One of the most controversy topics going around the world today is the use of performance enhancing drugs (PED’s) like anabolic steroids, testosterone, and human growth hormones. People only think professional athletes use them, but in reality kids start using them at the age of 9. They also think only athletes use them, but anyone can use them to build strength or to get better mentally. PED’s should be illegal in any sport, from high school to the pros, and also to the modern world.

Many parents think that their kids aren’t doing anything wrong because they do well in school and succeed in sports. They do not know that the reason their child is doing well in sports is because they are cheating. An estimated amount of 4%-12% of high school boys use or have used some sort of performance enhancing drug in their career, and 3.3% of high school girls using it. A study revealed that 6.6% of male high school seniors have tried steroids and 67% trying steroids before the age of 16. 3.8% of students in the 7th grade have also tried this drug. One of the many reasons for the use of PED’s by teens are because they have role models like Alex Rodriguez or Barry Bonds and they say to themselves that they want to be like them. They want to hit 60 home runs and bench over 300lbs, but the only way most high school athletes can do this is injecting human growth hormones, steroids, or testosterone inside their body. Teens should suffer a punishment for this because high school is the time to have fun, but taking testosterone in a developing body is a very dangerous thing. Some other risks are stunted growth, liver damage, blood clots, and even strokes.

The most popular sports in the U.S.A. are probably football and baseball. Coincidently, PED’s are used mostly in the MLB and NFL. They use them to get an extra step on their competition because everyone in the pros today wants to win, and they will do whatever it takes. People who have played in the MLB and retired say they either used a PED or they saw and know someone who used a PED. 25%-40% of players in the MLB are “juiced” or on steroids. The NFL is a very hard sport to compete in, especially if you are a linebacker or on the offensive and defensive line. In today’s NFL you have to be very strong and very big to make a name for yourselves, and unfortunately athletes have to use steroids to keep themselves on top of their competition. If players want to be role models for kids then using PED’s is not a good example to set.

Famous people have been caught using a PED. Lance Armstrong was caught doping and stripped of all his medals. People thought it was strange how he could win 7 Tour de France titles after battling brain cancer. The society looked up to him and praised him because of what he did and showed that anything was possible. Unfortunately, he didn’t do it the fair way. He was convicted of doping by a teammate of his. Armstrong admitted it during an interview with Oprah. Barry Bonds is probably the most famous athlete who got caught using anabolic steroids. Bonds was only hitting around 20 home runs, and then all of a sudden he started hitting over 40 every season. He hit 73 home runs in the 2001 season. 73 home runs are a very abnormal number of home runs for anyone who ever played in the league. Almost all of his career 762 home runs came while he was injecting those harmful anabolic steroids in his thigh, arm, or other places in his body. All of his batting titles, all star appearances, and MVP awards should be wiped out of the record books because every other person in the MLB had to work to get the numbers they put up. All Bonds had to do was put a few needles in his arm and then he was hitting hundreds of home runs. If you get caught with PED’s as a professional athlete then you should be suspended from your league without pay and suffer a fine. If you get caught using PED’s as a normal person, you should get a fine.

Performance enhancing drugs are commonly used across the world. Whether you go to a small town high school, a very prestigious college or university, or you’re going to become a professional, anabolic steroids, testosterone, and human growth hormones (HGH) can and are used in every single one those places. They are unfair for athletes who work for what they do and definitely should be illegal and users should obtain a punishment for failing tests for them.