Marion Jones Admits to Steroid Use

Marion Jones Admits to Steroid Use - WP

My quick take on Marion Jones’ admission to taking performance-enhancing drugs is this – the ability to detect the substance at stake, ‘the clear’, and therefore to plausibly attempt to keep it out of sports, was not possible until after it was in service and proven effective. So what is the point of prohibition?

The athletes at the top of their respective sports have the most resources and most to gain from research and usage, illicit or not, of new drugs. The medals that are won and records that are broken are the most likely outcomes influenced by these continuously-in-development drugs, not yet detectable by authorities. So again, I ask, what is the point of prohibition?

People have always risked injury, and even premature death, for the spot light and its rewards. Banning drugs after the fact only catches those who slack on the latest technology, or do not possess the judgment to exit their game on top.

For the record, I am against these drugs because they are untested and unsafe, and young people follow the behavior of these athletes. But the current prohibition does nothing to limit use or the encouragement that follows, and we should recognize this.

Catching people in lies, and punishing them after the fact, presumes some sort of honor system is in place, and this is simply not true, and never has been.

James C. Collier

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