Punishment

What Should The Punishment Be For Athletes Who Use Performance Enhancing Drugs?
With the new advances in medical technology and medicine, scientists are able to make all kinds of medicines that can do numerous things to a humans body. Specifically, medicines such as Human Growth Hormone (HGH), and Anabolic Steroids, can make a body bigger, stronger and faster. Due to the upside possibilities of these drugs, many players, although they know it is illegal to use these and play a sport, use them anyways. These problems have shown
that players are willing to take the risk, and the problem may be that, because the players are not afraid of the possible consequences of the penalties after being caught. In order to solve this problem, a new penalty system must be put in place, not just in one league, but a national policy that is the same in every league. By doing this, players will be less likely to take the risk or cheat, making sports competitions cleaner and more fair. This has become a public policy as of
late due to the national media coverage it has gained, and in specific, the congressional hearings on the MLB’s steroid policy. The problem has been a factor on many levels of government, from
drug raids in pharmacies by the FBI, to the congressional hearings. In current times, the problem has taken a medium to high public interest, due to the governments involvements and the national coverage which has exposed the problem to the national public. The reason I decided to make this my topic in my public policy paper, was because I enjoy watching, playing, and being a big fan of sports. My personal opinion, in that Steroids, and other performance enhancing drugs is ruining the reputation of sports organizations, the players and its fans. In a sense,
competition in sports is big because people want to see what they can do in certain situations, and see who is the best. Anyone can hit a baseball out of the park with HGH and steroids in them, but what real sports fans want to see is who can push themselves to the limit and do their best on their own. I also support the ideas that in their official reasoning for the prohibition of these drugs in the “Policy on Anabolic Steroids and Related Substances” (2006 Version) in the NFL that “First, these substances threaten the fairness and integrity of the athletic competition on the playing field. Players use steroids for the purpose of becoming bigger, stronger, and faster than they otherwise would be. As a result, steroids and related substances threaten to distort the results of games and League standings. Moreover, players who do not wish to use these substances may feel forced to do so in order to compete effectively with those who do. This is
obviously unfair to those players and provides sufficient reason to prohibit their use.”(Pg. 1). This peer pressure may lead to problems, and may give a bad shadow to the younger people that
look up to them as role models.
The history on the policies of the use of these drugs are not very long or extensive, due to the only recent breakthrough in chemicals and drugs in science in the past few centuries. But for
the time that it has been around, there has been a lot of recorded problems with athletes using these drugs. Since the beginning of the steroid era in sports, the most common actions by any committee in any part of sports, whether the Olympics, a college, or professional sports league has been disqualification, suspension, and fines. An example comes from the NFLPA in its “Policy on Anabolic Steroids and Related Substances” Will now be referred to as NFLPA Policy) “Players or other persons within the NFL who are convicted of or otherwise admit to a violation of law relating to use, possession, acquisition, sale, or distribution of steroids, growth
hormones, stimulants or related substances, or conspiring to do so, are subject to discipline by the Commissioner, including suspension or, if appropriate, termination of the individual’s affiliation with an NFL Club. Any suspension shall be without pay and served as set forth below.
Longer suspensions may be imposed for repeat offenders.”(Pg. 5). Evidence that shows this is currently an area of concern could be the drug raid of a pharmacy in Florida. According to reports by Sports Illustrated “On Feb. 27, SI accompanied investigators from multiple law-enforcement agencies on a raid of PBRC. Simultaneously, agents in Orlando were raiding Signature Pharmacy, a compounding pharmacy that last year did more than $40 million in sales, much of it with PBRC. On Monday, PBRC co-owner Glen Stefano and 10 others pleaded not guilty to multiple charges during arraignment proceedings in Albany. Stefano was charged with illegally selling steroids and hormones. Earlier, Signature owners Robert Loomis and his wife, Naomi, were charged with criminal diversion of prescription medications, criminal sale of a controlled substance and insurance fraud.” (Llosa and Wertheim, SI Vol. 106, Iss. 11). In some of the reports obtained in the raid, were names of athletes that have bought drugs from this Pharmacy, including Gary Matthews Jr. and Kurt Angle. Another piece of evidence could be the recent suspension of the former NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, Pro Bowl superstar MLB Shawne Merriman by the NFL for four games on his first offense of failing a drug test. It was reported that in his test sample, traces of Anabolic Steroids were found. Overall, this issue has had a negative impact on all players, teams, organizations and leagues involved in any controversy involving this topic. Examples of negative impacts on players could be Mark McGwire and Rafiel Palmero. “McGwire has never openly admitted to steroid use. However, during a hearing before the U.S. Congress in 2005, he did not deny using the muscle-building drugs. That testimony has led many people to believe that McGwire did use steroids. In 2002, Major League Baseball banned the use of the drugs, which are hazardous, or dangerous, to a person's health.”(Wkly Reader Nws., Vol. 88, Iss. 19) McGwire was left out of the Baseball Hall Of Fame this year by voters, most likely because of his possible involvement in steroids. No real evidence has ever been brought against him, yet because of the impact it has and because of the fact that use or affiliation of use will not be accepted. As for Palmero, he was recently suspended by the MLB for finding traces of illegal performance enhancing drugs in his test sample, due to this, his team doesn’t even want him back, he has not played in baseball since the end of his suspension. Although my family is not personally affected, I am somewhat affected. As a fan of sports, I hate to see players cheat and use Steroids. I also feel its bad for players to do this because I know that somewhere out there a little kid looks up to these guys as a role models, and when they do this, they send a bad message that its okay to cheat.

