FanPost

Should doping be legalized? Discussion in "Le Monde"

French daily "Le Monde" has asked its readers if doping should simply be legalized.

Here are truncated translations of a few representative entries:

"Yes . . . Why criminalize a problem in the name of asinine purity and some sporting ideal dictated by people like Prudhomme who are self proclaimed censors instead of opening up a debate where medical questions could be debated and controlled instead of leaving it up to shady charlatans who administer dangerous drugs in the shadows."

"Doping could bring about serious harm to the riders, not to mention it wouldn't help the popularity of the sport."

"Yes. If everyone is on the juice, no one is."

"Yes. These activities (soccer, cycling, tennis) are there to help sponsors and organizers get rich just like in the days of gladiators when slaves were thrown to the lions to strengthen the power of the political class. In any case, the 'people' don't care if athletes are juiced, they want a spectacle and if there is blood, so much the better. So why so many scruples? The people want games, give them games and pull in as much cash as possible along the way."

"No. That would essentially force everyone, even those who currently don't dope, to take something thereby putting all the riders' health at risk."

The full discussion (and a cute cartoon depicting two competing soy beans[?]) can be found here: http://vidberg.blog.lemonde.fr/2008/07/20/faut-il-legaliser-le-dopage

 

Thanks to my colleague Scott for pointing this site out to me.