What if the stuff was legal?

[WINGNUTT]

Is it just me, or has this become a total joke. Fighting against performance enhancing drugs is a losing battle... there will always be more resources ($$) on the side of the teams than on the anti-doping authorities, so the teams will always be two steps ahead.

Furthermore, even if doping controls are improved, they will never catch ALL the cheaters. Some will get the coctail just right and evade punishment, while others will cross the line and get caught- the winner will be the one who was able to push the limit, but not cross the arbitrary line (4:1 / 6:1 / 50%, whatever). The winner is still a cheater... basically one that was randomly selected.

So why not just legalize PEDs? All the riders could get prescriptions from their doctors and have the drugs administered properly. It would be safer because it wouldn't need to be underground anymore - no more shuttling blood around in the back of motorcycles... no more riders measuring out the doses themselves... no more guesswork about whether your hematocrit is getting dangerously high.

Wouldn't this allow the playing field to be leveled? Wouldn't this let us get back to focusing on the racing instead of the scandals? Wouldn't it be nice to know the winner wasn't a cheater? If they're all doing it anyway, what are the reasons they shouldn't try to make it legal?

 

[SaintAndrew]

i agree with you in tone to some degree; i hate arbitrary laws and the near-religious way people attack dopers i find rather idiotic- they act like doping is on par with child raping or something like that.

however, there is a big difference between shooting 200mgs of deca a week (or a couple iu's growth hormone daily, etc.) to be fitter and taking PED's in a competitve atmosphere. look at the cyclists who've died because EPO made their blood too thick, or these high level bodybuilders who take so much gear they drop at age 40. they've been put in an environment where it's dope or lose. that has got to stop.

 

[WINGNUTT]

look at the cyclists who've died because EPO made their blood too thick, or these high level bodybuilders who take so much gear they drop at age 40. they've been put in an environment where it's dope or lose. that has got to stop.

Your points are well taken, but what makes you think those deaths are going to increase if it becomes legal? Might the medical problems decrease if professional medical experts were administering the products and just the right quantities, and monitoring the "patient's" levels daily for any possible risks?

Also, the environment already is "dope or lose", so that wouldn't seem to change either. To say that it's got to stop ignores the reality of the situation - it can't be stopped!

 

[SaintAndrew]

Your points are well taken, but what makes you think those deaths are going to increase if it becomes legal? Might the medical problems decrease if professional medical experts were administering the products and just the right quantities, and monitoring the "patient's" levels daily for any possible risks?

Also, the environment already is "dope or lose", so that wouldn't seem to change either. To say that it's got to stop ignores the reality of the situation - it can't be stopped!

well take the examples of strongman, bodybuilding, and and powerlifting. you have guys in those areas taking many, many grams of steroids a week, some over 10iu's of GH daily, i have even heard that jay cutler uses into the low 10's (iu's) for his post workout insulin shots. the bodybuilders have doctor's professionally administering synthol too (if you don't know what it is, it's basically pure saturated fat injected into muscles to make them bigger). i also read that ronnie coleman for example, gets regular checkups, has elevated livers values (or course) and other problems, but he doesn't stop jack. being huge is his meal ticket.

 

[JohnO]

Nice idea, but what would it accomplish?

As soon as legal doping was allowed, someone would find a way to beat that. Just making it legal within a reasonable health limit will merely encourage the cheaters to get even more aggressive, and would push people into very unhealthy practices. Not that they aren't doing it now.

 

[karlotta]

Just making it legal within a reasonable health limit will merely encourage the cheaters to get even more aggressive, and would push people into very unhealthy practices. Not that they aren't doing it now.

And as you point out that's an accurate description of the current system... juice all you want... as long as you test under 4:1.

 

[meb]

Is it just me, or has this become a total joke. Fighting against performance enhancing drugs is a losing battle... there will always be more resources ($$) on the side of the teams than on the anti-doping authorities, so the teams will always be two steps ahead.

Furthermore, even if doping controls are improved, they will never catch ALL the cheaters. Some will get the coctail just right and evade punishment, while others will cross the line and get caught- the winner will be the one who was able to push the limit, but not cross the arbitrary line (4:1 / 6:1 / 50%, whatever). The winner is still a cheater... basically one that was randomly selected.

So why not just legalize PEDs? All the riders could get prescriptions from their doctors and have the drugs administered properly. It would be safer because it wouldn't need to be underground anymore - no more shuttling blood around in the back of motorcycles... no more riders measuring out the doses themselves... no more guesswork about whether your hematocrit is getting dangerously high.

Wouldn't this allow the playing field to be leveled? Wouldn't this let us get back to focusing on the racing instead of the scandals? Wouldn't it be nice to know the winner wasn't a cheater? If they're all doing it anyway, what are the reasons they shouldn't try to make it legal?

More heart attacks, strokes, cancers.

There's a Saturday Night Live skit out there on the Steroid Olympics.

I remember one scene where a weightlifter pulls his arms off lifting too much weight.

 

[JAPANic]

Only benefit would be Doctors driving around in a more expensive Benz...

 

[Capt.Injury]

Is it just me, or has this become a total joke. Fighting against performance enhancing drugs is a losing battle... there will always be more resources ($$) on the side of the teams than on the anti-doping authorities, so the teams will always be two steps ahead.

