Should Major League Baseball (MLB) Players Be Allowed to Use Performance Enhancing Drugs?

Over the past few years there has been a multitude of professional athletes from almost every sport getting in trouble for taking performance-enhancing drugs. Drugs like steroids and human growth hormone (HGH) have been connected with some of the biggest names in sport history.

Just in the last couple of year in Major League Baseball alone two huge names arose. Both Barry Bonds, who holds the single season record for home runs as well as the all time home run record, has been connected to steroids but never admitted to this. More recently pitching great Roger Clemens was also indicated. He too refuted the allegations and has remained very standoffish with the public ever since it came about. No one really knows for sure if they did or didn't, but maybe they should be allowed too.

If a player wants to put something in his body to help his performance shouldn't it be up to him? I know the risks are high with steroids, but I also know that with the money they make they can afford to have a doctor administer and control what goes in and how much. You can't really blame the players. If you knew you could make $20,000,000.00 extra in your job over the next four years, but you had to take a performance-enhancing drug to do it, would you? More times than not, the answer to that question will be yes

I understand that we as Americans are concerned that the youth of America will do what their heroes are doing to get to the level they see, but if such a big deal were not made, would anyone really be the wiser. Look at the year when Sammy Sosa and Mark Maguire chased the storied record of 61 home runs for a single season. We all sat night after night to see who would hit the historic mark first. We all watched, blissfully unaware of what the players may or may not have been taking. Sure we all may have thought it in the back of our heads, but we still watched, night after night.

Gone are the days of players from every team hitting 50 homers or more. With the crack down on the drugs, a dramatic drop-off has been seen in the hitting department. This makes for good pitchers duels, but that's not what fans go to see. So is it fair to say that maybe baseball is more exciting when performance-enhancing drugs are being used?

The league doesn't help much either. They really got caught off guard with this whole fiasco and some even think there was collusion between league officials and players, but nothing has been proven. They are also very inconsistent in their testing procedures. If they really want a "drug-free" league then the only solution is to test every player, every month. Expensive I know, but that is the only way to be sure.

The debate will rage on I'm sure for years to come. As for the players? You will always have the ones who are willing to do what it takes to become the cream of the crop or just stay in the league a few more years. To these players, the risk of being caught is worth the reward of money and fame. Unfortunately for baseball, it has been and will forever be tainted by the scandal and only time will tell if they can heal that wound.