Drugs that are safe should be legal for everyone, and athletes should be able to use any legal drugs. In the near future, more and more safe performance-enhancing drugs and treatments will become available. The lives of the average person will be much improved by them, and athletic performance will hit new peaks. The idea that progress is somehow a perversion of the “purity” of competition is silly. From Yascha Mounk’s “Ban What Is Dangerous, Legalize What Is Not” in the New York Times:

“The distinction we currently draw between which substances should be allowed, and which should be prohibited, ultimately says a lot about our own arbitrary assumptions – and precious little about anything else. Fans admire athletes for their amazing skill and boundless determination. As long as all athletes have access to performance-enhancing drugs, winning would still require that awe-inspiring skill and determination. So, while there are good reasons to ban those drugs that pose significant health risks even when taken under medical supervision (dinitrophenol comes to mind), all other substances – like erythropoietin (EPO) and propranolol, for example – should be allowed.”