Should we let Olympians use performance-enhancing drugs?

Is to time just to let athletes openly use performance-enhancing drugs?

Of course not, is the obvious answer. It’s cheating. It would kill the spirit of the Olympics and all competitive sports. But this man says that’s not the issue.

“Trying to police this doesn’t work,” sports writer Patrick Hruby argues.

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Hruby works for Vice.com and says that the war on doping has caught, at most, 2 percent of the athletes who do it, and is based on the flawed philosophy that banning drugs levels the playing field.

“We don’t have a level playing field in sports right now. We never have and never will,” Hruby said.

For example, you and I will never have Michael Phelps wingspan, lung capacity, or his highly-evolved flipper feet. How fair is that?

As for the dangers of these drugs, Patrick says a lot of them are actually legitimate medicines, and it’s banning them that makes them dangerous.

“The idea is, be able to do this out in the open under responsible medical supervision. So instead of going to some sketchy steroid guru, you’re actually doing this with a responsible doctor who is looking out for your health first.”

And yet most of us would still say it’s just plain cheating. But that, he says, ignores the real way these treatments are used.

“Most of them are essentially recovery drugs,” he explained. “They actually let people who are incredibly driven and hard working, work even harder.”

I would say if you’re going to do this then the athletes should at least have to post a list of what they’re using. That way the fans can see what it really takes to fulfill their appetite for record-shattering performances. It could be part of the winner’s victory speech.

“He thanks his parents, he thanks God, then he thanks AndroGel,” Hruby quipped.

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