Athletes and Drug Use

The impact of performance-enhancing drugs in the world of athleticism is garnering more attention than the games that the athletes play. No longer in the locker rooms of muscular professional male athletes, performance-enhancing drugs have infiltrated their way into the lives of both the young and the old, the professional and the aspiring athlete. Drug use among athletes has grown from occasional speculation to full-blown federal investigations. The media have carved a space to inform the public of the result of various athletes suspected drug use whether it be performance enhancing or merely recreational in nature. The term doping refers to the use of anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs that are used to improve cardiovascular endurance, muscle size, or both. Doping, or juicing, as it is sometimes called, has garnered attention in the general public, but up until 2003, there were fewer than 30 empirical studies in the area of athletes and drug use. Performance-enhancing drugs, anabolic steroids or their derivatives, usually refer to the following classes of drugs.

Lean muscle mass builders are designed to increase lean muscle while decreasing overall body fat and adipose tissue. This class of drugs includes artificial growth hormones and testosterone-enhanced steroids.

Stimulants are used by athletes in an effort to increase speed, overall endurance, and attention span while training. Drugs classified as stimulants activate the central nervous system to an increased level of functioning and raise the metabolic processes in the body.

Analgesic drugs, drugs that eliminate or mask pain symptoms, are used to assist athletes with acute and chronic pain conditions that result from overtraining or improper training.

Muscle relaxers are often used to calm the tension in an athlete's body that usually results from sprains and strains associated with a high level of sport performance.

Diuretics are frequently used by athletes in an effort to control bloating and weight associated with water retention.

Drug adulteration products are masking agents used to eliminate the presence of other substances; these drugs are perhaps the most critical and sophisticated, as these drugs prevent authorities from detecting if an athlete is involved in the use of banned substances.

Some of the most notable side effects of these substances are heart attacks, strokes, dehydration, erratic behavior, and death. It is also important to note that the use of recreational drugs such as cocaine, marijuana, alcohol, ecstasy, heroin, and tobacco has increased among athletes as well. Reported use of these drugs seems to have diminished in media coverage in the wake of so many steroid scandals.

One of many publicized scandals about drug abuse in recent times was the admission by baseball celebrity Jose Canseco that many of the athletes in major league baseball were doping. The prevalence of such drug use continued to be a media spotlight as Olympic athletes and athletes from all sports and levels, including high school, middle school, and college, are regularly testing positive for such drugs.

There are many sports that have a relaxed drug tolerance policy, whereby career-ending consequences are invoked once a player has committed three or more offenses. Additionally, some major sports franchises have not been rigorous in testing athletes on a regular schedule. The World Anti-Doping Agency maintains a list of banned substances for athletes; however, drug testing and bans are not consistent across sports, making it increasingly difficult to decide which drugs are not considered harmful or worthy of legal sanctions. One of the most popular [Page 109]drugs, human growth hormone, is growing in popularity among users as there is no test that exists to detect its presence.

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