In the sport of baseball, the use of performance enhancing drugs has been going on for years. The first performance-enhancing drug (PED’s) used dates all the way back to 1889, when pitcher Pud Galvin started using it to improve his play. PED’s can cause negative affects on the body such as severe acne, hair loss, and certain diseases such as heart disease, and kidney disease. For these reasons, I think that more tests should be conducted and the penalty for the use of PED’s should be more punishable because of the unfair advantage and terrible health problems it gives.

The reason the sport of baseball should conduct more tests is the negative effects it can have on the body. An example of a negative effect is the mass amounts of acne that appear on the body, mostly on your chest. But in most cases it can become worse and spread to your face, neck, back, and arms. This is one of the many effects on your body as a result of PED’s. This is not the worst affect on the body it can have. Steroids can also give heart disease and kidney disease if a steroid user over-uses these pills made by the devil himself. Although a benefit of steroids is an increase in strength and mass, these are the only positive things about steroids. They were made to deceive you into mostly focusing on the positive affects that are always outlasted by the negative. More tests should be conducted to prevent this terrible drug.

Baseball should also make the penalty for the use of PED’s stronger and more punishing, adding onto the suspension the players already have. The magnitude of the punishment should be greater in order to prevent the future use of the drug for the player. Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez are among the many other baseball players tested positive for the use of PED’s. An average offseason suspension for steroid users is up to only 10 to 30 days. While in season, some players have been players have been suspended for up to 140 games, this punishment does not seem like enough to help this player through their addiction. In one Major League season, there are 162 games for all 30 teams. I think players should keep the same amount of suspension time, but along with that I believe they should be placed in rehabilitation to help with their addiction to the drug. Steroids although have been proven to give a greater healing rate, which could be a huge benefit in the sport for the amounts of injuries that happen in baseball. But this isn’t really a reason to risk your body and your health. The punishments should be greater for the cases of PED’s in the MLB.

The final reason for more tests and a larger punishment for the use of PED’s in baseball is the unfair advantage it gives to people who use them. Alex Rodriguez in 2003 was supposed to be the American League MVP, it was until he was tested positive for use of steroids that everyone realized why he was going to be MVP. The advantage PED’s give to the player’s that use them is completely unfair to the player’s who don’t use them. A lot of steroid users and supporters, say that they want to see more use because they want to see the best of the best play possible notjust out of baseball, but out of any sport. Along with the negative effects, the advantage PED’s give on the user is why more tests should be conducted and greater punishments should be placed in order to stop the use of this drug.

Given these points, PED’s should not be allowed for the fact that they ruin a person’s health and give an unfair advantage. Steroids are more dangerous than it would seem as they give heart disease and kidney disease. Adding onto that they also give severe acne on many parts of the body. These are the things that outlast the benefits such as more muscle mass and increased strength.  Although this seems like enough to keep you away from PED’s, there is also the fact that steroids give an unfair advantage when you compete in sports. Even though some people want to see the best play out of baseball and any sport, it still makes the game unfair for the team that wants to abide by the rules and play the game the way it is supposed to be played. So it is not only a bad thing for you it is also bad for someone you compete against. It is for these exact reasons that I think that more tests should be conducted and adding onto the penalty is necessary to keep the steroid epidemic from spreading.