On Drugs & Performance

I placed my chin on my palm and pursed my lips in surprise.

Source
It was a cold Monday morning and the fact that the guys who never lifted their hands to ask or answer a question were the ones educating the class on drug usage caused me pay extra attention to the debate on ground.

My lecturer, a middle aged woman in a plain skirt and blue shirt sat in front of the class, a wicked smile gracing the corners of her lips. I didn't know if she was setting a trap for them or if she was simply enjoying the argument she had suddenly set down when people like me were shivering because of the rain pattering on our roof top.

I believe that in any sector and for any reason, the use of drugs should be completely banned and restricted. Drugs do not enhance inspiration…

One of the guys seated behind suddenly interjected the class governor who was on his feet speaking,

How can you know? Have you used drugs before?

The whole class burst into an uproar and I could see the embarrassment on the governor's face. I chuckled myself then turned to look at another guy whose hands were flying in the air behind me. It seemed that if the lecturer did not endorse him to speak soon, his arm would go out of his shoulder and remain permanently in the air.

Yes? The young man at the back

Finally!He rose to his feet and took a good look at the faces of everyone. His charisma compelled silence on the whole class and soon, everyone's attention was on him.

With due respect to our lecturer here, I stand to say that irrespective of who you are you are in no shoes to judge anyonethe uproar rose to its peak at this point. The guys seated at the back rushed up to shake hands with him. He had his lips enlarged from ear to ear in a grin.

The lecturer at the front of the class was laughing under her breath now. In my opinion, she was enjoying the fact that the tables had turned and she was now sitting back to enjoy the lecture with the students instead of the other way round.

I'm not done talking he said when the noise had calmed to its barest minimum. Let's take the sports champions for instance. We are aware that most of these performers use drugs to boost their recovery level and gain a competitive advantage. Now are we trying to say that using those drugs reduce the extent of the effort they put into preparing for the competition?

Murmurs arose from the class and I was only able to give it a little thought before a lady rose to interject her own thoughts.

We were talking about drugs enhanced performances and if an actor who used them should be awarded for their acting skills. For the first time, I too didn't know what to believe.

If a man is acting under an influence, can it be said that the man is performing or the drug is performing?

That was the question the lecturer asked that caused the uproar in the class.

That morning, my ideologies concerning taking drugs for a performance were getting tampered with.

Dear John,the lady who rose, Ama, began addressing the young man who just spoke before she rose. The class fell silent, especially because of how she started. We cannot encourage the use of drugs for anything not because drugs are completely bad in themselves but because of the abuse that causes health damage eventually.

I nodded my head subconsciously. Finally, there was something my mind was agreeing to.

Yes, these athletes take these drugs to help them in whatever way they say it helps, but the restrictions of these drugs should not be taken off because no matter how minimized the side effects become, someone will still be available to abuse them

She was saying this to counter the last point the guy made suggesting that restrictions should be lifted from drugs because technology can reduce the side effects to the barest minimum.

Yes, these athletes work hard, but so long as they are under an influence, their hard work is automatically undermined. At that point if that influence is taken away, the ability to do whatever it is they are doing, the way they are doing it, is no longer there. No one would see how hard they have worked if such a thing were truly to happen. The same thing goes for peeformers.

The class once again erupted into an uproar.

A lot of things were said that day but I held on to what Ama said, if that influence is taken away at any point, the ability to do whatever they were doing, the way they did it, would no longer be there and that alone would have destroyed their entire hardwork.

Based on that, I maintain my stand that drugs should be restricted for athletes because at the end of the day, all it makes them is less of themselves in physicality and their general health situation.