Letter to the Editor about Perfomance-Enchancing-drugs.

Letter to the editor 

Dear Editor aka my English teacher.

Olympic track star Marion Jones was sentenced in a federal court to six months in prison. The reason why Jones was guilty is because of the use of performance enhancing drugs since 2000.

More and more famous athletes such as Lance Armstrong and Alex Rodriguez prove to have used banned drugs to enhance their performance. At the same time, the role that the anti-doping agency has, they are forced to become stricter when it comes to varies worldwide games, such as The Olympic Game and Tour de France. Nowadays, whether the performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) should be legalized has sparked a heated debate.

Firstly, it is unfair on the athletes who do not use drugs in sports. Using some kind of drug, the athletes can run faster, jump higher and recover from injury faster than the athletes who do not use drugs. Indeed, Performance-enhancing drugs such as steroid could help athletes increase muscle size and strength.

Secondly, the use of drugs in sports violates the spirit. The spirit of sport is the celebration of the human spirit, body and mind. A athlete, or any person in thw wolrd should show what they are capable of doing with their own strength, and honesty. Not with the help of borrowed strength. This is characterized by the following values that I found was the most important.

-Ethics, fair play and honesty.

-Health.

-Excellence in performance.

-Character and education.

-Fun and joy.

And of course many more.

Finally, there are some health risks on using PEDs.
According to CNN’s report on the situation revolving around athletes and rugs it’s been said that many athletes take anabolic steroids at doses that are much higher than those prescribed for medical reasons, and Anabolic steroids come with serious physical side effects, such as:

-Baldness

-Infertility

-High blood pressure
-Deeper voice (for women)
-Shrunken testicles (for men)

Drugged athletes should not be allowed to participate in such important, honest games, not while drugged, or if they ever have been drugged. This should be a one shot opportunity. That way they can understand that the spirit of sports should never be taken for granted.
Greatness isn’t just given out; you have to go out and earn it. You can only earn it through an extreme amount of hard work and sacrifice. This is how it should always be, because it should never be as easy as things being handed to you on a silver platter.

Jasmine Mimi Nazzal

Student of Stovner High School.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion_Jones
http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21581978-sportsmen-who-take-drugs-may-be-prisoners-different-game-athletes-dilemma
http://sportsanddrugs.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=001243
http://edition.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/performance-enhancing-drugs/HQ01105.html
http://ctb.ku.edu/en/tablecontents/sub_section_main_1239.aspx