[quote]Apoklyps wrote:
What substances have been chosen to be banned by athletic federations is a clear distinction, but natural/unnatural is not. I think most people look this dichotomy only in terms of black and white, but I see mostly grey. Assuming equal genetic/environmental potential, would someone who has used one PH cycle for recovery purposes be more like someone who has never used, or someone who has done 30 cycles of everything under the sun? We are all unnatural, but I would consider the person to be relatively natural, as drugs gave him/her the potential to achieve something that more closely resembles what can be achieved at the natural extreme than the unnatural extreme.
Medication isn’t so black and white, either. We all love the low test example, but what about amphetamines for treatment of ADHD? Amphetamines may mask inattention and concentration difficulties, but they also promote alertness and wakefulness (in addition to strong appetite suppression), which could definitely be considered performance-enhancing. People with ADHD are not deficient in dopamine nor do they suffer issues with alertness, so it’s not like the drug is replacing a naturally deficient neurotransmitter. It still acts like a stimulant, and a hell of a powerful one at that.
Further complicating things, substances like testosterone, ephedrine, and hGH are found in nature. It seems that the word “natural” has lost its original meaning.
Personally, I class all substances as supplements or drugs. Caffeine is a drug, ephedrine is a drug. You use drugs, then you are unnatural. We are all unnatural. However, we choose to be unnatural to different degrees. In this world, few things exist as absolutes and most exist on a gradient.[/quote]
You bring up a good point with ADHD medication. In fact, recently, Browner and Sherman in the Seahawks secondary tested positive for adderall. In this case, it was for performance enhancement to be able to focus while tired, giving them an edge over receivers. I do not think their punishment was very bad at all. If they used some kind of steroid, it would have been a different story, even if it sounds unjust.
Is this ethical? Who knows/who cares?
Is it better for your body than using a small amount of PH? Probably not. But since it is FDA regulated and approved, adderall is not as harshly looked upon as PH regardless of how bad it is for your body.