NCJ Number
159483
Date Published
1994
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This paper examines the history of drug use in sports and considers the reasons why the modern sports establishment is committing such large amounts of money to the control of drugs.
Abstract
It is quite possible that drug use in sports dates back to ancient times, when the Greeks are said to have used hallucinogenic plant extracts to aid their performances. Six-day cycle racers in 19 Century Europe favored ether and caffeine to delay the onset of fatigue sensations. Sprint cyclists used nitroglycerine. The stimulant strychnine was used by the winners of the 1904 Olympic marathon. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today bans 4,000 substances which are grouped into five categories of drugs: (1) anabolic steroids; (2) stimulants; (3) narcotic analgesics; (4) beta blockers; and (5) diuretics. The author describes the effects of these substances and what athletes hope to gain by their use. He discusses sport-related science and the growth of businesses connected with the search for control over the body: health foods, fitness clubs, sports goods, diets. He discusses reasons why the IOC and other sports- governing bodies go to extraordinary lengths to solve the supposed drug problem. (1) Drugs are not fair; they confer artificially induced advantages on the user. (2) Drugs are harmful to health; and (3) Sports performers are role models for the young. The author suggests that, while there are practical and morally sound reasons behind the efforts to purge sports of drug abuse, there are also beneficiaries who have no formal position on the issue, but stand to profit from the effort: companies supplying testing equipment.