I support performance enhancing drugs because despite their abuse in the athletic fields, they can be extremely beneficial and even life saving. Performance enhancing drugs are one of the biggest concerns regarding athletics and the health of athletes. Athletes have faced suspensions and even lifetime bans for using performance enhancing drugs. While some drugs seem harmless or may have very few side effects, others can be dangerous- even deadly. There are several anti-doping agencies, including the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which try to prevent the use of these drugs create and regulate strict doping policies, rules, and regulations for athletes. Many people feel that the use of these drugs is cheating, immoral, and very dangerous. Despite all the fuss, performance enhancing drugs are used for other reasons- including cancer patients and people who suffer from hypertension …show more content…
They're not bad at all! It is only their uses and the intentions of those using them which can be bad. This of course means that there can be good uses for these drugs as well- such as preventing cancer from spreading. Tamoxifen, for example, blocks the estrogen receptors present in many breast cancers, which "interferes with the cancer's ability to grow and develop" ( CITE ). Another performance enhancing drug that benefits patients is erythropoietin, or EPO. The kidneys naturally make EPO, but people with kidney diseases do not make enough of the hormone. Taking EPO is a way of increasing red blood cell production, and therefore oxygen in the blood, without blood transfusions. Even asthma medicine is performance enhancing. Beta2 agonists albuterol is used in inhalers to treat a range of diseases including Acute Bronchitis, Bronchiolitis, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), and Asthma. The drug "relaxes the muscles lining the bronchial tubes, allowing more air to flow into the lungs"