[dhimes]

Certainly influence on the young is part of it, but it's also a matter of keeping the sport at a level that everybody agrees to and understands. In some sports, doping is accepted- there are separate leagues for natural athletes. So my only issue is that if everybody agreed to not dope, and the understanding is that the athletes are clean, yet some dope, then those who are doping are cheating.

If everybody agrees that doping is ok, and it is the understanding of the participants that to compete you have to dope, then I'm fine with it.

To me, it's really about your relationship to the other competitors more than the horrors your actions may inflict on society.

We see something similar in academia. There are performance-enhancing drugs that academics can take to have greater periods of intense work, and out-compete their competitors. It's up to the academics to set the standard for what is acceptable.