My perspective on performance-enhancing drugs has changed because of my involvement in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and mixed martial arts. When I was a teenager, I sta

My perspective on performance-enhancing drugs has changed because of my involvement in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and mixed martial arts. When I was a teenager, I started training at a gym where several UFC fighters spoke openly with me about their use of steroids. And in the decade since then, I have experienced the pains of rigorous training and competition without PEDs, while also interacting with lots of grapplers who discussed how PEDs helped them. None of them believed that the competitive advantage from steroids comes from the additional muscular strength they provide during a fight or a jiu-jitsu match. Instead, the steroids allowed them to train with a frequency and intensity that is virtually impossible for natural competitors. This recuperative advantage is still "cheating," but it feels morally different in the sense that the athlete is enhancing his technique by training more, not using steroid-enabled strength to compensate for poor technique. (The same is not true of something like blood doping.) I'm not arguing that PEDs should necessarily be permitted in athletic competition. That would be my preference, but I recognize there are colorable reasons why we should avoid glamorizing the practice in the eyes of teens. However, as a sportsman, I respect a competitor who is willing to risk his health in exchange for the chance to train as hard as humanly possible.