Introduction
In the contemporary times, the use of drugs by athletes has emerged as a rather acute problem in professional sports. The immediate solution to this problem entails the resolution of a chain of related issues: how to improve the system of drugs controls, which drugs are to be prohibited, what measures shall be made against those athletes who violated anti-drug rules. Whereas many regard the use of drugs in sports as beneficial and helpful for the athlete, others believe the drug usage by sportsmen as extremely detrimental and destructive. As far as my opinion is concerned, performance-enhancing drugs must not be allowed in sports as they impose a harmful effect on the health of the sportsmen in the long run.
Argument
This debate can be better understood by having a glimpse over the history. It is believed by many historians that the use of performance-enhancing drugs began with the first Olympic Games held in 776 BC. Later, participants started to take hallucinogenic and analgesic extracts from mushrooms, wine and various herbs. The proponents of PEDs assert that even though these products would be prohibited today, athletes were not banned from using drugs that would help them to win in ancient times. By the time the first modern Olympic Games took place in 1896, athletes already had a wide arsenal of pharmacological aid. For instance, sportsmen actively used powerful stimulants as codeine and strychnine (Pampel, 2007, p.160).
The 1940s witnessed the start of use of steroids. John Ziegler, a renowned psychologist, created modified synthetic testosterone with increased anabolic characteristics. These steroids were specifically created for the US weightlifting national team. It was the first artificial anabolic steroid – methandrostenolone (trade name Dianabol) (Porterfield, 2007, p.28). Soon, Dianabol became widely available and compulsory for weightlifters, football players, runners and other athletes. Its use increased protein synthesis, and helped muscles to recover faster after heavy workouts. This drug increases the nervous excitement resulting in more powerful muscle contractions. In actual fact, it became the basis for higher speeds and better reaction among athletes who used this drug (Porterfield, 2007, pp.28-29). Sportsmen continued to freely consume enhancing drugs until 1968 after which the International Olympic Committee introduced a procedure for compulsory urine tests to detect doping among athletes (Porterfield, 2007, p.31).
At the same time, there is another argument offered by the advocates of drugs’ utilization in sports. They assert that the pharmacology makes life of the athletes much easier by protecting sportsmen`s health to a certain extent. As an athlete is constantly exposed to powerful loads and exhausting exercises, he must not dispense with extra medical substances that help the body to recover. Advocates acknowledging the effectiveness of performance enhancing drugs bicker that the devastating effects of these drugs on health are overstated pointlessly. They believe that it is the sole decision of an athlete whether or not to take drugs or if the drugs are harmful. They also argue that the use of drugs in sports in a contemporary requirement of the evolving sports industry just like superior technologies and techniques that are employed for training. On the other hand, I strongly oppose the use of PEDs due to their harmfulness and potential fatality. In fact, the athletes using them acquire an unmerited advantage due to which it is absolutely justified to consider them cheaters. In my opinion, no athlete associated with any sport has the right of violating the competitions’ spirit. In addition, doping offers an erroneous example to the youngsters. Furthermore, the users of performance-enhancers adopt an unfair means to weaken the significant accomplishments of clean athletes.
Since the introduction of urine tests to check doping levels in sports, the athletes have been using various drugs that also have a profound effect on human body. These biologically-active medication substances are used to increase the physical and emotional capabilities of sportsmen in an artificial manner. The list of prohibited drugs in sports is updated on a regular basis. Currently, it contains more or less ten thousand items. The official list of prohibited pharmacological substances, approved by the Medical Commission of the Olympic Committee in 1988, is divided into several main classes (Thieme & Hemmersbach, 2009, p.40):
- Doping substances,
- Stimulants (central nervous system stimulants, sympatho-mimetic drugs, analeptics),
- Narcotic analgesics,
- Anabolic steroids and other hormonal anabolic agents,
- Doping methods (various manipulations with blood and urine),
- Alcohol,
- Local anesthetics, and
- Corticosteroids
Stimulants affect the central and peripheral nervous system. These include amphetamine, ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, caffeine, strychnine, fenotropil, and mesocarb. Stimulants can cause (Reardon and Creado, 2014, “Drug abuse in athletes”):
• Increase in blood pressure and accelerated heart activity;
• Violation of thermoregulation and heat stroke, followed by collapse of health and death;
• The occurrence of dependence on drugs and mental disorders.
The most commonly used stimulant is caffeine. Currently, there is no ban on it because it is a part most drinks including coffee and tea. Stimulants are prohibited only during competition (Reardon and Creado, 2014, “Drug abuse in athletes”). Similarly, painkillers, or narcotic analgesics, decrease sensitivity to pain, regardless of its nature and causes. Athletes resort to them to shorten the recovery period after injuries and traumas. Their use is prohibited only during competition. Non-steroidal analgesics are not on the list of prohibited drugs (Reardon and Creado, 2014, “Drug abuse in athletes”).
