Note: The photos in this blog are completely unrelated to the text. But they are cute are they not?
Right.
Drugs in Sport.
Now I know this might be seen by some to be a controversial position to take but really can there be any other??
I think we may as well accept that there ARE drugs in sport, there have always BEEN drugs in sport, and no matter how much testing and sacking from teams and suspensions etc there is ALWAYS going to BE drugs in sport.
Lets get over it and say YES to drugs in sport. All of them. Yes even that nasty one that causes premature heart problems and young cyclists to die in bed at the age of 27. It is THEIR CHOICE.
What? It’s not their choice? The pressure by the media, the public, their country, their coach, their parents removes that choice? Well just maybe if the drugs were legal there would be lots of independent information and research available so they (or their parents if they are underage) could make that choice.
Oh but it wouldn’t be fair on third world countries – I hear you cry. Oh come on! Is it fair that we can spend $34 million an athlete at the AIS and they can’t afford sandshoes and get their dental work done (for free) every four years at the Olympics??! Life isn’t fair and sport certainly isn’t. Anyway I’m sure the drug companies will try their drugs out on them first!!
Ah yes the drug companies… who is most advantaged by banning drugs in sport? Right. The pharmaceutical industry – which develops – on the quiet – hugely expensive illegal drugs at a premium and then no doubt supplies the medical world with the tests to prove they are used a year or two later… meaning of course that they have to come up with even more sneaky drugs at twice the cost etc etc. No one thinks pharmaceutical companies have a scrupulous bone in their corporate bodies do they?
Drugs in sport are inevitable and I think we should just accept it and save a heap of money currently spent on policing, investigating and prosecuting drug cheats. After all you are only a cheat IF you are caught!
Bring it on!
You agree with me don’t you??
{ 3 comments }
Do I detect a hint of cynicism my dear CelloBella!? Is it that you are a victim by association of drugs in sport yourself….. Yes, I know the obviously drug laden hulk you like to call Rory has been working tirelessly for some years creating the lethal machine we can see today! Has he secretly flown to Greece where he is now participating in the little known “Suburban Man Wrestling”?
If he brings back the gold, as we suspect he will, with the massive “Drug Charged” advantage he has, AND is discovered, the shame will be hard to conceal and no doubt hard to bear.
Dont try and lay the blame on drug companies, the work they do is ONLY for the good of man! If man in his maniacal headlong charge for personal glory chooses to use them for evil, they can not be held accountable!
As for third world countries, what are you on about. Look at the perfect weather conditions, perfect all the time. Always dry, always generaly flat country! They dont seem to have any weight issues like us poor wretches in the first world. I’d say they have the advantages in this field…
Say NO to drugs! rid the world of Rory like role models! It is an afront to us “normal” men every time we stand close to him. We are intimidated and we dont like it!
Whew, I’m glad I got that out!
Grant, If you are threatened by Rory’s manly physique then I think it is you not he who is on drugs… hallucination-inducing ones!
I love you Rory but a hulking mass of muscle you are not! Like I’m not on the front cover of Vogue…
I sympathise with the “let them decide” view, to a point, it is an arms raceand the authorities will always be behind. However I worry about the young athelete who is told “if you want to compete then take the drugs”
Absolutely give them the information and if I (as a private citizen) goes to my GP and asks for some drug to build me up or make me able to go for that weekend run or whatever then fine, I should be able to (similarly if I go and say “I’d like this recreation al experiance, how can I do it safely”) but the athletes are role modles to our young and I dont want my kids preasured to take things harmful to thier bodies just to compete.
Another side of this is if the performance enhancing drugs were leagal perhaps the drug companies would find ways to make them safer. I remember an interview with the developer of “The Pill” and when they found that the early versions could increase the incidence of breast cancer, the decision wasn’t to pull the drug it was to make it safe, because people were still going to be taking it.
One solution I did hear/read about: createa universal league, anything goes. Kind of like the WWF for track and field.