ded that the quickest way to reach these goals is through performance-enhancing drugs. (Athletes and Drugs) Sprinter Ben Johnson's ban from the Olympic games, in 1988 set off a flurry of bureaucratic activity and official hand-wringing, but a decade later it is clear that Johnson's fall from grace was no turning point, merely part of a continuum and, in some insidious way, inspiring. How else can it be explained that in 1995, when 200 elite----mostly American----athletes were polled on whether they would take a banned performance-enhancing substance if they would win and not be caught, 195 said they would do it. The athletes were also asked what they would do if a banned substance guaranteed they would win every competition they entered for the next five years and then later cause them to die from side effects. Fifty percent said they would take the substance. That is what professional athletics is dealing with nowadays. These young and gifted people have a case of tunnel vision and an oddly persuasive and self-soothing moral escape hatch: If other people are taking these drugs, why shouldn't I? (Is drug use a problem in sports) Like other people, athletes take drugs for a variety of reasons. Recreational use covers all those occasions when drugs are taken to "get high" or "have fun." Drug use for the purpose of pain relief also is widespread among athletes, virtually all of whom suffer injuries of some sort during their careers. The ability to "play hurt," much prized by coaches and fans, is often reinforced by painkillers and tranquilizers. In most cases, athletes take drugs for performance enhancement. This can mean a number of different things, depending upon the sport. Weightlifters, bodybuilders and football linemen want to put on more muscle; sprinters want to make a more explosive start out of the blocks. Cyclists and long-distance runners seek greater endurance. Some performance-enhancing drugs are effecti...
