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Steroids in Professional Sports

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Steroids in Professional Sports
Nicole Hohn
ITT Technical Institute
November 13, 2014
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Steroids in Professional Sports
In recent years there has been speculation on individuals in professional sports using steroids to better enhance their performance. In 2012, Lance Armstrong was disqualified from seven races that he had won ten years before, all due to the United States Anti-Doping Agency confirming that he was doping- which is the term used to describe the act of doing steroids. Armstrong was stripped of all his medals and is one of many examples of a professional having their achievements taken away because of the use of steroids (Smith, 2012). Many people still believe that the use of steroids is wrong and gives the professional the upper hand over one who does not do steroids. At the end of the day you still have to have raw talent. An average Joe could not take steroids and then expect to go play in a Major League Baseball game. As with cigarettes and alcohol every individual should be able to decide what they want to responsibly put into their body. Steroids should be made legal for all individuals and the usage should be monitored by doctors. As stated above, any individual has to still possess the talent in the first place. There is a common misconception that steroids are making them “stars”. In all actuality it is only enhancing their ability to perform (Smith, 2012). Every single sports player takes extra steps to help themselves perform every day; for example, getting Lasik eye surgery done in order to have over 20/20 vision. While this may not be looked at as harmful, it is still a personal choice to enhance the body for the sake of the game. Someone out there does see this as harmful, and that’s where we come back to the use of steroids (Aschwasden, 2012). What one person sees as harmful to the body, another individual will not believe it

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