Argumentative Essay

Posted by Winnie Melda on May 15th, 2019

Topic: Should athletes be allowed to use performance-enhancing drugs (such as steroids or EPO) or techniques (such as blood doping or oxygen tanks)?

Argument 1

Premise 1: The use of performance-enhancing drugs or techniques by athletes can build and improve muscle mass and strength and reduce body fat

It considerably improves the performance of the athlete in sports competitions

Conclusion: Therefore the use of performance-enhancing drugs or techniques by athletes should be allowed

Argument 2

Premise 1: The use of performance-enhancing drugs or techniques by athletes assists to fasten injury recovery

It enhances cell growth and regeneration thus the athlete regains their health

Conclusion: Therefore the use of performance-enhancing drugs or techniques by athletes should be allowed

Argument 3

Premise 1: The use of performance-enhancing drugs or techniques by athletes might be harmful and potentially fatal

The performance-enhancing drugs or techniques present adverse and severe side effects to athletes

Conclusion: Therefore the use of performance-enhancing drugs or techniques by athletes should not be allowed

Argumentative Essay

A significant ethical dilemma in sports and athletic competitions is the use of performance-enhancing drugs by athletes. The performance enhancing drugs include diuretics, anabolic steroids, painkillers, sedatives, stimulants, erythropoietin (EPO), depressants, human growth hormones and lean mass builders; while performance enhancing techniques include blood doping and oxygen tanks (Lumpkin & Stoll, 2011). There has been an increased debate on the use of these performance-enhancing drugs or techniques among professional athletes, trainers, coaches, and sport governing organizations. Several rules and regulations have been formulated and implemented to prevent athletes from gaining psychological as well as physiological advantages over other athletes. The use of performance-enhancing drugs such as anabolic steroids, depressants, and blood doping are associated with providing an athlete with unfair physical advantage thus is seen as morally wrong. They include the implementation of drug policies and drug tests for banned drugs in the majority of professional sports leagues. This essay presents an argument that supports the use of performance-enhancing drugs by athletes.

First, the use of performance-enhancing drugs or techniques by athletes can build and improve muscle mass and strength and reduce body fat. Improving the muscle strength and reducing body fat of athletes is crucial because it improves their performance in sports competitions. Sports competitions are about exploring and stretching the limits of human potential. Innovation, ingenuity, and knowledge are part of the games and sports in which different techniques are used to make competitors stronger and faster than the others. In the past pre-modern Olympics, the athletes used to eat crushed sheep testicles and eat live bees to get a leg up on athletic competition. Today, the athletes use many ways to enhance their performance including employing coaches, dietitians, massage therapists, psychologists and also training at the high attitude and wearing skin-tight swimsuits. Similarly, the use of performance-enhancing drugs or techniques should be encouraged because they strengthen the muscles of athletes and increase their endurance as well as reduce body fat that can reduce their performance in sports (Boone, 2013). Besides the use of performance-enhancing substances assists to maintain athletic vigilance and enhance cognitive function. Examples of performance-enhancing substances that build muscle mass are steroids and human growth hormone, whereas the use of insulin-like growth factor and diuretics assists to reduce body fat and weight.

The use of performance-enhancing drugs or techniques by athletes assists to fasten injury recovery. In sports competitions as well as in training, it is common for sportspeople to be injured thus losing out on games. Various performance-enhancing substances are used to enhance cell growth and regeneration thus the athlete regains their health. Some of the performance-enhancing drugs that assist in recovery include anabolic steroids and EPO. The EPO drug is used by athletes to boost their red blood cells growth with the expectation of boosting sports performance. The anabolic steroids are sometimes prescribed by doctors as they artificially enhance bodily function and also promote cell growth hence leading to assisting in muscle growth and recovery. Therefore, due to their beneficial health impact, the use of performance-enhancing drugs or techniques by athletes should be allowed.

A contradicting argument against the use of performance-enhancing drugs or techniques by athletes is that they might be harmful and potentially fatal. Some of the performance-enhancing drugs or techniques present negative and severe side effects to athletes. Examples of the performance-enhancing drugs or techniques that are harmful are beta blockers that may constrict blood vessels, blood doping that may thicken blood and cause heart attacks, steroids might increase the risk of cancer, kidney disorders, and heart disease; EPO may thicken the blood, which can cause heart attacks and diuretics may cause dehydration (Spengler, Connaughton & Pittman, 2006). Sometimes the effects of doping in athletes have been associated with deaths of athletes although there has been little evidence. However, this argument is wrong because the side effects usually occur if the drugs are misused. Proper prescription by professionals as well as monitored use can aid to prevent the side effects of these performance enhancers. The athletes should hire coaches and medical practitioners who assist them to use these performance enhancers in a manner that leads to improvement rather than adverse consequences. Besides, athletes have a choice to avoid performance enhancers that have been proven to cause severe side effects leading to health deterioration. Therefore, the use of performance-enhancing drugs or techniques by athletes should be allowed if properly prescribed and used.

The essay argues that the use of performance enhancers for sportspeople should be encouraged. Performance enhancers can be used to strengthen muscles and build muscle mass of athletes, therefore, enhancing their performance in athletics and games. The use of performance-enhancing drugs assists in cell regeneration and growth for injured athletes; hence assists in quick recovery. The argument that performance enhancers cause side effects should not be a reason to discourage the use of performance-enhancing drugs because the correct use and prescription will prevent these side effects. The essay argues that performance-enhancing drugs are beneficial to sportspeople, therefore, should be encouraged.

References

Boone, T. (2013). Introduction to exercise physiology. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Lumpkin, A., & Stoll, S. K. (2011). Practical ethics in sports management. McFarland.

Spengler, J. O., Connaughton, D., & Pittman, A. T. (2006). Risk management in sport and recreation. Human Kinetics.

Carolyn Morgan is the author of this paper. A senior editor at MeldaResearch.Com in Online Paper Writing Service. If you need a similar paper you can place your order from Professional Custom Writing Services.