Term paper on Drug Use In International Sport

Free Drug Use In International Sport papers

Drugs And Athletes
Drugs and Athletes Drugs have been a problem in our society for many years. They have been used and abused by many groups, including professional athletes. It is certainly quite common to hear about or read about athletes and drug use. Although drugs have a lengthy history of use by athletes, they

Drugs And Teens
Marijuana Cannabis Sativa (marijuana) has been thought to be an illegal and very harmful drug for many years. But as you read this report you will learn that marijuana has been around for many years (most years legal) and isn t as harmful as some people may think. Marijuana has been used for many

With all the hype of payoffs to IOC members in the media today, it might sound as if that is the greatest threat to internataional sport. The real threat to the Olympics and international sport is the use of dangerous drugs which enhance the performance of professional and Olympic athletes around the world. Given the great number of athletes who use performance-enhancing drugs and evade detection, it might seem as if officials are turning a blind eye to the problem. Officials are in fact trying very hard in order to eliminate, or at least cut down, the use of dangerous performance-enhancing drugs. With corporate sponsorship and medals which can be worth millions of dollars, the pressure athletes are under is tremendous and they will use any method available to win. Olympic athletes are turning to a new sort of performance-enhancing drugs which are virtually invisible to standard official tests. These drugs give the athlete the invisible edge to defeat their opponents.

The IOC has a group of individuals who test athletes for "illegal" drugs. The way in which they go about this is by taking urine samples to screen the athletes. Urine samples are not the best way to screen the athletes because the drugs can be easily hidden when the proper precautions are taken. Blood samples would be a much better form for detecting drugs because drug concentrations are higher in blood, and they are much easier to detect. There are a few drawbacks to blood testing such as the samples must be refrigerated, it's invasive and because of religious issues. The IOC finds themselves in a sort of Catch 22 on this subject. If they opt for blood testing, there will be an uproar in certain religious groups but they will be able to detect the drugs more effectively. If they opt to keep urine testing, it will keep the religious groups content but drug use will still run rampant.

The pressure to win is tremendous on the athletes. "The millisecond difference between gold and silver can amount to millions in endorsement contracts and...