Taking hard drugs has many damaging consequences. The first of them is addiction, followed closely by health complications.
I battled addiction for years, and I know what it is in practical terms. If you are into drugs, it will get to the stage where it will alter your body's functionality, and your body will begin to depend on its consumption for proper functioning. A cigarette smoker who smokes after every meal may start to feel like his food isn't digesting without smoking. That's why you see some addicted smokers looking for money by all means to buy cigarettes after eating. They have successfully trained their digestion to depend on cigarettes.
This scenario is on a lighter note compared to people taking steroids for sports. Once their bodies get used to it, they won't be able to compete at any time without taking it. In fact, even when they are not going for competition or after retirement, they may still continue to depend on the drug for less stressful activities. When this becomes the case, the body begins to take in the excess of it exponentially.
This can give rise to health complications. Too much pressure on the liver can lead to its damage. Once that happens, fatalities can set in.
Sporting activities, just like other work that requires some level of energy and maximum fitness, would be best carried out in good health. A sick person can't compete favorably in sports. In my opinion, whatever can compromise the health of a sportsman should be totally discouraged.
Apart from the risk that consumption of drugs poses to consumers, it also sets an unequal ground for competition. When someone who takes steroids is competing with another person who is depending on his natural capabilities, it amounts to unfairness. Whoever wants to perform excellently and be ahead of others should train very well.
I recently read about a man arrested for drug trafficking. He was arrested at his mansion in his village. Many people who didn't know the source of his wealth might have wished to be like him at one time or another. Many people like that have been given chieftaincy titles in the past. The reason is that people admire what they see. They would be seen as the most hardworking people in their neighborhood. What plays out behind the scenes is not visible to most people, and they care less about it.
This is similar to doing sports under the influence of drugs. Once you are in the stadium, for instance, and watch a sprinter move far ahead of his fellow contestants, he or she will be praised to high heaven by spectators. If, at the end of the day, it is discovered that he or she was under the influence of drugs, it diminishes the accolades. It also makes fools of those who trained and depended on their natural capabilities.
Consequently, I don't support the lifting of the restriction on such drugs by any means. The ban should remain in force. Every athlete should train and work hard to attain the height they envision without resorting to drugs for assistance.
