By Zach Persing ’15, Sports Editor 

The use of Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs) has become rampant in American sports.  While professional athletes who want to take PEDs have to find ways around drug testing, high school athletes rarely face drug testing and can get away with PED usage in most cases.  This is because American High Schools do not have a uniform anti-doping, drug-testing policy.  If such a policy were in place, competition would be fairer, children would be healthier, and American professional sports would also be ridded of PEDs.

Performance enhancing drugs are just that, drugs that raise the level at which one is able to compete.  When some competitors are taking drugs that enhance performance, and others aren’t, an inherent unlevel playing field is present.  Will Schwartz, class of 2017 said, “it is very unfair when competitors use PEDs.  As a football player I work hard to get better and  I don’t like the idea of someone taking illegal shortcuts.”  High School sports might be fair if everyone had access to PEDs, but PEDs are inherently bad, so the only way to truly ensure fair competition is to make sure that no athlete can use these substances without getting caught.

A uniform drug testing policy in high schools across America would obviously reduce the amount of high school athletes that use PEDs.  If fewer high school students used PEDs, more high school students would have healthier bodies.  According to Web MD, men who take anabolic steroids can develop breasts, get painful erections, and have reductions in their sperm counts.  Additionally, women who take anabolic steroids can have their voices deepen and can develop facial hair.  Clearly the effects of PEDs are felt far beyond athletic fields and eliminating medical issues that come with PEDs would be a very good thing.

Stopping PED usage at the high school level will eventually have a positive impact on American Professional Sports.  Baseball is still in the midst of its steroid era, and there have also been dopers in cycling, football and many other sports.  The legacies of some of America’s greatest athletes like Lance Armstrong and Ryan Braun have been tarnished because of PEDs.  Many athletes who dope in professional sports begin doping in high school.  Matt Ratner, who will play baseball for Columbia University, said the following “In a time when PEDs are so prevalent in the world of sports today, I think it’s ironic that there’s virtually no testing at the high school level. While it’s not as big an issue in high school as it is in college and the pros, discouraging PEDs at early stages will help sway people toward the clean route.”  While there would still be some professional doping, it would be significantly minimized if these athletes were not exposed to PEDs at such a young age.

High school athletes can dope without the fear of getting caught.  This creates an unlevel playing field for all high school athletes.   High school athletes can face grave medical problems when they take PEDs.  Finally, PEDs taken in high school contribute to a culture of doping in American professional sports.  A uniform doping policy would help prevent all of these problems from occurring and would help return integrity to American sports.