What's worse, PED's or Recreational Drugs?

[celticmaestro]

Having seen Rashard Lewis is banned for 10 games, I cast my mind back to some of the sports related suspensions that come as a result of recreational drug use and I wonder what should be punished more severely. Chris Andersen received a two-year NBA ban for cocaine. Football player Adrian Mutu received a seven-month global ban and was released from his contract with no pay whilst playing for Chelsea and £17m fine (yes you read that correctly) and Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United player) was banned for 8 months for missing a drug test where he was "rumored" to test positive for cocaine. Those are the three that jump out at me but there are others.

It leads me to the question - which crime should have the more severe punishment? To me, with no doubt, it's those who take performance enhancing drugs that should be punished with lengthy bans and hefty fines. Recreational drug use is a personal choice, not a smart choice, but a personal one nonetheless, that shouldn't have an impact on the outcome of a game. In fact, it's most likely detrimental to the athlete to abuse drugs. PED's are a form of cheating. There is a direct impact that comes from using PHD's that translates to in-game success. For me, this is easily the bigger crime. I'm not asking for Rashard Lewis to get a lengthier ban, I'm just saying that policy in sports worldwide should be revised. Drugs are a part of every day life for a lot of people. While I don't condone it, I don't judge it either. However, PED's I do judge, and the fact of the matter is this: one who uses PED's is attempting to cheat his colleagues and his supporters and himself, and that is not on.

What are you thoughts? I have enabled the "change vote" option for those who may be swayed one way or another.

[Fafnir]

Well I think recreational drugs are a more important issue. Addictions to those drugs destroy lives, but I don't believe severe punishments help deal with it.

So I voted for recreational drugs, but what I really would say is that society should spend more resources trying to deal with those drugs awful effects on people's lives and neighborhoods.

PEDs should be punished more harshly in the context of sports, because they attack the integrity of the game. But not by society, as their side effects for the most part don't compare to the hard recreational drugs out there.

[Prof. Clutch]

Having seen Rashard Lewis is banned for 10 games, I cast my mind back to some of the sports related suspensions that come as a result of recreational drug use and I wonder what should be punished more severely. Chris Andersen received a two-year NBA ban for cocaine. Football player Adrian Mutu received a seven-month global ban and was released from his contract with no pay whilst playing for Chelsea and £17m fine (yes you read that correctly) and Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United player) was banned for 8 months for missing a drug test where he was "rumored" to test positive for cocaine. Those are the three that jump out at me but there are others.

It leads me to the question - which crime should have the more severe punishment? To me, with no doubt, it's those who take performance enhancing drugs that should be punished with lengthy bans and hefty fines. Recreational drug use is a personal choice, not a smart choice, but a personal one nonetheless, that shouldn't have an impact on the outcome of a game. In fact, it's most likely detrimental to the athlete to abuse drugs. PED's are a form of cheating. There is a direct impact that comes from using PHD's that translates to in-game success. For me, this is easily the bigger crime. I'm not asking for Rashard Lewis to get a lengthier ban, I'm just saying that policy in sports worldwide should be revised. Drugs are a part of every day life for a lot of people. While I don't condone it, I don't judge it either. However, PED's I do judge, and the fact of the matter is this: one who uses PED's is attempting to cheat his colleagues and his supporters and himself, and that is not on.

What are you thoughts? I have enabled the "change vote" option for those who may be swayed one way or another.

I agree completely with your views in the bolded points.  Good idea for a discussion.  TP.

[greg683x]

i agree with the previous reply.  PEDs not only affect the person doing them but it taints the sport and it also affects the other players in the sport bc they become under suspision as well.  Its a different situation with rec drugs, if you choose to be a coke head thats your problem, and if the league handles the suspension properly no one else thinks more of it like they would with PEDs.

however if we're talking in terms of society, any kind of use of illegal drugs is bad, but rec drugs have to be considered worse just bc other crimes/violence can be associated with the buying/selling of them.

[celticmaestro]

Yeah, I think in a social sense recreational drugs are easily worse. On the other hand, in a purely sporting sense, PED's are much worse in my opinion.

[Moranis]

Recreational drugs are always illegal and almost always can have very negative consequences such as death, make you crazy, and are highly addictive (which can have any number of other major consequences i.e. drug dealers and thugs, open an athlete up to blackmail by gamblers, etc.)

PED's are often not illegal (see Rashad Lewis), are not addictive (for the most part), and often have little to no impact on the actual health of the person (when used properly). 

[ACF]

Hands down, PED's. In sports, the worst
thing I can think of is cheating. So PED's
get my vote. Silly Rashard 

Nice thread/poll, maestro, TP.

[EJPLAYA]

This topic probably won't have a lot of legs on it since you said it so well in the OP. As far as sporting and punishment goes it is definitely PED's since they are cheating. If it were up to me there would be a mandatory season suspension, and a second violation would be banishment for life. As far as society in general the Recreational one's are a bigger deal due to them being illegal and other affects on society and families. TP for a well thought out post and topic.

[NicaraguanFan]

First of all, I don't see the recreational part of cocaine or weed (I don't even see the recreational part in alcohol when you are an addicted).  

