As an athlete, an avid Philadelphia sports fan and a fan of competitive sports in general, I am always in awe when fortunate enough to witness athletes competing at their peak levels of fitness and skill. There are some cases in recent memory which I can recount an athlete performing on a level entirely above his competition. These spectacular performances elevate the athlete’s mere showing of physical superiority over his competition into art, something beautiful to be seen. Michael Jordan, Usain Bolt, and Michael Phelps are some of the athletes that come to mind who made their sport look easier than it really was, putting up mind blowing performances with regularity. They seem able to accomplish things that other athletes can only dream of. However, not everyone can become these superheroes of the sports world. These athletes are part of a select group of humans who possess the innate talent, genetics, skill, and motivation to succeed. These characteristics drive them to that next level. For those guys and girls who weren’t blessed with a million-dollar genetic makeup, there is only one way to beat those sports superheroes: they need to gain an advantage in some form. Since the beginning of time, people have always looked for a way to get an edge against their competition. Think of the classic biblical example of David versus Goliath, in which David was going to fight Goliath. Goliath was a monster of a man and he was sure to crush David in a normal fight, however, David used a slingshot to take down the giant. In today’s highly competitive world of sports, the sling shot has been replaced by performance enhancing drugs (PEDs). Athletes have used PEDs ever since the ancient Greek athletes decided to drink opium juice, experiment with herbal medications, hallucinogens, and eat animal hearts and testicles in search of potency in preparation for the Olympics. In fact, this was nothing new to the Greeks and they did not view this as cheating (Bowers). As technology has advanced and drugs have become commonplace in the market, PEDs have flooded the Olympic, professional, and even amateur sports worlds. I have always done my best to stay away from drugs, but as an athlete I have done a lot of things to get the upper hand against my competition. I was never the fastest, strongest, biggest, or most skilled so that meant I had to train harder and more often than my competition. I always looked at those who used PEDs as cheaters, but todays sports world is so competitive and the stakes are so high that nowadays you have no idea who might be using. It is becoming impossible to prevent and test for every illegal performance enhancer available to athletes. Tests are becoming too expensive to administer for all the PEDs readily available to athletes with the right connections (Exploring). It is safe to assume that many current professional athletes are flying under the radar of banned substance tests because they are using drugs developed in labs, not yet known to be tested for by authorities (Camporesi). So really, it does not make sense to be testing for banned substances when athletes will find a way to use PEDs without getting caught anyway (Smith). That is how advanced and secretive this industry has become in recent years and will be in the future. Now is the time to allow professional athletes access to PEDs. Professional sports organizations should allow their athletes access to all PEDs. Doing so would level the playing field, increase the popularity of sports, and bring sports into the modern world. Allowing athletes full access to PEDs would surely level the playing field. Currently, some athletes choose to consume PEDs while others abstain because it is illegal and they risk fines and suspensions for getting caught. We must realize that a sports world in which some professional athletes follow the rules and some do not is not really sport at all (Veber). There must be a clear structure in place to solve this problem over PEDs. Since it would be impossible to completely rid the professional sports world of all banned PEDs, the next step is to allow their consumption. This would ensure that nobody has a distinct advantage over their competition because everyone has access to the PEDs of their choice. 

Before I delve any further into this assertion, first allow me to provide some general information about PEDs. If you are a fan of sports like myself, I’m sure that you have heard the phrase “performance enhancing drugs” tossed around on ESPN quite a bit. PEDs are a large classification for substances which are consumed to improve activity performance. The classification and rules surrounding what is legal and what is illegal is not as clear cut as it may sound. There are many different types of PEDs: anabolic steroids, stimulants, ergogenic aids, human biomolecules, nootropics, painkillers, sedatives and blood boosters. In the sports world, the most common form of PED is the anabolic steroid. PEDs are commonly used by professional athletes, bodybuilders, military operators and musical artists to better their performances. The current governing bodies of all the major professional sports organizations currently outlaw the use of PEDs by athletes. Many athletes get busted every year for having PEDs in their system while countless others are able to evade detection.

