TOPIC: Sports players who use steroids should be banned for life.

Position: Yes, should be banned.

Lance Armstrong is one of the best cyclist who won the Tour de France cycling competition for
seven years in a row. But those victories were stripped from him, after he was found using drugs
to help boost his performance. And as a consequence, he received a lifetime ban from competing
in any kind of sport as a follow of the World Anti-Doping code.
Another more recent case, also happened to Marion Jones.
Playing sports is a great way for young people to be physically active, make friends, and have
fun. Sports can also help build important life skills like discipline and perseverance. For some
athletes, however, the pressure of competition sometimes leads to the use of banned substances,
such as anabolic-androgenic steroids. Doping or the use of steroids in sports competition has
been headlines of newspapers around the world.Using steroids to improve athletic performance
is considered cheating, and can lead to athletes being penalized or banned from participating in
sports. Most people seems to agree to this consequence including, our team personally and here
are some of the reasons why.

Firstly, doping threatens the health of athletes. When improperly used, anabolic steroids can
cause serious health problems such as high blood pressure and heart disease; liver damage and
cancers; and, stroke and blood clots The use of steroids can have serious health repercussions,
including affected liver, endocrine, and reproductive function, tumors of the liver and kidneys,
heart conditions, and psychiatric symptoms. While legalizing steroid use and not giving
consequences would not solve these problems.

Second, doping affects the integrity of sport. The integrity of the game is compromised because
it is no longer about which athlete has the best skills or talent, It’s instead about which athlete
has the best steroid or the money to buy the best steroids.The concept of mutual respect between
competitors is thwarted when one or more athletes would rather use steroids to improve his or
her performance than compete based on individual strength, skill, or talent.
Permitting the use of steroids even under proper medical supervision would threaten the fairness
and integrity of the game. For example : athletes who choose not to use steroids are at an unfair
advantage and will most likely be unable to compete at the same level as athletes who are using
steroids.

According to recent studies, not just player’s physical injured there are another symptoms when
users may become overly aggressive or combative, a condition commonly referred to as “’roid
rage.” Uncontrolled aggression causes some steroid users to become confrontational with friends
and family; sometimes, they end up in trouble with the law. Depression has also been linked to
steroid use, and athletes who use performance-enhancing steroids are more likely to attempt
suicide than athletes who do not use them. The most dangerous of the withdrawal symptoms is
depression, because it sometimes leads to suicide attempts.So in order to prevent cases like this it
would be better if sports players who are linked to using steroids to be banned as a consequence.
An undetermined percentage of steroid users may develop a steroid use disorder. Substance use
disorders are defined by continued use despite adverse consequences; for steroid users, these
may include physical or psychological problems such as breast growth (in men), sexual
dysfunction, high blood pressure, excessive fats in the blood, heart disease, mood swings, severe
irritability, or aggressiveness. Anabolic steroid users also may give up other important activities
for fear that they will miss workouts, violate their dietary restrictions, or be prevented from using
steroids. Steroid users also typically spend large amounts of time and money obtaining the drugs,
and they may try to reduce or stop anabolic steroid use without success—possibly due to
depression, anxiety about losing muscle mass, or and other unpleasant effects of withdrawal.110
Withdrawal from steroids occurs when an individual develops dependence. A review of the
research suggests that about 32 percent of people who misuse anabolic steroids become
dependent.23 Symptoms of dependence can include tolerance, which is needing to take more
steroids to achieve the same effects. Another indicator of dependence is withdrawal once
anabolic steroid use stops.110 Withdrawal symptoms can include fatigue, restlessness, loss of
appetite, insomnia, reduced sex drive, and steroid cravings.111 The most dangerous of the
withdrawal symptoms is depression, because it sometimes leads to suicide attempts.112

Overall, steroids may boost the athletes performance but doesn’t necessarily enchance nor refine
sportmanships and integrity of the game. And as a consequence the negative impacts related to
health and wellbeing of the athletes should also be considered as to why steroids user should be
banned for life. Which is why we agree that a lifetime ban is an appropriate penalty for athletes
who use steroids.