Essay, Research Paper

Drugs in Football: Making an Appropriate Decision

Interrupting the regulations in football, because of drug usage, is doing

physical and mental harm to jocks and those who associate with them.

It is besides puting a bad illustration for the young person of America. There is merely excessively

many available drugs for football participants today.

For football participants, drugs are easy to obtain. Too easy to obtain.

Bill Gilbert, a Sports Illustrated author, said, & # 8220 ; they do non hold to stand

around in waiting suites, at pharmaceutics counters, or on street corners for their

holes. Drugs are brought to them, and normally provided free of charge. The

athlete gets free professional advice from doctors and helping trainers

as to what drugs to take, and when, and how & # 8221 ; ( Harris 14 ) . The assortment and

figure of drugs available is tremendous. The two chief types of drugs

available are physically heightening and mentally heightening drugs. Both

types have the most deadly effect in common, decease. Each type

has its ain pros and cons. Yes, there are some positive effects, but they are

non worth the ulterior effects.

Some jocks need aid to keep a mental border on their game and

oppositions. Some demand help acquiring psyched up before a game. Those

jocks that do, turn to drugs. The most used drugs that athletes turn to are

pep pills. Amphetamines consequence the cardinal nervous system. They

fix the organic structure for action by exciting the rate of respiration, pulse,

and raising the blood force per unit area. Many managers and trainers agree that no

other drug is so widely distributed in clubhouses and cabinet suites. Peoples

who have taken many pills over a short period of clip develop the psychotic belief

of insects creeping on their tegument. That psychotic belief is an hallucination, one of

many side effects of mentally heightening drugs. One case of the

negative effects of pep pills happened on a high school football field a

few old ages ago.

Unaware that the running back was high on pep pills, the manager

sent the running back into the game. The one-fourth back was so snapped the

ball from the centre and got ready to manus the running back the ball. The

running back so thought he took the ball and made a superb tally into the

endzone. That athlete made a complete sap of himself because of drugs.

Another mostly used drug is the ill-famed cocaine.

Cocaine is an alkaloid derived from the coca foliage. It excessively effects the

cardinal nervous system. Cocaine is considered one of the most unsafe

drugs about. Harmonizing to former New Orleans Saint Don Reese, who quit

because of cocaine, & # 8220 ; cocaine can be found in measure throughout the NFL.

It & # 8217 ; s pushed on participants, frequently from the border of the pattern field. Sometimes

it & # 8217 ; s pushed by participants. Outstanding participants. Merely as it controlled me, it now

controls and corrupts the game, because so many participants are on it. To

ignore this fact is to be short-sighted and stupid. To turn away from it the

manner the NFL does & # 8230 ; is a offense & # 8220 ; ( Harris 31 ) . Cocaine is a definite job

in the NFL. & # 8220 ; A fact-finding newsman estimated that 50 % of the NFL & # 8217 ; s

1,372 participants have taken cocaine. That is approximately 686 participants. He besides

estimated that around 20 % were addicted to cocaine. That is about 274

participants. He concluded that 10 participants in each squad were hooked on cocaine

& # 8220 ; ( Harris 11 ) .

Another contention in all of the athleticss universe is that of whether steroid usage

should be accepted or non.

There are many pro & # 8217 ; s to taking steroids, but excessively many con & # 8217 ; s. Steroids

are physically heightening drugs. They are derived from the male endocrine

testosterone. They are synthetically manufactured and can be taken orally

or injected. Steroids work by exciting organic structure cells to hive away abnormally

big measures of N. Steroids can increase musculus mass, strength,

and endurance of an jock. They can besides accomplish a quicker recovery. Of

class, if the musculus mass in increased, so the organic structure weight will increase.

If the jock is utilizing steroids secretively, so they will hold a high prestigiousness

among the athleticss universe for being strong, good looking, and vigorous.

There are really few pros & # 8217 ; s compared to all the con & # 8217 ; s of utilizing steroids. Just a

few con & # 8217 ; s are: addition in acne, temper swings and force, kidney malignant neoplastic disease,

liver and prostate malignant neoplastic disease, altered cholesterin, phalacrosis in males, intensifying

voice, depression, concerns, bosom disease, powerlessness, blood curdling

ability reduced, flowing abnormalities, shriveling testiss, facial hair in

adult females, and lunacy ( psychosis ) . Those are merely a few con & # 8217 ; s though. Paul

Lowe, an all-pro running back for the San Diego Chargers, testified before

the Subcommittee on Drug Abuse and Alcoholism of the California State

Legislature. Low

vitamin E stated, “we had to take steroids at lunch period, the trainer

would set them on a small disk and prescribe for us to take them, and if

non he would propose there might be all right & # 8221 ; ( Harris 13 ) . It is awful for pros

to be threatened to take unsafe drugs. Not merely are the participants

damaging themselves, but they are being helped making it.

