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| Yes | 54% | 323 votes | Total: 599 votes | |
| No | 46% | 276 votes |
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Add to FavoritesThough professional athletes have been battling one another on the field, court, rink, etc., for many years, the quest for a "level playing field" has become more difficult than ever. The single biggest reason this goal is so difficult to reach is drug use.
As a lifelong fan of professional baseball and football, the integrity of the game - a term that is used way too often by people who want others to think they care - is actually important to me. When two teams square off, I want to see the team with the best skills and/or strategy win the game - not the team with the most effective drugs or most "enhanced" performances.
Some present-day athletes actually use the "old school" method of training hard, practicing every day and taking care of their bodies so they can play their best at all times. Unfortunately, there are too many players around them using a little of this or a little of that to "get better". Some even have egos that make them think they are too powerful to be hurt by drug use or too important to be punished if they get caught.
There is no doubt that everyone - including drug abusers - deserves a second chance. But consider the cases of former Major League Baseball star Steve Howe and Dexter Manley, a Pro Bowl defensive end in the NFL. The two of them played the majority of their careers in the 1980s, and each one left an example for every athlete who followed them to ignore.
Howe received seven drug-related suspensions during a career that lasted from 1980-96. He was the first player permanently banned from the Major Leagues because of drug use. Manley played 11 seasons in the National Football League and won two Super Bowl rings. However, he also failed drug tests on four occasions and was ultimately banned for life.
The twisted lives of these two men bring to mind an important question: If either man had been a fitness instructor or a convenience store manager instead, would he have kept his job that long? The fact that Howe and Manley kept getting caught but were allowed to return to the field just a few months later did nothing to change their behavior. That's why athletes who are convicted drug users should not be allowed to play professionally.
Sadly , the cases of Howe and Manley are not nearly the only ones like this in the professional sports arena. There are hundreds of other athletes who have been caught using drugs, and probably that many more who are still getting away with it.
The athletes who are using drugs to improve their performance, enhance their reputation, increase their estate, and (by default) feed their ego are the ones in the spotlight these days. A handful of baseball players were recently stopped in their tracks thanks to the Mitchell Report, but it appears that the great majority of players, owners, and league officials elsewhere would rather just ignore the whole mess so they can collect their money.
Just give me a shot and I'll show you what I can do. That request used to be a way for young athletes to get the chance to show off their skills and earn a spot on the team. Those words can still be heard today, but thanks to the ever-increasing presence of drugs in sports, the athletes are pointing in a new direction.
Learn more about this author, Ryan Gray.
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No
Only if we also give other public figures a lifetime ban from their chosen field. For what else DOES drug use rate a lifetime ban?
Kids idolize movie stars more than baseball stars! So let's ban Philip Seymour Hoffman [Best Actor Oscar nominee for "Capote"] who admitted he used drugs a lot. "It was anything I could get my hands on. I liked it all." True he quit but a lifetime ban is still in order. Tatum O'Neal ought to have to give up her Oscar because she was addicted to cocaine by age 20. Same goes for Lindsay Lohann, Ewan McGregor, Jamie Lee Curtis, Carrie Fisher and on and on and on.
Kids love to listen to the music. So let's ban musicians from performing if they ever use or used drugs. Stars like Mick Jagger and Jimmy Hendrix and Jim Morrison. Stars like Ozzie Osbourne should never get their own TV shows. If fact, instead of wasting time listing musicians who use drugs let's put together a much shorter list of those who don't! Away with them all?
And surely if ever we needed drug-free minds it was in our political leadership. Say "No!" to Barak Obama because he admitted to using cocaine in his youth. Say "No!" to Bill Clinton (my mistake, he didn't inhale). And lots of people think George W. Bush had more than his admitted drinking problem. They shouldn't be allowed to even run for dog catcher!
We are irrationally treating athletes too harshly. They are not nearly as influential to culture as other fields. And the HGH they are being tarred and feathered for using is not even illegal as are the recreational drugs like heroin, marijuana and cocaine like some actors and musicians and politicians are known to have used. Finally, the athletes who are using HGH do so because they see it as necessary to succeed. A flaw that can be pitied by people of compassion. The men and women mentioned above do it for a far less noble reason. They just like it!
I am content to let the sports leagues deal with the problem of drug use as they see fit. If they establish rules that might result in lifetime bans, so be it. If not, that too is fine. But let's stop this public posturing in order to force them to do something that may not be just or in the best interests of either the athletes or the sport itself.
Learn more about this author, Donald Moore.
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