I've not heard of a short-acting amphetamine. As far as I'm aware, they are all very long lasting.
I know you're joking, but in a lot cases, it actually could be. Your 'awareness' is heightened greatly. The flipside is that it could lead to overconfidence or aggressive driving. It'd be probably balance out in the end.
The real problem with PED's comes with parity and younger generations. I hear a lot of people say we should allow PED's in sports, but this just raises the bar so that everyone feels they need to take them and sportsmen/women shouldn't have to take harmful substances in order to compete with the best. It also means that younger and younger generations feel pressured to start taking them in order to get that edge as just getting up the ranks is possibly the most difficult part of most sports. And the more young competitors do it, the more the rest will feel the need to do it as well to keep up. Its a harmful cycle. On an individual basis, I could care less if somebody takes steroids or amphetamines, as its their body, but the slippery slope of allowing it would be way too dangerous. So I agree fully with banning them and of fairly strict testing standards. Its best to stamp it out as thoroughly as possible.
The thing is Peds are already part of every major sport. Your argument would be valid if there was really efficient methods of curbing Ped usage. Armstrong case illustrates that there really isn't, considering that cycling is the most heavily tested sport and the one that tries the most to regulate it. Imagine Tennis, Football.. that don't have nearly the same effort. Peds have been part of professional sports for decades and are here to stay. And in my view, just as total prohibition doesn't work with recreational drugs even though powerful Governments such as the US have wage "war" on them with some people arguing in the same way you did, well if you allow this lower drug, people will go to the strongest stuff quicker. I think this is a dumbed down argument. I am for allowing certain peds that, when regulated by a competent professionals, have minimal side effects and would allow professional athletes to compete without having to lie all the time and pretend to be on "bread and water" like most mainstream sport do as a PR stunt.
The issue of Ped's risk on health is greatly exaggerated by laymen. Some of the most common drugs such as: Testosterone supplementation, Human growth hormone and substances that increase oxygen in the cells like EPO are natural occurring substances, you have them in your body and professional athletes with Doctors regulate them to get the most benefit out of it. Now you look at a guy like Armstrong well into his 40ties has take Peds for decades, he doesn't look bad to me, in fact he is probably healthier and fitter than most 40 or even 30 year old fit ones and there are countless examples of professional. He regularly still competes at triathlon events as a hobby to this day.
People like to compare Professional athletes as if they have the same body and demands of regular people, "Ah, a regular healthy 25 year old man doesn't need more Testosterone or EPO". It is silly to expect that Athletes in these sports who need to physically train 4-6 hours a day, need to perform for hours non end, recover for the next day, not have serious injuries or be able to recover quickly from them in order to make a living, will just ignore the scientific benefits that some substances have for them with minimal side effects if used correctly, this is purism and wishful thinking. Considering that there are average Joe on you local gyms using them just to look good on the beach, not because it is their tool for work.
I am not for just allowing everything either, but I wished there was a way that athletes could compete in a transparent way without having to lie so much and I believe that allowing some Peds with minimal side effects with medical supervision would be a good way. Take them out of the black market and bring them into light. I don't know about F1 because I'm not sure how they enhance a driver's performance at least compared to other sports, where your body is the main tool while in F1 the car. Yeah I know, you still need to be well fit in order to perform at your best, but the demand doesn't come close to a sports like Tennis, Football, cycling etc. There are no Montoya allowed in there at the high level. But still I would not put my hand in the fire, I could be misinformed.
