Lance Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France winner, has been stripped of his victories by the US Anti-Doping Agency for using illicit performance-enhancing drugs. This is happening in almost every sport and in Wired.com, Ian Steadman asks, "Why don’t we accept doping will always happen and legalize it?"
As training, coaching, nutrition and equipment have been improved, athletes will eventually reach a "wall," where further improvement isn’t possible, and then, Steadman says, "we face the question of how to keep sport interesting."
If using drugs to create "machine men" is one way to do it, why not? (NOTE: Subscribers can get this beautiful hardcover for less than $5–while supplies last).
Steadman quotes neuroethicist Julian Savulescu as saying, "The war on doping has failed. Lance Armstrong never failed a doping test, despite being subjected to thousands. Nearly every recent winner of the Tour de France has been implicated in doping. About 80% of 100-meter finalists are or will be implicated in doping. The fact is that blood doping and use of growth hormone have not been possible to detect, and because doping mimics normal physiological process it will always be possible to beat the test. Thus, we should embrace the inevitable, and control doping as best we can.
"Doping is not against the spirit of sport.. It has always part of the human spirit to use knowledge to make oneself better and doping has been a part of sport since its beginning. Doping should only be banned when it is significantly harmful relative to the inherent risks of sport, or against the spirit of a particular sport."
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