Every sport seems to have its drug of choice. For baseball and football, it's a broad range of designer steroids. Baseball's posterboys include a
high-school A-Rod and now
Manny Ramirez, with
Barry Bonds sort of forgotten for the time being.
Track and field is little more event specific, with sprinters and throwers generally emphasizing steroids, and the distance folks, like potentially uncrowned 2008, 1500m Olympic Gold Medalist
Rashid Ramzi, opting for endurance-boosting EPO. EPO is also very popular on the professional cycling circuit. Just ask
Alexander Vinokourov or
Floyd Landis among others.
In many other sports, the drug problems seem to have a lot less to do with performance enhancement in the traditional sense. The NBA's biggest problem appears to be the same as that of
Michael Phelps: marijuana.
What got me thinking about it all, though, was tennis, a stereotypically wealthy sport, that continues to support that stereotype with claims like
Richard Gasquet's alleged cocaine use. This would follow the precedent of former World No. 1 Martina Hingis, who retired two years ago after
her own positive test for cocaine.
It begs the question: do you consider marijuana and cocaine performance enhancers?
How do you feel about athletes that use drugs like these as opposed to traditional PEDs like steroids and EPO? Should governing bodies even be testing for these "party drugs?"
Comments (35)
Sure, I've broken many high scores while I was stoned that I had otherwise spent a significant amount of time while not under the influence trying to accomplish the same feat. But, it can be argued that caffeine is a "performance-enhancing drug" too. The question is, where do we draw the line?
I would say marijuana would be a performance de-hancing drug. I don't smoke weed anymore, but when I did I always got lazy when I was high. As for cocaine, I always got lazy on cocaine, too. l0l. (I don't do coke anymore either!) Not really lazy... but I was always scared that if I moved I'd barf. I couldn't imagine myself performing my daily rituals under the influence of cocaine, let alone sporting events. So, no, I wouldn't say these were performance enhancing drugs.
This post got me thinking though... does anyone else call cocaine "white girl" or "girl"? I don't know if that was just a trend in my area, or if that was national street slang.
@abh816@xanga - I agree. Can't see how they would enhance anything. Maybe focus? (Never heard of white girl/girl before)
But all the focus in the world can't help you if your body is lethargic.
@cApNhOwDy@xanga - excellent point
@cApNhOwDy@xanga - High scores while you were sitting on a couch? Or being active?
@Lordv16@xanga - Being active. Go check out "In The Groove", "Dance Dance Revolution", and "Pump it Up".
@cApNhOwDy@xanga - Ahhh ha! So that's how you guys move your feet so fast! Hax!
weed? no..only if your hurrying to the cookie isle of the store... anything less than this...nope...
From what I understand (and including my personal experience with weed but not cocaine), coke makes you fast only in brief intervals (so it's basically useless unless you snort every few moves). Weed? No way! It amplifies your senses, but doesn't make you stronger or faster. If anything, you get MAD distracted!
Weed and basketball would be funny. *Yeah! got the ball cuz i've been watching it everywhere-shoot it to Joey-excellent steal- OOO his jersey is shiny... what a nice pattern CLUNK*
Hell no. You just become more of a dumbass than you already are for deciding to use 'em.
I've found pot makes me write better papers, but other than that it doesn't do much else other than make me lazy and tired. I don't touch cocaine.
nah foo, get a life. got a problem let me know.
i wouldnt go as far as to say they were performance enhancing. but they do make you come up with some weird things. especially food idea's. i put cheerios on my icecream and dr. pepper. at the time it actually wasnt bad.
I don't do drugs. It's poison for your body. From where I came from, they hang drug pushers and hardcore addicts.