To juice or not to juice? The argument over whether professional sports organizations should be allowing their athletes to freely use performance enhancing drugs has been going on for quite some time now. In these types of heated debates, there are always two very opposite sides, each of which cling to their beliefs like they are holding on for life itself. There are those who refuse to change and wish to do things as they have traditionally been done. For the sake of this argument, let’s call these people “conservatives”. On the opposition, there lies the open minded, willing and ready to change in pursuit of a bigger and better future, let’s call these people “liberals”. Liberals want to see modern technology push the limits of what we know to be true in the sports world, without knowing if the grass is greener on the other side. In this debate, conservatives paint a faulty, glorified portrait of the past in which athletes were always good people, were role models for the younger generation, respected the sanctity of their sport and never cheated. They also believe performance enhancing drugs are unsafe for athletes to be using and wish them to be banished (Murray). What we have here is a battle of old school versus new school. Some things these conservatives fail to recognize is that PEDs have been used in other realms without any pushback at all. According to Julian Savulescu, when examining the so called “violation” of the spirit of sport when athletes choose to engage in the use of performance enhancing drugs, he points out that notable performers, including classical musicians, use performance enhancing drugs to control their stage fright. Their performance enhancer of choice is most often Beta blockers. Savulescu references a source to support this specific claim, the study and findings on the effects of Beta blockades and Beta stimulations on stage fright by Dr. Brantigan and his associates. It was concluded in this study that Beta blockade eliminates the physical inhibitions to performance, increased blood pressure being one of them, caused by stage fright and even eliminates the dry mouth so frequently encountered. The quality of musical performance, as judged by experienced music critics, was significantly improved as well (Savulescu). Why is an artist taking a beta blocker different from a professional athlete using PEDs? Both are paid to be as good at their profession as they can possibly be. What owner wouldn’t want his players to perform better? If you don’t think performing artists are trying to one up and be better than one other just like professional athletes are, you are wrong. The entire world is a competition for who can be the best, and being the best means more money and power which most all of us desire. 

Again, the conversation reverts to what is morally right, PEDs are viewed as cheating and we can seem to get past that. PEDs are only illegal for professional athletes because their organizations say so, they seem to be encouraged in other realms, i.e. performing artists, and they were once used by athletes and nothing was thought of it, i.e. Greeks. You might say that nobody thought of it because they didn’t know the consequences that PEDs can have on the human body. However, with the current technology and the technology growth that would ensue if PEDs were to become legal for professional athletes, I believe that there could be created a breed of PED that minimizes the negative impacts of PEDs, all the while maximizing the positive gains. If this idea comes to fruition, there is going to be some seriously impressive human physicality on display. Some of these athletes will in time become too impressive that rules of the sport might have to be changed. In the MLB, I can foresee an environment where homeruns on the current field dimensions are too common to be fair. This is where our society must embrace a new addition or change to the sports we know and love. The MLB may tinker with a rule which grants an extra point for a homerun over a certain distance. This is like the addition of the three-point line in basketball once upon a time. There never was a three-point line when basketball first started but, as players grew in skill and athleticism, there was a necessity for change so an extra point was awarded for a shot made from a further distance. 

Although athletes are often the role models of young people, they never asked to be and aren’t required to be role models. A common narrative by those people who oppose the use of PEDs say that professional athletes who consume PEDs set a bad example for the youth and encourage bad practices. They cook up this narrative in an effort to explain the spread of PEDs into amateur sports, but in reality, it is the ever increasing competitiveness of youth sports and uninformed physicians without knowledge on the effects of PEDs who prescribe medications. According to Gregory, physicians must educate themselves on PEDs because it is not a topic taught in medical school (Gregory). What most people who are angered by these statements fail to realize is that athletes get paid millions of dollars for their athletic performance, not their astute personalities and morality. Yes, some athletes are natural role models and they should embrace that role, but if we assume that all athletes should be role models, we are the ones to blame. If we force our professional athletes to be something they are not, what we get looks a lot like Johnny Manziel. The former Heisman winning quarterback and first round pick is now out of football and headed down a dangerous path of reckless behavior with drugs and women because of he couldn’t cope with being something he was not. Professional athletes are also in the limelight 24/7 and probably receive more media attention than any other profession besides the President of the United States.  As a society, we wish everyone were a good person who could set a good example for the kids, but this is America and we have the freedom to be and do as we please. So, we should discipline professional athletes when they cross the line but be sure to not constrict their personality. 

