Should High School Sports Players Be Drug Tested?

Smoking of marijuana can cause the person to become addicted to cocaine, heroin, and other drugs. Heavy or daily use effects the parts that control memory, attention, and learning (Facts for Teens, 13). When teens are 12 and 13 they are more exposed to drugs and most likely don’t listen to their parents (Age in Stem., 1). Some other psychological side effects would be paranoia, anxiety, fatigue, Euphoria, and mood swings (Fact Sheet, 1). Studies have shown that when a person uses marijuana it causes the heart to beat faster and work harder (Fact Sheet, 2). When people have smoked large measures of marijuana for years, the drugs takes its charge on mental functions (Facts for Teens, 13).

In many high schools around the country, student athletes are using drugs. “The percent of students that have drunk alcohol is 72.5% while the number of students who have used marijuana is 36.8%” (Report: Nearly Half of High School Students Using Drugs, Alcohol). The students believe that since they are athletes that they do not need to abide by the rules because they feel more superior and that the narcotic will not hurt or affect them. Implementing random drug tests for athletes will create a positive image and not hurt others or themselves. Schools need to have drug tests for student athletes because drugs effect relationships, using drugs have consequences, and lastly they have a major effect on the body.

Is doing drugs to enhance one's muscles worth the health risks it might cause? Why would anyone want to give themselves a bad reputation? Who would want to be known for cheating in sports? Although some people believe drug testing is an invasion of privacy, it may just save the athletes from injury. Athletes should be drug tested. Using steroids while playing a sport is counted as cheating, as their improvement comes from drugs. Athletes doing drugs not only gives them, but the team too a bad reputation. Drugs it could affect their long-term health.

Athletes should take drug tests because they might be cheating in their games and competitions. They should take their tests at least once every month and one before they compete in a game to make sure it's fair for everyone. Throughout the years, there have been cases in which the athlete uses drugs right before entering a competition like the Olympics. An African-American woman who was competing in the Olympics used drugs to get an advantage from all the other athletes, and she won the gold medal all the time. Once she was about to retire, she confessed that she was using drugs the whole time and was stripped of all of her gold medals that she won while using her drugs. If she actually tried to win the medal fairly, she could've done it

People think that smoking pot will turn you into a couch potato with blood shot eyes munching down on a bag of chips the rest of your life. Is it surprising that top paid professional athletes use this drug on a regular basis as relief from pain and stress? Sports leagues hand out opioids like candy and athletes have been prescribed massive amounts to mask the excruciating pain they experience daily. Marijuana should be legalized in professional sports because it is safer than opioids, can enhance performance and provides physical and mental health benefits.

Rains, B. (2009). Testing Student Athletes for Drugs is Appropriate. In C. Watkins, Sports and Athletes (pp. 192-196). Detroit: Greenhaven Press.

Do we really want student-athletes replacing hard work with steroids? That’s like cheating on a test. For instance, many have been abusing drugs in a way to make their performance on the court or field better. This is a practice athletes have been in for years to make them a better player or asset to the team. All who are participating in athletics should be guaranteed a safe and fair game instead of worrying about those taking a daily dose of drugs for their own pleasure. These actions they are taking are not only dangerous and unfair, but illegal. For those who do participate in the consumption of drugs, their should be a formidable punishment. Although some uninformed people might say drug testing is an unnecessary waste of time and money,

Secondly, even when telling the students that the drug test is approaching, it does not decrease the usage of drugs. In those high schools that tested athletes, between the drug test surveys given to students by University of Michigan research investigators, there was roughly a 94 percent agreeance between the students at both of the schools that implement drug testing policies and those who do not, that they had been using drugs within the last year (Swanbrow). Furthermore, the test do not deter students from taking other drugs that will not show up on the test. The University of Michigan research investigators even surveyed experienced marijuana users and asked how the drug test would impact their usage of it and other drugs. The students essentially said that even when knowing the test was coming they were still going to take the drugs and still manage to pass the test by using others urine for example. The data from students surveyed from drug testing and non-drug testing schools stated that their usage of drugs was almost exactly the same, roughly a six percent difference between the two. Therefore, the drug testing programs

In recent years the number of athletes caught using drugs has increased dramatically. The use of a illegal or unprescribed drugs can cause serious problems and unfairness in many ways. Certain drugs can cause harm to the user and the people around the user, most student athletes do not even know what they are putting into their bodies. With all the risks many persons propose student athletes to be drug tested at random.

I believe that drug testing all athletes is a good things for many reasons. One reason is the fact that “half of high school seniors have used an illicit drug by the time they graduate and about one-quarter are regular users by the time they graduate,” according a statistic study done in (YEAR) (Roan). This statistic shows that a lot of the people are using drugs during school. Nevertheless, some athletes are using these drugs while they are playing a sport which is an unfair advantage to other athletes. One key example of this is steroids, which are seen “[producing] quick gains for the athlete,” and giving the athlete an unfair advantage over other players (Steroid). This is important as these athletes are fighting to get a scholarships

To them this makes it more exciting and fun to watch. Also people say that if we try to get rid of all of the players using drugs, then there will be many fewer players playing in leagues like the NFL. I am not saying that the drug using players should be banned but the league should try to do more to get them to stop taking the drugs. Maybe by putting a big big ticket for every player and every time they are caught taking drug enhancement in their body. The athletes may just be using the drugs because someone told them to and as we all know athletes aren't the brightest crayons in the BOX. Now these drugs might be making them better players but they are actually really horrible for their health. drugs like steroids have horrible side effects that can cause liver damage reproductive system issues growth issues and in some cases even give you cancer. Athletes should look into this and the next time their coach tries to put a needle in their butt maybe they should stand up for themselves.

Drugs should be banned in all sports. They have been a problem for a long time. Athletes use them to enhance their body and for simply just the edge. There is nothing wrong with using some drugs to enhance your body as long as they are legal. The problems that come with drugs in sports are how to detect them. Some professional sports, such as the NHL, do not even use drug tests. The only sports that test for everything are the NBA and NFL. The Major League Baseball only tests for illegal drugs such as marijuana and cocaine. They do not test for steroids or any other kind of pill. The reason for this is because the player’s union will not allow these tests. They are currently voting to reconsider this idea. The other problem is that drug

“The chance of a gold medal in two years time may out-weigh the risks of serious health problems for the rest of their life. We should protect athletes from themselves and not allow anyone to take performance drugs.”(Drug in Sports) If we protect teenagers from performance drugs they have a better chance of not dropping out of school and practice the sport. They also have a better chance of making a college they really want to go to like Baylor, TCU, and a bunch of other colleges.

   If you give drug tests now, it will show the high school athletes that want to be on the team, that they are going to have to sacrifice things in life in order to

It is proven to cause a decrease in interpersonal relationships, family relationships, physical activity, increase in eyestrain, obesity, and can even cause you to change your personality and ethics and even self-restraint.