Drugs: an athletic wrecking ball

Athletes who take performance-enhancing drugs are not leveling the playing field. They are bulldozing their careers and their integrity.

Taking drugs such as steroids has become commonplace in the high-pressure worlds of high school, college and professional sports. Performance-enhancing drugs are used to boost endurance, strength, adrenaline, energy, stamina and concentration.

Athletes who do not take banned substances might feel they are at a disadvantage when team members and opponents do.

But turning a blind eye on the problem or condoning drug use is not the answer.

Sports are at their best when they showcase athletes' superior, natural abilities. If doped-up athletes become the norm, sports teams and individual athletes will lose their competitive credibility.

Imagine playing for a team for which drug use was not only permitted, but required. Coaches could have the power to replace athletes who prefer to perform using only their natural ability with those willing to take drugs.

Some people argue that many athletes already take drugs with little resistance from the athletic community, and those who resist the pressure lose money, playing time and personal success.

But doped-up athletes stand to lose much more.

Male athletes who abuse steroids can suffer liver and kidney damage and might experience hair loss, skin discoloration, testicular shrinkage and breast growth. Women also can suffer liver and kidney damage, as well as a deepening of the voice, breast reduction, menstrual irregularities and facial hair growth.

Those are the physical effects, but negative reactions to performance-enhancing drugs also can be emotional. Users can experience emotional distress from severe mood swings and hallucinations to "roid" rage, which can result in violence on and off the field.

Athletes have known the potential side effects of drugs for years, and that knowledge has not been much of a deterrent. That is because coaches, administrators and athletic regulators do not effectively test or educate their players.

The initiative to eradicate illegal drugs in athletics must begin at the top. That means organizations such as the NCAA need to institute random testing policies and be consistent in their application.

Drug testing policies already are in place in many athletic programs, but according to NCAA drug-testing protocol, athletic directors are given up to a week's notice prior to the testing.

In other words, coaches and athletes have time to circumvent the system. And many take advantage.

Coaches need to put the purity of sport above the glory of winning.

Players take cues from their coaches. Those who encourage their players, either directly or indirectly, to use performance-enhancing drugs are tainting the validity of their winnings.

Performance-enhancing drugs turn sports into a farce, which means the players who use and the coaches who allow it are negating their efforts.

Sometimes winning needs to take a backseat, which is easy to say from the sidelines. But when personal and athletic integrity are at stake, it should be even easier to say from the playing field.