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While drug- or steroid- enhanced athletic performance and blood doping have rece

ID: 426375 • Letter: W

Question

While drug- or steroid- enhanced athletic performance and blood doping have received lots of attention ( cases from the Olympics, Major League Baseball, and NFL Football spring to mind), many scientists believe we are only at the earliest stages of artificially enhancing athletic performance, and in the near future there will be genetic enhancement techniques that would produce much more dramatic effects, with perhaps considerably greater dangers to the athletes, and that such genetic enhancement will be remarkably expensive. Should genetic enhancement be treated differently from performance- enhancing drugs? That is, could you consistently favor allowing performance- enhancing drugs but ban genetic enhancement?

Explanation / Answer

In my views, both performance enhancing drugs as well as genetic enhancements are forms of illegal doping and must be banned. Sports must be free from such steroid use for performance enhancements as then the dedication and seriousness of the game will be lost. There can be huge collateral damage to the players, the sport as well as the audience and the society as a whole. The legalization of steroid consumption in sports will not only harm the athletes in the long run, but also it will tarnish the image of fair play. So, any kind of doping must be dealt with major consequences so that the spirits of sports don’t get adulterated.