The Winter Olympics are upon us and no Olympics in recent memory has passed without a doping scandal. The particular scandal making headlines in PyeongChang involves the fallout from a systematic, government-directed effort to help Russian athletes pass doping tests. The scandal, detailed, and partially uncovered, in the documentary
Icarus
(currently on Net ix) ran from 2011 to 2015 when the Russian minister of sport ordered 312 positive tests be withheld from World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). As a result, Russia was banned from the PyeongChang games, although its athletes are competing under the neutral title “Olympic Athletes from Russia.”
Doping scandals have plagued sports for years, and, with ever-evolving drugs and methods for evading drug tests, one never really knows who is truly playing by the rules and who is not. Assuredly, athletes around the world in all sports and leagues have successfully avoided drug tests. The NFL implemented Human Growth Hormone (HGH) testing in 2014, but no one tested positive until 2017, despite testimonies that HGH use in the NFL is widespread. Drug testing supposedly provides a level playing eld but, when the tests are so inconsistent and it is easy to cheat, is the eld really level? Additionally, while leagues are ostensibly attempting to rid their sports of drug use, they also have the ulterior motive of improving their product. Frankly, fans want to see bigger, stronger, and faster players competing at a higher level. Chicks dig the long ball, and guys want to see bone- shattering hits.
Performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) make home runs y farther and the crushing hits bigger. PEDs make records fall and fans tune in. Consumers consistently want to see new, more exciting sports, and as long as that is the case, leagues will have a strong disincentive to fight usage of performance- enhancing drugs.
Seeing as these men and women are adults, and athletics is their career, why should they not be able to use performance-enhancing drugs? Testing is expensive anyways, and not testing is perhaps fairer than testing. Giving everyone access to everything and letting them be monitored by doctors will improve the level of play. Of course, there are certain legal obstacles, particularly in the United States, and while I do support the legalization and regulation of steroids, these obstacles can be avoided as well. While PEDs can have negative side effects, those effects can be minimized if they are legal, regulated, and a doctor oversees their usage. The reality of achieving at the highest level in sports is that doing so requires sacrifices. Top-level athletes will do whatever necessary to make themselves better at just about any cost. Especially when they are compensated so handsomely, potential health risks down the road are perhaps a small price to pay. Just ask any NFL player. Certainly, the negative effects are more drastic and longer lasting for adolescents and young adults who are still developing. If legal, steroids could be regulated and an age minimum could and should be created.
Other issues arise in terms of access and fairness. Those with more money and access to PEDs will gain an advantage; however, money and access are already and always will be an advantage, steroids aside.
Legalization of steroids can help remove their stigmatization. The negative side effects are often sensationalized and the potential benefits are down- played. In addition while many overtly denounce steroids, as a society we covertly support their use. In 1990, George H.W. Bush signed the Anabolic Steroid Control Act into law. The same year, he named Arnold Schwarzenegger the head of the Presidential Council on Fitness. I hate to break the hearts of all of those who idolize Schwarzenegger and think he is natural, but he simply was not, and he has admitted as such. In fact, I will even go a step further in crushing dream; all of your heroes are on drugs.
Hulk Hogan? Yea, it took a little more than “eat your vegetables and say your prayers” for him to look the way he did. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson? Do not be so naive. Rocky Balboa is perhaps one of the greatest heroes in the history of sports movies for doing things the right way while Ivan Drago used drugs to his advantage, yet Sylvester Stallone juiced consistently throughout the filming of the Rocky movies.
We know about many baseball players who used steroids, but what about all of those who never failed a drug test, especially those who played in the steroid era? I have a hard time clearing anyone’s name, and that is unfortunate. Were steroids legal under both statutory law and in Major League Baseball, there would be no questions about who deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, and we would not have to tarnish the name of athletes who made the decision to use steroids, frankly because they felt they needed to keep up. We would not be beholden to the awed MLB drug testing system to determine which athletes are role models and which are not.
With body image issues becoming increasingly prevalent among adolescent males and females, one cannot help but wonder whether openness about steroids could help ameliorate such issues. Social media and the internet have thrust images of muscular, lean men in front of adolescent males, and many of these bodies were created with the use of steroids or similar drugs. Young men are tricked into believing that they can achieve a certain physique that is unattainable to 99.9 percent of the population without the use of PEDs. Young women experience similar issues as well. If athletes, bodybuilders, models, and any others whose bodies are put on a pedestal were open about their steroid use, young men and women would be able to have more realistic body goals and better body images. We could better disseminate information about the risks associated with steroids and better manage steroid use so they are safely used. Further, legal, regulated steroids can help doctors enforce that steroids are drugs with potential side effects, and adults are responsible enough to weigh the risks of and adolescents are not, especially considering that the long-term health risks are considerably greater for those who are still developing.
I envision a future where steroids are legal in society and in sport. People are well-educated on their benefits, side effects, and their use in medicine. Sports fans are happy with the on-field product and no longer have to ask questions about who is playing by the rules. The playing eld will be level, as athletes are all able to take PEDs. Young athletes understand that steroids are for adults, and, if they wish to play professionally, taking PEDs is a choice they may want, but do not have to make. Young men and women understand what a realistic physique to obtain without PEDs is as well as what is obtainable with which drugs. That future is a long way off. Until then, enjoy the U.S. hockey team play the “Olympic Athletes from Russia” team and enjoy watching the Winter Olympics, along with NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL games not knowing who is playing by the rules and who is not. The other choice is to be naive enough to think that drug tests are perfect and no athletes take PEDs.
