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Steroids, speaking loosely, seem to have an undeserved bad reputation.

Surely no-one would argue that it is unfair for some athletes using enhancement drugs to compete with other athletes relying solely on their own skills and training. However, we all seem to be missing the point. Certain medical conditions require the use of prescribed drugs, which are included in the prohibited list, to enable an otherwise competent athlete to function at a level he would perform without his injury or medical condition. In this case, the drug is not giving him an advantage over his competitors, rather giving him the opportunity to perform on a level playing field.

We would be considered inhumane if we denied our paralympians the opportunity to compete with wheelchairs in their events, or prohibited insulin or asthma pumps within the sporting fraternity, but our society is realistic enough to understand that certain athletes require these "performance enhancers" to permit them to compete.

Obviously I am not saying that athletes should be permitted to use steroids to give them an unfair advantage in competition, but I believe that those with a handicap should be permitted to use prescribed medication to allow them to perform at their potential rather than being penalized for illness and injuries. Obviously, this would need to be monitored by independent medical specialists to eliminate the possibility of abuse, but we have to stop penalizing exceptional cases because other athletes are acting in an unethical manner.

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