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Should steroid use ever be allowed in professional sports?(REPOST)
There have been steroids used in sports for many years but that's not an excuse to allow it to continue unchallenged, cheating is cheating however it's dressed up. There have even been calls for total allowance for all substances but this allows those who are not able to win the chance to cheat with impunity, it also means the winners become the chemists rather then the sportsmen. The argument can be simplified with a car racing analogy, choose the fuel for the cars to use and then let all teams add any additives they choose to make the car go faster or longer.

Obviously there must be clear rules of what is allowed in all medicines and supplements that sportsmen take, their defence is often that they got the banned substance in their system via a legal source such as a cough medicine. The other defence is that the coaches supply drinks to the athletes and the athletes don't know what they are taking. This shows the athletes in whichever sport they compete in must have coaches they trust and they must feel able to question them on what they are giving them. The coaches also need random testing to see what they are giving their charges, not simply test the sportsmen.

A major headache for testers is that the scientists who create the steroids know what the tests are and so are working not only on the drugs but also ways to pass drug tests. Also there are companies that sell substances that supposedly allow you to pass urine tests regardless what you may have taken before the test. New tests need to be discovered and the people who make illegal substances need to be caught. If the substances are legal but are banned in sport then perhaps a certain item should be added that is guaranteed to show up in tests. A sort of marker to show what the substance is and where it came from, a kind of DNA. That way the sportsmen and coaches don't have excuses for using the drug and the testers know they can't be hidden.

If sports were taught from a young age to all those who wanted it and also those who showed promise then they may get to their peak without help. Also if the prize money wasn't so high in some events then the desperation to cheat may be less. There have been a number of cheats caught , and even some have died young due to the drugs yet people are still getting caught. There needs to be something set in stone to show steroids are cheating and if you are caught you will be banned for life, not allowed to come back after a couple of years.

Learn more about this author, Ashley Smith.
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