Anti-doping does not really make any sense

Les wrote:

How can you be a "champion" if you cheated to win? And yes, it certainly does matter to the loser and not just philosophically, monetarily.

If by cheat, you mean break the current anti-doping rules, then I agree 100% with you. I was referrinf only to a situation where rules related to doping were non-factor.

Without any restrictions or testing, all athletes would be required to take more and more amounts of drugs in order to be competitive, putting their health at risk in ways simply heavy training does not, and we don't want that. You're welcome to start your own international athletics federation, but keep in mind, that many of the substances in question are illegal to use without proper authorisation. Remember those cyclists dying in their sleep? The Eastern Bloc women? Would you honestly feel good about your son or daughter having to dope to those levels just in order to have chance in sport?

So it's ok to enter a race in my car

Left Said Fred wrote:

Without any restrictions or testing, all athletes would be required to take more and more amounts of drugs in order to be competitive, putting their health at risk in ways simply heavy training does not, and we don't want that. You're welcome to start your own international athletics federation, but keep in mind, that many of the substances in question are illegal to use without proper authorisation. Remember those cyclists dying in their sleep? The Eastern Bloc women? Would you honestly feel good about your son or daughter having to dope to those levels just in order to have chance in sport?

I don't think that is true though -- doping requires an optimal dosing just as much as regular training does. It's not like the more you inject, the better you are - just like 200 mpw is not automatically better than 100 mpw.

wrt to the cyclists, this seems to me at best just a good reason to be open about doing this stuff so that everyone's better informed about how to appropriately dose.

wrt to Eastern Bloc women, that is a matter of corrupt government imposing its will and ignorance on its citizens, which is horrible regardless of the methods they used.

But no, I would not want my daughter to dope at all, because I don't value pro sports that much. In a hypothetical doping-is-legal world, if they really wanted to pursue their dream of being an elite pro, I would tell them doping is not worth it to me, but would respect if they chose differently, and would at least hope they'd be educated enough at that point to be practical about dosing. The same as with a thousand other choices and risks the are going to face.

I don't actually support doping at all (with the exception of interesting scientific things that could be learned if people choose to do it anyway). I just don't see banning it as the sensible approach either.

gambit wrote:

[quote]Left Said Fred wrote:

...snip...

wrt to Eastern Bloc women, that is a matter of corrupt government imposing its will and ignorance on its citizens, which is horrible regardless of the methods they used.

It wasn't just in the Eastern Bloc women's hormonal balance was completly derailed by doping. Look up Tammy Thomas for instance.