Athletic competition has been part of society since the early beginnings Gladiators, wrestlers, and sprinters are some the early types ofathletes that competed. Mankind seems to have been born with a desire tocompete; every man feels the need to have dominance over another man. Thesefacts are even apparent in today's society. Now there are all kinds of sportsto choose from, and many of these sports are played at a professional level. These sporting events give individuals that chance to be the better of anotherperson, just as the earlier ones did. That inbred desire to dominate willlead men to do almost anything for victory. This is good in many casesbecause it shows courage and perseverance; on the other hand, many have takenit to the extreme of using outside agents to better their chances fordominance. By this I mean, a large number of athletes use performanceenhancing drugs. "Athletes have taken natural or synthetic performance aidssince the earliest days of organized sports competition"(Clark, Cooper, andGriffen, 525). The usage of performance enhancing drugs like steroids hasbecome too widespread and it needs to be stopped. The illegal production anddistribution of steroids should be disrupted or even halted.The athletic community as a whole looks down upon the usage of suchdrugs. Many rules and regulations have been created to cut down on the numberof athletes that use drugs to heighten their performances. The Olympicsexemplify this strategy very well. If an Olympic competitor admits or istested positive for steroid use the can be stripped of any medals won, or theycan be disqualified from all competition. A well remembered instance in whichthis occurred was when the sprinter Ben Johnson won the gold medal in the100-meter dash, but not to long after he was denounced from his position asthe worlds fastest man. Professional and college football in the UnitedStates also takes this approach to athletes caught using st...
