took drugs but got the same results if not better it’s just not fair. The reason that I want the drugs in sports to stop is because this whole drug use in sports is disrespectful to the rules and the law and especially the game. You see, most of the time they take performance enhancing drugs because the players may feel like smaller or weak. But when the players take the drugs it's like a bunch of mutant titans running around the field. Well don't you think that some of your players are role models? That can ruin a reputation for him. I think that the drugs in sports are pointless because just because they feel like they are too small, I say just work out more train more. This makes me mad- the drug use in sports has become abusive. What I feel that should happen is we should check more if players have drugs before every game and after every game.

If we should not forbid smokers from risking their health by smoking, why should we prohibit track stars or weightlifters from taking risks with their health in pursuit of their goals? There is no coherent argument to support the view that enhancing performance is unfair; if it were, we would ban coaching and training. Survey data actually shows that teen steroid use has mirrored the use of other illicit drugs over the years. It went up mildly in the 1990's, and has since either dropped off slightly, or leveled off since 2000.

Performance enhancers, like steroids and other forms of doping, have a negative effect on long-term health. Remember that athletes don't take these drugs to level the playing field, they do it to get an advantage. For many male high school athletes, pro athletes are major influences. They are the role models. They choose the jersey numbers of their favorite professional players. They emulate their training regimens. They emulate their style of play. And they are influenced by their drug use.

I think that both the pros and cons make some really great points that I didn’t think about but I still have to stand by my initial view. I can sum this whole argument up in one sentence. You can’t stop anybody from doing anything there is always a loophole but at the end of the day steroids are bad for your health. If we should not forbid smokers from risking their health by smoking, why should we prohibit track stars or weightlifters from taking risks with their health in pursuit of their goals? The smokers are not competing for million dollar pay checks.

There is no coherent argument to support the view that enhancing performance is unfair; if it were, we would ban coaching and training. I think this statement is reaching a little bit, that’s why there is different divisions of sports. Survey data actually shows that teen steroid use has mirrored the use of other illicit drugs over the years. It went up mildly in the 1990's, and has since either dropped off slightly, or leveled off since 2000. You can’t stop people from doing what they want to do but you can punish them.

Performance enhancers, like steroids and other forms of doping, have a negative effect on long-term health. 1000% true, enough said. Remember that athletes don't take these drugs to level the playing field; they do it to get an advantage. A tenth of a second difference in your 40 yard dash time could make it or break it. For many male high school athletes, pro athletes are major influences. They are the role models. They choose the jersey numbers of their favorite professional players. They emulate their training regimens. They emulate their style of play. And they are influenced by their drug use. My favorite athlete of all time is Randy Moss and when he was suspended for using weed it hurt me and also made me want to try weed. Steroids not only do severe bodily harm to the athlete it also influences other people to do them.