Performance-enhancing drugs and baseball's integrity crisis

¶ … Drugs and sports [...] performance-Enhancing drugs, and their effect on athletes and the sports they play.

Athletes who use performance-enhancing drugs compromise the integrity of their sports for a number of reasons. First, there is the issue of the records they set. For example, Barry Bonds has set numerous home run records, including hitting more than Hank Aaron. However, now these records are suspect, because of his use of these drugs. He might not have set these records without the help of the drugs. In addition, baseball is doing very little, if anything, to punish the players who are using drugs, so there is little incentive for them to stop. It makes the players look bad, it makes the sport look bad, and it makes the entire sport suspect, because fans can no longer trust that their favorite players are not enhancing their performance not with hard work and dedication, but with drugs.

The use of performance enhancing drugs also sends a terrible message to children who are fans, and children who play sports. They see their idols hitting home runs and making more baskets, and so, they get the underlying message that these drugs help athletes play better. They may be influenced enough to take the drugs themselves. They may also get the idea that it is OK to take these drugs, because the major leagues are not reprimanding or punishing the athletes who use these drugs. It sends a message to kids that this behavior is not only OK, it is rewarded with million dollar contracts, and that is the totally wrong message to send to children.