The topic is very bold. In one hand, as someone said, non-PED drugs are mostly illegal, and if any they can go against athlete performance, and nobody in his/her judgement will cheat against him/her.  On the other hand, in most cases, using PED mean an athlete has the whole intention to cheat. So in the case of sport I think PED should be punished more severely.

NF.

[TBreezy]

I don't think the question is which drugs have the worst consequences physcially, socially and athletically.  I also think the question needs to be refined - is it a question of which classification of substances should have the biggest punishment w/ regard to professional sports franchises? or is it which classification of substances should have the biggest punishment w/ regard to the public / society?

If it is w/ regard to sports we would have to answer PEDs.  The only argument I see for recreational substances would be the alienation of a fanbase and frankly I believe society doesn't view recreational substances the same way nancy reagan did.  

How about in a chess or academic competition? Are ritalin and adderol considered PEDs?

How about caffine? tobacco? alchohol? They are certainly classified by ethnobotanists as psychoactive sunstances. Medical MJ?  Where do we draw the line?  For the record, many consider tobacco/nicotine to beamong the deadliest substances available.  Not because of the cancer, but because of the ratio minimal effective dose (smallest amount to feel an effect) to the minimal lethal dose (smallest dose to cause death) approaches 1.  That means there is a small margine for error - w/ respect to your cig's the tobacco companies strip the nicotine out and reapply back on in a uniform manner.  Plus I think indian tobacco has far higher/varied nictoine content than the tobacco commonly consumed in the US.

Finally - which substances leave people crazy?  One time/short time use of most typical substances cause periods of non-normal behavior that are fininte in length.  You have to be extremely into anthropology and botany to know what the true substances are that potentially cause long term nervous systems damage after short term or even one time usage.

I interpret the question w/ regard to sports and I vote for PEDs, but in no way do I endorse others usage of any substances.

[SSFan 6.33]

my cousin died of a PCP overdose
Lyle Alzado died from steroids


I'm not a big fan of either.


Some day however, I do think that doctors will harness PEDs and they will be used for good -- they are just not fully there yet.

[Birdbrain]

Without a doubt PEDs but you shouldn't be ' coke head ' either.

[Neurotic Guy]

As pointed out, there are a variety of recreational drugs and PEDs, and, when assessing which is worse, I think the key variables are the amount and frequency of use.

Since my experience with recreational drugs and PEDs is limited to mild use of recreational dugs (in the past), I base my thoughts on the weakness of my perceptions as opposed to fact.  My primary perception is that most drugs taken to excess and continued over time will cause long-term effects (and sometimes immediate deliterious effects) that will harm the human body.  Taken to excess, there is no way I could state which drugs are worse for the human body -- though I am aware that drugs do run along a broad continuum of lethality.  

In terms of which is worse morally, I'd have to say that I make no moral judement either way.  The use of drugs is ALWAYS to enhance, improve or cover-up something -- whether it be to impact mood, attention, strength, wage earning, weight gain, cope...  We are all human and we all have needs and most of us spend some part of our lives looking for/hoping for a panacea of some sort to improve their lives.  We are, by nature, a narcisistic lot and therefore we have a convenient rationalization for cheating embedded in our DNA.   I don't claim to be more self-actualized than the next guy and therefore I cast no stones regarding the moral 'which is worse' question.  Both can be harmful to self and others; both are used/justified for personal gain.  I would guess that if I were a 20 year old and was told an injection could improve my strength and if I perceived/rationalized that 'everyone is doing it' -- I'd probably do it too.  It didn't take much convincing from my peers for me to choose to use alcohol or smoke pot when I was in college.  

[bdm860]

You guys feel free to call me crazy, but I honestly don't see the big deal with PED's.  Not that I'm all that up to speed on the Rashard Lewis thing, but wasn't it an OTC thing?  Whatever he took, if it was just on the "approved" substance list, no one would care that he's taking it and think he's cheating.

Sure you can take things that enhance your performance, but eating grilled chicken over fried chicken enhances your performance too.
It enhances your performance to drink water or gatorade over coke or pepsi or alcohol.
It enhances your performance to work out.
It enhances your performance to take approved vitamins and protien shakes and all that good stuff.
Everybody does things to enhance their performance, so I guess I don't get why certain legal substances are banned and looked so unfavorably on by the public.

In baseball, if you throw a spitter or pretend to get hit by a pitch that's also intentionally cheating
In basketball, if you pretend you were fouled when you weren't, that's also intentionally cheating.  So why are these things no big deal but taking certain legal health supplements is?  Is LeBron, Kobe, or Paul Pierce acting like they were fouled and arguing the call with the refs even when they KNOW they weren't really fouled but just trying to get the call (or the next call) that different than someone like Palmerio saying he didn't juice.  Both of them were lying in an attempt to cheat, so what's the difference?

Cheating is cheating right?

[SquishPCfriar]

I have ADD and i take amphetamines before i play pick up games and what not.  It makes me a much better player and a better shooter.  But yes, i agree that PED's are much worse.