By Matt Mayberry

Article about drugs in Olympic sports  The 2000 Olympics have once again focused the attention of the world upon the use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs within sport. Several Olympic champions were stripped of their medals as a result of positive drugs tests, while the withdrawal of a large number of Chinese competitors on the eve of the games was widely assumed to be linked to failed drugs tests. Although attention is often focused upon athletics, almost all sports have a “drug problem” and devote considerable energy to testing competitors regularly, banning those who fail them. Nonetheless, doubts remain as to the effectiveness of these tests and the fairness of some of the resulting bans, and some argue the whole approach is deeply flawed. Performance-enhancing drugs include steroids, the male hormone testosterone, Human-growth hormone and other drugs taken to build muscle-bulk during training, and stimulants or blood-doping taken to improve performance in competition. Most such drugs have some medical uses and are prescribed legally in certain non-athletic contexts; it is unlikely that a Proposition would also wish to legalize “recreational” drugs such as cocaine, heroin and amphetamines, although all of these could be regarded as performance-enhancing in certain sporting contexts.  Alastair Endersby ( United Kingdom ) Alastair learnt to debate at the Cambridge Union but discovered his real talents lay in coaching when he started teaching. He has twice coached England teams in the World Schools Debating Championships. Alastair currently teaches History and Politics at Bishop Wordsworth's School in Salisbury, England. He is the Editor of Debatabase.  The author mostly offers claims of fact in this article. He doesn’t focus his attention on his personal opinion. The information provided is that of an event and action that has already taken place. In this instance, many Olympians were stripped of their medals for using performance enhancing drugs in the 2000 Olympics.

Arguments  Pros Better spectacle for spectators. Sport has become a branch of the entertainment business and the public demands “higher, faster, stronger” from athletes. - Claim of Value(It depends on who the spectator is watching the sport. The spectator carries their own morals and beliefs about how sport should be competed.) Natural/unnatural distinction untenable. Already athletes use all sorts of dietary supplements, exercises, equipment, clothing, training regimes, medical treatments, etc. to enhance their performance. -Claim of Value ( Some enhancers of performance are allowed if they are not banned. There is testing in place to catch banned substances.) Legalization allows more information to become available and open medical supervision will avoid many of the health problems currently associated with performance-enhancing drugs. -Claim of Value( This is a matter of opinion of the author.)  Cons Very bad for athletes. The use of performance-enhancing drugs leads to serious health problems, including “steroid rage”, the development of male characteristics in female athletes, heart attacks, and greatly reduced life expectancy. Some drugs are also addictive. -Claim of fact( Can be proved from previous studies.) What about the children? Even if performance-enhancing drugs were only legalized for adults, the definition of this varies from country to country. Teenage athletes train alongside adult ones and share the same coaches, so many would succumb to the temptation and pressure to use drugs if these were widely available and effectively endorsed by legalization. Not only are such young athletes unable to make a fully rational, informed choice about drug-taking, the health impacts upon growing bodies would be even worse than for adult users. It would also send a positive message about drug culture in general, making the use of “recreational drugs” with all their accompanying evils more widespread. -Claim of Value(Matter of opinion.)

 This cartoon over- exaggerates the effects of human growth hormone. The author of this cartoon wants it to be known that physical changes are noticeable in all that take human growth hormone.( Even women.)

 This cartoon depicts an athlete throwing an injection needle as a javelin. The word Balco is used in place of Olympic, because Balco was the world’s largest supplier of performance enhancing drugs to athletes. ( Unstated assumption.)

 This picture shows the top three places of an Olympic event. The cartoon illustrates the person who injects the most drug-enhancer wins first prize.( The bias here is that one must inject drugs in order to place in an event.)

 This cartoon depicts that an athlete must take steroids to reach such amazing heights.( First place.)

 This cartoon illustrates that steroids are prevalent in many Olympic sports. Unstated assumption: Weightlifting has issues with steroid use.( The athlete in this cartoon is so huge, he must be a weightlifter.)

 This cartoon illustrates that steroids are being passed around from athlete to athlete. The bias here is that only Americans are doing it!(Notice the red, white, and blue wrist bands.)

Physical Side Effects MenWomen  Although anabolic steroids are derived from a male sex hormone, men who take them may actually experience a "feminization" effect along with a decrease in normal male sexual function. Some possible effects include: Reduced sperm count  Impotence  Development of breasts  Shrinking of the testicles  Difficulty or pain while urinating Dr. Wadler provided this information on the impact of drug enhancers for athlete’s. Dr. Wadler, a New York University School of Medicine professor and lead author of the book Drugs and the Athlete, serves as a consultant to the U.S. Department of Justice on anabolic-androgenic steroid use. He has also won the International Olympic Committee President's Prize for his work in the area of performance-enhancing drugs in competitive sports. - Dr. Wadler is an authority on this subject.  women often experience a "masculinization" effect from anabolic steroids, including the following:  Facial hair growth  Deepened voice  Breast reduction  Menstrual cycle changes

References   main.asp main.asp  steroids.html