Protecting the health of athletes  Laws should in general protect people from making uninformed decisions. Due to the potential severe consequences the ban has to be upheld. An analogy with the seatbelt can be used: the government forces people to use them, because of the possibility of severe injury in case we do not use it.  The use of performance-enhancing drugs is the opposite – use can lead to severe health problems.  Thus, if all people are treated as equals under law, then the law should equally protect athletes as the law does other would- be drug users.  Equality before law also means athletes can’t be exempt from the moral standards we have for others. Firstly due to value of life and secondly because many times athletes themselves are not aware of the severe consequences of performance enhancing drugs.  BBC Drugs and Sports (GCSE Bitesize):  , accessed 05/15/2011