Furthermore, even if doping controls are improved, they will never catch ALL the cheaters. Some will get the coctail just right and evade punishment, while others will cross the line and get caught- the winner will be the one who was able to push the limit, but not cross the arbitrary line (4:1 / 6:1 / 50%, whatever). The winner is still a cheater... basically one that was randomly selected.

So why not just legalize PEDs? All the riders could get prescriptions from their doctors and have the drugs administered properly. It would be safer because it wouldn't need to be underground anymore - no more shuttling blood around in the back of motorcycles... no more riders measuring out the doses themselves... no more guesswork about whether your hematocrit is getting dangerously high.

Wouldn't this allow the playing field to be leveled? Wouldn't this let us get back to focusing on the racing instead of the scandals? Wouldn't it be nice to know the winner wasn't a cheater? If they're all doing it anyway, what are the reasons they shouldn't try to make it legal?

NO matter how far you go, someone will always test the limits. If PEDs were legal, then you would have a competition between doctors instead of racers. Instead of hearing Rider A beating Rider B, you would hear that Doctor A was able to do a better job then Doctor B. Then doctor would compete to a point to where, they would be willing to endanger the athletes lives to get the top seeded rider, to attract more patients. So to a point, you better off with a limit, to where doctors will have a "Ceiling so to speak" to where they got to try and maintain what they do under. As the saying goes, the sky would be the limit if you dont institute the doping limits.

 

[dasnootz]

Do you really want to see Nike syringes in your local sporting goods store?

 

[ATM]

There's a Saturday Night Live skit out there on the Steroid Olympics.

I remember one scene where a weightlifter pulls his arms off lifting too much weight.

 

[Powerful Pete]

Interesting, it was proposed in today's Financial Times also...

 

[WINGNUTT]

NO matter how far you go, someone will always test the limits. If PEDs were legal, then you would have a competition between doctors instead of racers. Instead of hearing Rider A beating Rider B, you would hear that Doctor A was able to do a better job then Doctor B. Then doctor would compete to a point to where, they would be willing to endanger the athletes lives to get the top seeded rider, to attract more patients. So to a point, you better off with a limit, to where doctors will have a "Ceiling so to speak" to where they got to try and maintain what they do under. As the saying goes, the sky would be the limit if you dont institute the doping limits.

Who cares? This is how it is in all sports anyway. It takes many inputs to win a bike race - tactics, fitness, team strength, equipment, nutrition, and drugs. If you are missing any one of these inputs, you are not going to win - regardless of what the rules on doping are. We are letting one component (drugs) ruin the entire sport - isn't this the tail wagging the dog??

And so what if it's a bit more dangerous for the riders? Riders take calculated risks all the time - how fast should I take this corner? should I attack on this descent? should I train today while it's raining? Is it really that much different when it comes to PED-related risks?

And even if it is more dangerous, there's still the other side of the coin. If we assume the COST of legalizing PEDs is increased danger to the riders, we also have to consider the BENEFIT. THe benefit is that we get a fair sport, good competition, scandal-free championships, and winners that are not cheaters. Oh, and let's not forget about the number of careers that have been destroyed either because a rider refused to cheat and hence was denied a cycling career, or did use PEDs along with the rest of the field, and happened to get caught, which destroyed his career. All these problems vanish once PEDs are legal. Should we not weigh these benefits against any increased risks associated with legalizing PEDs (if in fact there are any)??

 

[helmutRoole2]

I like our sport the way it is.

Sure, improve the tests and I'm in favor of more investigations -- they seem more fruitful than testing -- but I have no illusions that testing and investigations can wipe out doping in cycling.

We're lucky to have a governing body that's responding to pressure from inside and out to bust dopers. Certainly they could do a better job, but you don't see anything like that in MLB, the NBA or the NFL.

Look, dopers, like or not, make our sport very interesting. No dopers = no drama. There will always be dopers, there will aways be tests and there will always be drama.

Long live cycling.

 

[JRMDC]

Is this a parallel to one-design sailing? The question is whether we have a technology-equal sport (do they still sail Lasers?) and at the same time or instead a technology-unlimited sport (12 meter America's Cup).

What is the moral difference between variation in out-of-body technology (the best bicycles, not that it did Hincapie any good at Roubaix ) versus in-body technolgy (drugs)? Well, besides risk to rider health, of course, which is a major problem.

But with all the money spent by Trek and others, I have to wonder how far behind Armstrong some of the other riders were even before each TdF prolouge got going. Was that fair, or less unfair than doping?

Anyway, a bit of a unfocused rambling musing on technology, broadly defined, and sport.

 

[meandmybike]

No dopers = no drama.

Really? So there was no drama when Lemond (a rider most regard as having ridden clean) snatched the Tour by 8 seconds on the last day? Or when Chris Boardman (also clean) repeatedly attacked and broke the hour record? Or Graham Obree did the same on a revolutionary bike that he'd designed and built himself.


Come on, the off-the-bike-here-we-go-again-another-scandal drama we can all live without. There'll always be drama *on* the bike. The dopers just leave us questioning any outstanding ride and wondering if the winner is still going to be the winner next week or whenever the UCI decides to leak a failed test.

Long live cycling.

Amen, brother.