If the governing bodies of sports organizations were to embrace the modern world and implement technology into the sports world, it would have the capacity to further our games, competitions, events, and organizations to an entirely new level. This new level is one in which everything is possible. Commonplace are high definition cameras, advanced new metrics and modern strategies to identify what separates the best athletes from the rest of the pack. The fan experience is completely updated and transformed through advances in visuals, technology, and environment. Players are achieving feats never even discussed about before, all while revolutionizing what it means to be an athlete. The biggest obstacle to achieving all of this is the health concern for performance enhancing drug users. Currently, athletes are taking unregulated substances developed in labs to evade showing up on a banned substance test by their league’s governing body. That is unsafe and must stop. For professional athletes to have access to PEDs, a clear structure and system must be set forth, not the effete system currently in place. Athletes are sometimes surprised themselves when they show up positive on a banned substance test, not realizing that what they consumed was a banned substance. Just last year, Lane Johnson, the right tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles was suspended 10 games. The other day, Joakim Noah, a forward for the New York Knicks was suspended for a banned substance he consumed in an over the counter medication. Johnson claimed that he unknowingly consumed a banned substance in one of his prescribed medications without consulting the Eagle’s medical staff. The governing bodies of sports organizations worldwide must come to a consensus over a definite plan for banned substances in the future. Athletes are being left out to dry on outdated policies, and there seems to be no motive to update or change these dinosaur age rules and regulations. A potential solution could be to set a procedure for only punishing those who do not disclose everything that they are currently using. This would allow athletes to use as they please, placing the liability entirely on the user to consume what is best for him/her. 

Once professional athletes are granted permission to freely use PEDs, the sports world is primed for takeoff. Get ready and strap in because it’s going to be a thrilling ride. PEDs will increase the popularity of sports dramatically. You don’t believe me? Well, during the 1990s and early 2000s, the steroid era of Major League Baseball, baseball’s popularity was at an all-time high. Players like Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa propelled baseball to record highs in attendance and jersey sales. The 1998 summer was one for the record books as the chase for the single season home run record was in full form. When the dust settled, Mark McGwire emerged the victor, smashing a whopping 70 home runs! Sammy Sosa finished in a close second with 66, nothing to scoff at since the previous record was 61 dingers, set by Roger Maris back in 1961. I was not old enough to remember the historic 1998 summer, I wasn’t even one year old yet, but looking back at these statistics I’m awestruck. The late 1990s-early 2000s easily produced some of the greatest baseball statistics of all time. From 1996-1999, Mark McGwire hit an astounding 245 homeruns! Sammy Sosa, always right on McGwire’s tail, hit 243 homeruns from 1998-2001 (Bishop)! Before this era, baseball was on the brink of extinction, with decreasing attendance season after season. The steroid era produced a can’t miss environment and the fans loved every second of it. It brought people back to watching baseball and potentially saved the sport from collapse. The MLB knew these players were using PEDs but they were willing to look the other way because it was the spark baseball needed to continue as a successful sport. In fact, steroids had been on the banned substance list of the MLB since 1991, but the league did not implement player testing until 2003! Why should we allow professional baseball to unveil this secret weapon of PEDs only in a time of need? As fans, we should be granted the experience of seeing professional athletes perform at this type of peak performance level all the time. The entirety of the sports world could benefit by putting into action a plan and structure to allow professional athletes access to freely consume PEDs. As PEDs did for the MLB, PEDs can increase the popularity of sports in general, which bodes well for all parties involved. An increase in popularity means increased attendance, higher jersey sales, increased salaries for players, bigger stadiums, and more jobs. 

The evolution of man and sport is our manifest destiny. As we progress into the next century, technology will be king. The enhancement of what we knew to be true is the defining characteristic of an entrepreneur, and the spirit of entrepreneurship is what defines America. Let us be the first, again, in redefining sport and placing no limits on what we can achieve through advances in technology. Allow the market to determine what players turn to next to better themselves, but at the time being, the simple solution is for the governing bodies of professional sports organizations to grant their athletes the ability to access all PEDs. With full liability on behalf on the athlete to choose what he/she wants to consume; the league cannot be held at fault and a market for the safest and most advanced form of PED will be given room to grow and create. 
