Ethics of Drugs and use of Testing

Ethics of Drugs and Use of Testing Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Course Name and Number Lecturer’s Name Due Date Question #1: The NCAA member institutions should drug test their student-athlete in addition to complying with the NCAA drug-testing programs for the following reasons. The first is to deter student-athletes from using performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) while providing fairness and integrity of competition. Most student-athletes participate in sports with a 'win at all costs' attitude, which drives them to cheat by using banned substances. Drug testing helps ensure a level playing field, where all athletes compete according to their innate abilities and training instead of the enhancement provided by PEDs (Loland, 2018). The second reason is to maintain the athlete’s health and safety. Some PEDs have been associated with harmful health risks. Steroids, for instance, can harm the athlete’s body, causing long-term effects such as cardiovascular complications, reproductive organ damage, liver disease, and severe mood swings (Heuberger & Cohen, 2019). Drug-testing programs safeguard the health of student-athletes by ensuring they do not use prohibited substances. Additionally, the NCAA member institutions should drug test to protect the athlete’s image and reputation. Through these tests, the athlete will avoid penalties such as suspensions and bans imposed when one tests positive for PEDs. Question #2: The primary reason athletes use PEDs is to win the competition. These substances give users an unfair advantage, increasing their chances of winning. Steroids and testosterone, for instance, increase muscle mass and strength, improve cognition, and increase the feeling of well-being (Loland, 2018). Steroids also minimize the damage to muscles that occur during workout sessions, allowing an athlete to work out harder and more often while reducing the risk of overtraining (Heuberger & Cohen, 2019). Experts feel that athletes will continue to use PEDs as long as there is an inordinate emphasis on winning. Athletes also opt for PEDs because they want to become wealthy. Professional athletes' livelihoods depend on high achievement. Better pe...