Kohli 1

Devyani Kohli
Professor Hymes
English 115, M/W 11:00-12:15
29 October 2014
Steroids and Performance Enhancements
One argument that I would like to propose is since steroids are illegal, should
performance enhancement substances or techniques be illegal as well in sport settings. I am
interested in the topic of steroids and other performance enhancement drugs because in my
Kinesiology 200 class, I watched a film that emphasized on the illegal and legal uses of steroids.
The movie emphasized on how steroids are illegal, but athletes are able to still find other
techniques to improve their performance in a sport. I believe that using performance
enhancement techniques should be illegal as it is cheating and unethical in society. I have read
about major league teams specially in baseball and football allowing their players to use steroids.
However, I never thought that techniques such as blood doping, surgeries, or hyperbaric therapy
could be results in improvement of an athlete. Based on the video I watched, blood doping is
taking out a pint of blood the night before a game, and re-pumping it back into your circulatory
system the morning of the game. Surgeries, such as the Tommy John surgery, helps a baseball
pitchers arm become stronger and less prone to injuries. Tiger Woods had done Lasik eye
surgery above a 20/20 vision to help improve his game in golf. I consider these techniques
cheating and would like to argue that these performance enhancement substances should be
illegal, just as steroids are. I believe it is different when using steroids or enhancement drugs for
medical purposes, but unethical when using these drugs or techniques to win a game.