In the NFLPA Policy, the penalties are based on a “three strikes and you’re out” system.“The first time a player violates this policy... he will be suspended without pay for a minimum of four regular and/or postseason games. In addition, the player will be subject to evaluation and counseling if, in the opinion of the Advisor, such assistance is warranted. The second time aplayer violates this policy...he will be suspended without pay for a minimum of eight regular and/or postseason games. The third time a player violates this policy...he will be suspended without pay for a period of at least 12 months.”(NFLPA Policy, Pg. 6) In all cases, testing positive for performance enhancing drugs, or attempting to unnaturally change the test specimen he has given will result in a “strike”. In other sports, such as international sports, such as the Olympics, when a player tests positive for performance enhancing drugs, they’re records are erased from the record books, and they are suspended. While to some these penalties may seem appropriate, it is starting to become clear that players aren’t worried about these penalties, and are willing to take the risk, because of this, a stricter policy across the sporting world must be put in place. What also must be done is that more substances must be prohibited. While leagues are trying to make it tougher to cheat, they seem to always be a step behind, like in the example of HGH, which is almost totally undetectable. An example of leagues taking steps in the right direction are evident in the MLB. “A first offense now means a 50-game ban, and a third positive test now carries a lifetime suspension. But the provision that could have the biggest effect on the game on the field has nothing to do with the juice. Under the new plan baseball will begin testing for amphetamines, the stimulants that have been a popular part of the game's underground culture for at least four decades. Besides illegal stimulants, baseball has banned ADD drugs such as Ritalin (unless they are prescribed by a physician). Over-the-counter stimulants, such as energy drinks, are permitted. First-time offenders receive counseling without a suspension; after that, another positive test results in a 25-game ban.”(Verducci Article). While the MLB is trying to be stricter, it still leaves holes in the system when they allow first time offenders on some stimulants allows only counseling, which for some players, they have a chance to get away with cheating at least once, which is one time to many.

What must be done in order to show players that cheating will not be tolerated, is stricter penalties. One possible alternate policy will be put into NFL terms. It will still follow a “three strikes and you’re out” idea, but each strike will mean more. If a player were to violate the
policy the first time, they would be suspended a minimum of 8 games without pay. The second time a player violated the policy, they would be suspended for a season, which is 4 pre season games, 16 regular season games, and any post season games played by his team. A third time violation, would lead to a life time ban, with the possibility to appeal after a minimum of one season suspended on his third strike. The idea of this policy is to skip over the real first strike of
the NFL policy, and carry out the first two strikes in the proposed first and second strikes, and add the third as a life time ban. A second possible alternate policy game wise would be the same because under the “season” term, you don’t play at all. On a first and second violation, the player would be suspended for the whole season, and a third would be life time. This is much stricter than the first alternate policy, but if leagues are going to be serious about cleaning up the field of play, they must be serious in their penalties. While both alternate policies seem to be more zero tolerance, they still give a player a second chance to understand the seriousness of the situation. While these alternate policies seem to be great substitutes for current policies, there are still some problems that have to be solved. For example, HGH, which is currently undetectable under
any form of drug testing.

