Robert Boyle Essay, Research Paper

DRUGS IN SPORT

Drug use has been a part of competitive sport for almost a century. At the

first olympics in Athens in 1896, marathon runners drank a mixture of brandy and

strychnine to help them on their ways and used opiates to control pain during a race.

Use of alcohol was very common in the early years of the twentieth century.

It might be argued that the first athletes to use drugs to enhance their

performance were, in fact, cheating. We need to remember that drug use is not new.

East Germany athletes used drugs to enhance their performance. Soviet Union

was also involved in drug experimentation. In the United States the drug culture

had become so widespread that steroids and stimulants were known to every high

school coach. The use of drug was believed by athletes to enhance performance, in

one way or another.

Until 1960, nothing was done about the issue. The sports council of Europe

officially moved against drugs when it tabled a resolution calling for the banning of

drugs on ethical, moral and medical grounds.

The Olympic games, even though they are only held every 4 years, represent

the pinnacle of sporting achievement. The International Olympic Committee (IOC)

has a critical role to play in demanding extensive drug testing and in providing

funding for such testing.

This is a controversial issue. The IOC believes that each of the international

federations which governs particular sports should be responsible for its own

testing.

This seems reasonable enough, but it is argued that the Olympic Games are

the highest profile competition in the world and the most prestigious. The world

stops to watch them and they represent the culmination of years of work for athletes.

Winning a gold medal is the glory to any sporting career.

Urine testing is the usual testing method, and it doesn?t reveal the full range

of drugs taken to enhance performance. Blood testing is a more efficient way, it can

detect drugs that urine testing cannot.

By the beginning of the 1980s, the use of anabolic steroids had become quite

common. These drugs – and the allied substances, testosterone and human growth

hormone – were basic muscle builders. They increased mass and strength, while

producing, as one side effect, a heightened aggression.

In other words, they made winners in sports.

The problem seems to be in the definition of drug. For example, if it is all

right for a competitor to take a pain-killer or a vitamin supplement, why is it not

right to stop exhaustion with a caffeine hit? The answer would seem to be that drugs

such as pain-killers are not a valid remedy for a medical condition, where as steroids

are a remedy for only one condition. Losing!

All that differed was the choices of drugs by a particular group. Tennis

players, for example are most likely to use anti-inflamatories and pain-killers, while

elite athletes knew of and use a sophisticated range of mood and body altering

substances.

Successful performance in sports depends upon having quick chemical

reactions in your brain and a responsive muscles system that is efficient in directing

such abilities as speed of movement, reaction time, agility, flexibility, and

coordination.

Drugs interfere with and replace the brain?s normal processes during

adolescent development. Some drugs such as marijuana affect the mind by reducing

motivation. Too much marijuana can make you lose the ?get up and go? feeling you

need to train for sports so that you are no longer capable of doing your best.

Most athletes who use drugs do not die, but many fail at their sport.

An athlete can also fail by dropping out of sports or by being kicked out

either for poor performance or as punishment for illegal use od drugs.

Sports performance requires the most complicated physical movements. To

be successful in those movements, the athlete?s brain must be in excellent condition

for receiving and sending messages that involves strategy, control, balance and so

on.

Remember that drugs interfere with your natural chemical processes that

affect your moods, behavior style, body movements, health and appearance,

memory, and the quality of everything you do.

Drugs can ruin what it has taken you a lifetime to develop. All potential can

be lost when your body and mind are damaged by drugs.

Drugs alter behavior in many ways. They cause unpredictable outbursts and

actions beyond your control . They can cause aggressive acts of violence, and even

murder.

You should avoid drugs while you are still growing . Most drugs are

designed for adults. While you are young, you also have more fluid in your body

weight than you will have as an adult. Drugs that dissolve in water will spread to

more places in your body than in an adult?s.

Steroids is a common type of drug used by almost every sports person. It

cause dangerous imbalances and only temporary advantages.

Anabolic steroids are dangerous because they increase muscle strength

quickly but tissues and tendons are not strengthened at the same rate. That creates a

weakened, imbalanced body, putting the athlete at greater risk of injury. Longer use

of this drug snuffs out sexual interest. It can cause hurt attacks, myocardial

infarction, and stroke, which can also mean sharing death from AIDS. Causes also

hair loss. Steroids raise blood pressure and blood cholesterol to dangerous levels.