Anabolic-androgenic steroids (anabolic steroids) are among the most popular groups of doping agents. These are synthetic derivatives of the natural male sex hormone – testosterone. On the one hand, anabolic-androgenic steroids promote the absorption of protein, muscle building, development of the male body as well as the development of male sexual characteristics (androgenic effect, or masculinization) (Thieme & Hemmersbach, 2009, p.63). The most fundamental characteristic of anabolic steroids is their ability to enhance the synthesis of nucleic acids and proteins, as well as structural elements of the body cells and, hence, to activate repair processes in bone and muscle tissues. They stimulate amino acid absorption in the intestine, activate the production of erythropoietin (a substance that stimulates the process of hematopoiesis), and anabolic processes in the bone marrow. Anabolic steroids promote the fixation of calcium in human bones (Thieme & Hemmersbach, 2009, p.64).
Whereas all the above-mentioned qualities of drugs are considered beneficial for the sportsmen, it is no secret that the uncontrolled use of anabolic steroids can cause mental disorders, liver failure, and development of tumors in liver and lung, thrombosis sclerosis and other dysfunctions of human body (Pope et al., 2013).
Furosemide, chlorthalidone, amiloride, and acetazolamide are several diuretics and are used for three reasons. They help in the quick reduction of body weight. In addition, they help athletes improve their appearance (particularly gymnasts, figure skaters). Intense urination provoked by diuretics helps in getting rid of the other dopes or masks their application due to a significant decrease in urine density (Thieme & Hemmersbach, 2009, p.68).
Almost all the doping agents are used as medicines. They are used under medical supervision. The patient is not subjected to physical stress, takes protective drugs and special diet – under such conditions it is not considered to be doping among sportsmen.
After discussing drugs that are most widely used by sportsmen, it is necessary to consider issues that arise with the use of forbidden drugs. To prevent the use of such drugs, the world of sports has doping control – an essential part of a comprehensive program of measures aimed at preventing the use of banned doping substances by athletes. To put more simply, doping control procedure involves selection of biological samples for analysis, physico-chemical study of the samples, the verdict, and the imposition of sanctions on violators (Wilson & Derse, 2001, p.31).
During the competition, an athlete is notified that he must pass a drug test (according to the rules). The mandatory drug tests are for winners (taking 1st, 2nd and 3rd places) as well as for one of the few athletes who did not win anything. This particular athlete is chosen randomly considering the decision of the commission. These athletes proceed to the special room of doping control where their urine is taken and tested for the presence of banned medical substances. Rejection of an athlete to undergo a doping control or attempt to falsify its results is considered the recognition of the fact that he took performance-enhancing drugs with all the ensuing consequences (Wilson & Derse, 2001, p.32).
In recent past, doping control was necessary for only qualified athletes and only during critical international and domestic competitions. But today this control is carried out not only in the competitive period, but also during training sessions. Moreover, doping testing is required for all persons involved in sports, regardless of his or her sports chosen.
Conclusion
The problem of the use of drugs in sports is one of the most complex issues of the modern sport. The use of performance-enhancing drugs by athletes is not only detrimental to their own health, but also undermines the ideological foundations of the sport as a phenomenon. Proponents of drug utilization in sports need to understand that this issue also contains a moral aspect. Doping leads to inequality of conditions for competitors and this inequality does not stem from the level of preparedness. Instead, it is determined with the level of development of the pharmaceutical industry, medical science and economic opportunities of their attraction in the sports field. Athletes are regarded as role models for the youngsters and involvement in doping sets a wrong example for the followers. Therefore, it is excessively important to realize and understand the negative impacts of drugs and performance-enhancers as a means to achieve success.
References
Pampel, F. (2007). Drugs and Sports. Infobase Publishing. Print.
Pope, H., Wood, R., Rogol, A., Nyberg, F., Bowers, L., and Shalender Bhasin. (17 Dec. 2013). “Adverse Health Consequences of Performance-Enhancing Drugs: An Endocrine Society Scientific Statement”. NCBI. Retrieved 12 Mar. 2016 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4026349/
Porterfield, J. (2007). Doping: Athletes and Drugs. The Rosen Publishing Group. Print.
Reardon, C., and Shane Creado. (14 Aug. 2014). “Drug abuse in athletes”. NCBI. Retrieved 12 Mar. 2016 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4140700/
Thieme, D., and Peter Hemmersbach. (2009). Doping in Sports. Springer Science & Business Media. Print.
Wilson, W., and Ed Derse. (2001). Doping in Elite Sport: The Politics of Drugs in the Olympic Movement. Human Kinetics. Print.