Out of the two alternate courses of action, the more suitable course of action would probably be the first one. This would work better than the second because unlike the second, the penalties get stricter on each level. In order to make a sports wide, or world wide policy, all current agreements on the matter of drug policies would have to be voided in every sports, and what would then have to happen, is each players association and national league would have to
agree to the new nationalized standards. Since all player sign a contract with a leagues team, and each team must follow the rules and regulations of the league, players would have to follow the
rules and regulations under the new policy. By doing this, no real legal procedures would have to be changed, and players contracts could be kept in place through the changes of the policy. In order to be able to catch cheaters easier, leagues would have to test more players more players more often. The best way for the testing procedure to flow would be for the government to be given a random schedule by the leagues commissioner, where they would then go straight to the
player and test them, this way, players would not receive a heads up from an inside source about a testing schedule, and the government, which has shown interest in this matter, could help. To do this without greatly increasing funding for testing, the costs could be paid for through a leagues revenue, or the profits made from the previous season. By doing this, no extra money is needed from the fans in order to fund for the testing. If this policy were to be properly forced, it
would take a full effort from the sports league and the government agency that was in charge of testing. If the new policy were accepted and became the world wide policy, the new rules and regulations could be in place within a year, and by the beginning of the new sports season, the testing, rules and regulations would be in effect. In order to measure the success of the system, the statistical analysis would probably be the most reliable. Chances are that the increase in
players caught would be huge, and average drug use of any kind would probably greatly decrease. The only problem that may arise due to the changes in the policy, and if more drugs were to be prohibited, would be the use of HGH, which is undetectable in many current tests.
What would have to happen to solve this problem, is that some of the drug testing money would have to be taken out in order to find a new drug test that could detect this drug.
In conclusion, when it comes to wanting to change the policy, ideas, and allowance of illegal drug use in sports, such as HGH and Anabolic steroids, its not just up to the players
association and the league, its up to the fans. In a long timely article written by ESPN’s Chuck Klosterman, Klosterman opens up the idea that while some people want the real thing when it comes to football, many want entertainment, while some fans watch and play for the love of the sport, other watch to see if a bet they made will hold up. “This will not be simple. I don't think there will be a fall guy for the NFL; over time, we won't be able to separate Merriman from the
rest of the puzzle (which MLB has so far successfully done with Bonds). It won't be about the legitimacy of specific players. This will be more of an across-the-board dilemma, because we will have to publicly acknowledge that the most popular sport in the country has been kinetically altered by drugs, probably for the past 25 years. In many ways, the NFL's reaction barely matters. What matters more is how fans will attempt to reconcile that realization with their
personal feelings toward the game. The question, ultimately, is this: If it turns out the lifeblood of the NFL is unnatural, does that make the game less meaningful?” “Most of the time, we don't
care what football players do when they're not playing football. On any given Wednesday, we have only a passing interest in who they are as people or how they choose to live. But Sunday is
different. On Sunday, we have wanted them to be superfast, superstrong, superentertaining and, weirdly, superethical. They are supposed to be pristine 272-pound men who run 40 yards in 4.61
seconds simply because they do sit-ups during commercial breaks for Grey's Anatomy. Unlike everybody else in America, they cannot do whatever it takes to succeed; they have to fulfill the unrealistic expectations of 10-year-old kids who read magazines. And this is because football players have a job that doesn't matter at all, except in those moments when it matters more than absolutely everything else.” While these athletes must make a responsible decision to stay clean, not cheat, and do what is best for them, we ourselves don’t make it any easier. The fact of the matter remains that if we are to avoid the pressure of making athletes think about using
performance enhancing drugs, we must make policies that give tough penalties on those who use them, by doing this, it will decrease the likeliness that a player will do it.

 

I wrote this, Idk what happened to the post, it didnt turn out right when I pasted it

 

A little better, I doubt ne one will read it tho