@inthenameofwater@xanga - actually ive played b-ball when i wus stoned off my ass and i did pretty good and besides ive done parkour while ive been stoned and i fuckin do excellent so tell me how does that mix with it when parkour needs stamina, speed, balance, hand eye coordination and distance judging? i did fine and nobody ever noticed even when i wus blasted cus i could still do wallflips, backflips and any other move u can think of on your feet and i never got distracted.
i can say without a doubt tho triple c's yeah that screwed me one time, cus i cut my arm deep as hell cus i felt like a wet noodle but pot never made me lazy its just a mindset for dumbasses with short attention span who cant pay attention and it didnt enhance me it just made my stress go away so tell me how does that work? and if u wanna know what parkour is look it up on youtube, just look up parkour and explain to me how the hell i could do it while i wus fkn stoned outta my mind and pay attention to cars at the same time with no consequences but i mean i quit it cus when i smoked i looked foolish but while i wus blazed nah nothing changed
@XndraXstz@xanga - ok so what do u call drugs cus marijuana isnt neccesarily a so called "drug" it wus outlawed cus hemp could have been used for cheaper materials thats the only reason pot is illegal and besides marijuana does good things for ur eyes seriously, then that it makes ur stress go away and ur worries but other then that its not rly a drug but they only call it one =.= but coke i dont see how taht is even called an enhancer at all lol
been writin' alot there, haven't you, jeb? =P
@abh816@xanga - yes, "white girl" is def still used. everyone i have talked to about it (in chicago and arizona) has no problem understanding what im talking about. its a standard name. "the white" is also common. sometimes you may even hear "powder". spanish translations of these words, "la guera" and "blanco" can also be heard from both spanish and non-spanish speakers.
@XndraXstz@xanga
@John_of_the_bloomdocks@xanga
Wow, you guys voted for bush BOTH times didn't you? If you clowns would wake up and realize your government is LYING TO YOU about the dangers of maryjane you'd be better off.
If you smoke some SUPER dank stuff it is defiantly NOT an enhancing drug for active activities, tho Ive had sex for 3 hours, no breaks, while stoned off of brownies. But for actual sports, hell no.
I've only done weed and weed related substances, so I dont know about all that other crap(i dont even drink... im 26 and ive only been drunk twice in my life, and what was on vacation in japan on an empty stomach) Another debunk myth about weed being a gateway drug... its only a gateway if your sketchy ass dealer laces it with something you're unaware of. Which is very possible when you just run up on someone and buy weed randomly from some fool at a party or on the street.
I mean, technically speaking - SUGAR and (non sea)SALT are processed drugs. The undertake similar processes as cocaine and heroine... you CAN be addicted and they CAN fuck up your health.
TRY to get cavities or diabetes(or even a head rush) from eating honey. Its virtually impossible. peep http://www.thehealingpraxis.com and all the links she recommends to you.
I've never met an angry or violent pothead. Ive been assaulted by drunk motherfuckers and pill poppers though.
I don't think the big problem is that they are illegal, not that they are performance-enhancing drugs. But I feel like coke could give you more energy and better reaction times, so it may be a performance-enhancing drug. Some people swear marijuana makes them better at their sport (like my friend that swore the only reason he didn't win states in wrestling was that he couldn't get high before it), but I doubt this. I bet if marijuana gets legalized, people will stop getting tested for it. Except in eating contests
.
Every athlete in every sport needs to be tested for performance-enhancing drugs. Their use of any kind of drugs, whatever the reason, is sending a bad message to our youth!I've recently heard that all racehorses will now be screened for PEDs, and I'm glad that's taking place, so, let's move on to ALL human athletes.
I'm praying that marijuana, cocaine, and other PEDs never get legalized, with athletes or the general public. Drugs are bad! Don't use them!
marijuana?? performance enhancing??? hahahahaha yea right!!! it's got the opposite effect.
and anyways, who smokes weed to enhance their athletic performance?! they do it to chill out and be lazy. michael phelps wasn't doing a toke sesh before a practice session, people. he was hangin' out with friends, blazing, just like what other people do when they smoke.
pot isn't a performance enhancing drug. Phelps didn't smoke to help him swim faster. If anything it was to help calm his mind.
I don't think it should matter if someone smokes pot or not, but everything else should be tested for and people should get in trouble for doing.