Athletes fear failure. Some become so haunted with this fright that

they feel the lone way to alleviation is through drugs. A batch of participants hurt

themselves. Although they have to cognize it is incorrect, they still do it. A

Miami Dolphins trainer told Bill Gilbert of Sports Illustrated that, & # 8220 ; some of

the pros need about a full hebdomad to acquire over being pepped up for Sunday.

Subsequently, they must hold either tranquillizers or whisky to convey them

down. So they move through a rhythm: pepped up, rummy, hung over,

depressed, and so pepped up once more & # 8221 ; ( Harris 86 ) . There are many consecutive

jocks acquiring injured by the irresponsible drug nuts.

In one pro game, across the field, the ball is called dead and the drama

comes to a arrest. On Lynn Swann & # 8217 ; s side of the field, the Pittsburgh receiving system

is ramble oning back to the out of bounds when he is all of a sudden decked in the dorsum of

the caput by Oakland safety George Atkinson. This action keeps Swann out

of the game for several hebdomads, and one command mulct for Atkinson. Atkinson was

under the influence of pep pills. That is merely one case of many

where the users of drugs are aching others. Dr. Arnold Mandell, former

psychiatric adviser to the San Diego Chargers, made an amazing statement.

& # 8220 ; Imagine what it is like to quaff down 30 pills at one clip. The consequence is

a & # 8230 ; five-hour pique fit that produces the late hits, the battles, the

assaults on one-fourth dorsums that are destroying pro football. They & # 8217 ; re at war out

there & # 8221 ; ( Harris 83 ) . The choler that goes through one & # 8217 ; s mind when taken out

from behind ( by an maltreater ) is indefinable. Not merely are the users destroying

football, they are puting a awful illustration for the young person of America.

It is a known fact, managers scout childs immature. The childs are scouted as

early as the 6th class. Then the participant is having newssheets, reconnoitering

notices, and even payoffs from the rovers & # 8217 ; high schools. & # 8220 ; By the clip they

hold made the pros, most jocks have been given so many pills, ointments,

injections and potions, by amateur and pro managers, physicians and trainers, to

pick them up, chill them out, kill hurting, enhance public presentation, cut down

redness and erase anxiousness, that there isn & # 8217 ; t much they won & # 8217 ; t snuff,

spread, stick in or get down to acquire bigger or smaller, or to experience goooood & # 8221 ;

( Harris 1 ) .

With all these kids and teens watching their graven images do these drugs, is

there any hope for a new, healthy coevals of football participants? The

reply is yes, and it lies in the custodies of pros, former pros, and

knowing and experient talkers.

Probably the most famous/well-known talker is the outstanding,

All-American football participant, Curt Marsh. Marsh was forced to retire with

a terrible ankle hurt many old ages ago. Since so, he has spoken to more

than 500,000 pupils on force, substance maltreatment bar, leading,

and positive thought. Carl Eller, a former All-Pro defensive linemen for

the Minnesota Vikings, had a $ 4,000-a-week cocaine job. When he

started to see opposing participants sneer at him, he volunteered for intervention.

Eller is now a drug adviser for the NFL. These 500,000 pupils, along

with all the others informed by different talkers, will distribute the word on

how harmful drug-use is. Now that the hereafter coevals has hope, is at that place

hope for the users and maltreaters now? Again, the reply is yes.

The NFL has a really successful & # 8220 ; Substance Abuse Policy. & # 8221 ; Under the

plan, participants are given drug trial while in physical and psychological

intervention, but the consequences are used for intervention, non disciplinary grounds.

Narcotics Anonymous is another really successful, international community

based association of retrieving drug nuts. There are 1000s of

centres and plans across the United States where people may acquire aid.

Now since all of those talkers and maltreaters are seeking aid, football is

bettering greatly.

Besides a really few recent instances, football is bettering is

sportsmanship. Even with the participants involved in the few recent instances have

seeked aid. Drugs are slayers. Almost every pro athlete alive knows the

dangers of drugs, yet some continue to utilize and mistreat them merely to acquire a few

good old ages. That is their pick if they want to destroy their lives along with

the lives of their faithful fans. The immature football participant today, should hold

plenty subject to do the positive and right determination, to & # 8220 ; Just Say No. & # 8221 ;

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