Drugs and Sports

1. Drugs and Sports By Levi Walker

2. Introduction • Drugs in Sports have been and still remain a serious issue in sports. It puts athlete’s health at risk while also threatening the integrity and reputation of the player. These drugs are used and banned for the same reason, its artificial enhancement that allows athletes to gain an advantage over other athletes. The uses of these drugs are often known as “doping” and considered cheating. Doping just robs true athletes who really play by the rules their right to competition that is fair. There are many forms or types of these performance enhancing drugs or PEDs all of which have different effectsto your body.

3. Anabolic Steroids • Anabolic steroids increase protein within cells, especially in skeletal muscles and have and have similar effects to testosterone to the body. They are synthetic substances that stimulate proteins that help build non-fat muscle mass, helping an athlete become stronger and able to train and play for longer periods of time.

4. THG • Tetrahydrogestrinone, also called "THG" is the type of steroid is used by many high-profile athletes, including track star Marion Jones and baseball player Barry Bonds.

5. Stimulants • Stimulants (also known as “uppers”)are psychoactive drugs which induce temporary improvements in either mental or physical functions or both. Stimulants help boost an athlete's energy level, helpful after strenuous training. Amphetamines are a type of stimulant.

6. HGH • Human growth hormone (HGH) is a peptide hormone that stimulates growth cell reproduction and regeneration in humans and other animals. It is available only by prescription and is administered by injection. Athletes take it for improved endurance and strength although there is no definitive proof that it boosts athletic performance.

7. Androstenedione • Androstenedione, known as "andro," was formerly an over the counter supplement but was banned by the NFL, Olympics, NCAA and later the MLB. It helps the body process testosterone.

8. History • Performance enhancing drugs have been around since ancient times. Athletes or combatants would be fed specific diets and given treatments that would make them perform better. In Scandinavian mythology, berserkers would drink a mixture called “butotens” prepared from a mushroom that would increase their physical power but at the risk of long term insanity.

9. History in Sports <2003 • 1976 - The International Olympic Committee (IOC) bans the use of steroids. • July 1981 - U.S. discus thrower Ben Plucknett tests positive for anabolic steroids. He loses his world record title, the first athlete to be disqualified by the International Association of Athletic Federations due to a positive drug test. • 1987 - The National Football League begins testing players for steroids. • 1988 - Congress passes the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, which makes possession and distribution of nonprescription anabolic steroids for non-medical purposes a crime. • 1990 - Congress strengthens the 1988 law by classifying anabolic steroids as a controlled substance. • 1999 - The IOC creates the World Anti-Doping Agency. • 2000 - The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) is established. • 2003 - Major League Baseball institutes its first steroid policy, which is criticized for being too lenient.

10. Conclusion • In conclusion drugs in sports is a horrible thing and I think we need to crack down on all the dopers. They're cheating and it just robs true athletes who really play by the rules their right to competition that is fair. If It were up to me I would have more drug tests for the athletes and harsher suspensions for them as well. Maybe that would encourage athletes no to take PEDs and they could just learn how play the sport fairly like everyone else.

11. Works Cited • Wikipedia.com • Cnn.com