Drug testing of athletes has always been a problem in America. There have been many instances where athletes have taken steroids to gain an edge over there opponents. Such steroids like Ephedrine or Ephedra have caused death to people that have taken the drugs along with sorrow to the families of the participants. Some people feel that administering drug tests will level out the playing field and help prevent health issues. Due to this incident and many others, drug testing should be enforced because it provides drug using athletes an unfair advantage, can eliminate any potential drug related health problems.
There are many benefits toward drug testing in athletics. Testing can help restore an athlete's faith in the fairness of sports competition and put athletes on notice, if you cheat to win you might get caught and then you will lose it all. Another unfair advantage is that those who take steroids have a physical edge over the athletes who do not. The drug using athletes are stronger than most of the athletes who do not use steroids, because as a performance-enhancing drug, anabolic steroids have shown to produce increases in body weight and muscle mass. Bam Morris, a running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers, was beginning to have uncontrollable mood swings and being overly aggressive. Finally, Morris was tested for drugs and failed by testing positive for steroids and other illegal drugs. Those athletes, such as Bam Morris, who use steroids do not give clean athletes a fair chance. Testing allows officials to eliminate from competition those who have taken drugs, giving drug-free players a reasonable chance of winning. Many feel drug abuse is a disease and that athletes should be screened for drug abuse just as they are checked for other medical conditions. Consequently, drug testing may help prolong an athlete's health and possibly even save lives. Steve Bechler, died at 23 before his baseball career and life could ever really start.