By Tyler Vanderelst |Staff Writer|

Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs) have always been an issue in the modern era of sports.

The newest conflict involving them surrounds the severity of punishment, or lack thereof, for using these banned substances.

Steroids, one of the most well-known PEDs, offer increased strength, muscle mass, improved recovery rate and more. Steroids are common in sports like baseball and football.

Both punish players who use them, but some believe the current punishments are not enough.

A former University of Redlands football player Steven Best thinks if players use PEDs they should have tougher consequences.

“If a player is found cheating and trying to gain an unfair advantage they should be kicked out of the league because they are fully aware what they are doing,” said Best.

In Major League Baseball (MLB) they have had to increase the punishment for using PEDs due to a lot of players are using these substances. In baseball, it is three strikes and you are out.

The first time a player is caught using a PED, they get an 80-day suspension.

The second time players get caught they get a 162 game suspension, which is an entire season and an entire year without pay. The third strike means that you are out of the league forever.

One player who the MLB had to suspend and essentially make an example out of was Alex Rodriguez.

Rodriguez was accused of using PEDs during the 2013 season and was suspended for the entire 2014 season. He ended up losing a total of $22,131,147 out of what he would have earned that year.

Kory Figueredo has noticed a trend of more players using steroids and thinks it is time to take action against the use.

“The steroid problem is getting out of hand and I think the only way to solve it is to have more serious punishments for those who violate the rules,” said Figueredo.

The National Football League (NFL) also faces similar problems with athletes using PEDs.

When it comes to steroids in the NFL the leagues’ punishment is similar to that of the MLBs guidelines.

A Players first time being caught using PEDs in the NFL can lead up to a six-game suspension with no pay depending on the severity of the case.

The second time a player is caught they face a 10 game suspension with no pay. And if they are caught a third time they are banned from the league for two years.

One case in the NFL where a high profile player got suspended for steroids was Shawne Merriman.

Merriman was suspended for four games during the 2006 season a year after he was named Defensive Rookie of the Year.

After this incident and a few injuries his career never was the same.

Steroids are becoming more and more of a problem in professional sports, and the leagues that they are affecting are doing everything they can to stop players from using them.