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Originally Posted by gordon30307
Steve Howe was and still is an addict. Hopefully he's not using but never the less he's an addict. He's dependent on chemicals. As were Gooden and Strawberry. To my knowledge they were not taking Performane Enhancing Drugs. Alcohol, Cocaine, Heroin are not going to boost your performance. This is an entirely different issue.
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Many people are addicted to taking steroids. They are considered Performance Enhancing Drugs. They do not necessarily enhance performance. In many cases they deteriorate a user's body, and do not help the athlete in the least. An athlete needs to have the talent to start with in order to get any enhancement at all.
Alcohol is legal, so let's leave that out of the conversation. I never mentioned heroin, so leave that out as well. Athletes took speed, coke and smoked weed in order to enhance their performance, whether these drugs are labeled as such or not. The athletes who took them did so (in their minds, at least) to enhance their performance.
Greenies and other amphetamines were intended to give energy and clarity of thought. They put them on the training table in bowls for any player who wished to use them. Cocaine has anasthetic qualities and gives a feeling of invincibility which can enhance overall performance, at least subconsciously. It is not an entirely different issue at all. It is like the steroids issue in that the players are looking for any edge they can get to gain an advantage over their competitors.
Question, have you ever taken either of these drugs to know what effect they have? If not, you cannot make a blanket statement that discounts the performance enhancing qualities of these drugs. Those players who used them felt that the drugs were helping them at the time.