Drug Use in Professional Sports

On November 10, 2016 in my American Sport in the 21st Century class we discussed the categories of performance enhancing drugs (PED's) and the reasons why athletes choose to use them in professional sport. In most cases there are six major categories of PED's and the effects it gives to the user, these six include:

1. Stimulants- athletes use these to increase alertness, reduce tiredness, and increse their competitiveness
2. Narcotic analgesics- used to numb pain and allow the athlete to get back into games
3. Anabolic steroids- increases the protein in cells which increases muscle growth much faster.
4. Beta blockers- used to slow down the athlete's heart rate giving an advantage in sports like golf or archery.
5. Diuretics- increases the production of urine which athletes may use to flush out residue form steroids.
6. Peptide hormones & analogues- usually HGH, or the human growth hormone, it spurs growth in children and also helps to regulates body composition, muscle and bone growth, and metabolism.



With these varying kinds of drugs and the benefits and advantages they can provide an athlete over their competition it seems easy why so many athletes choose to use drugs. But a big question fans tend to want to know is why? Why gamble millions of dollars using PED's?


According to an article on the website for Northwestern University of Professional Studies, one of the main reasons for PED use, at least in the short term, is to land a giant multi million dollar contract. In class we discussed the different reasoning why athletes may partake in PED's. For the full article click here.

Psychological Reasons

• To increase motivation
• To steady nerves
• To increase aggression 

Social Reasons

• Athletes are prepared to win at any cost
• The belief that everyone else is doing it
• Pressure to win by peers, coaches, or the media
• The fear of not winning

The article from Northwestern University explains the prevalence of PED's in major sports saw a rise in the mid 2000's in MLB after the league introduced a stricter drug policy.  The new policy ended the "steroid era" and star players like Jose Canseco, Mark McGuire, and Sammy Sosa all being linked to using illegal drugs to improve their performance were getting suspensions.

Jose Canseco

Recently the NFL's old "three strikes" drug policy has been replaced in 2014; teams in the NFL vary greatly in terms of suspensions given since 2012. The graph below shows games missed by each NFL team in a ten year span.

Along with the social and psychological reasons stated above are moral and legal reasons why athletes shouldn't take PED's

Moral Reasons

• Gives the athlete an unfair advantage
• Undermines the true spirit of the sport
• Reflects badly on the team, league, and others

Legal Reasons

• Against U.S. law
• Against the laws of sports

Although not all athletes believe they should be role models, which may or may not be true, children will always look up to successful athletes and try to copy them which creates a bad example for young children to follow, leading them to believe that drug use and violence is acceptable in today's society.