Drug use and abuse, including alcohol abuse, are considerable public health problems. One societal domain where this problem has received particular attention is in the realm of sports. This attention is due, in part, to numerous alcohol- and drug-related incidents involving well-known sports figures, and the problem encompasses both performance-enhancing and recreational drug use. Scholars have conducted numerous studies on the prevalence rates and reasons for drug abuse among athletes at various competitive levels, although many important questions remain unanswered.

Performance-enhancing drugs are substances that give an athlete some type of competitive advantage and are deemed illegal by a sport's governing body or state or federal law. Examples of commonly used performance-enhancing drugs include steroids, human growth hormone, amphetamines, and painkillers. These drugs are generally used to increase strength and speed, provide extra energy for practice and competitions, allow an athlete to train harder and recover more quickly from training, and enable an athlete to compete when hurt or injured.

The use of drugs for enhancing athletic performance is not a new phenomenon, as historians have uncovered evidence of stimulant use among ancient Greek athletes for competitive advantages. Steroid use to increase strength was documented among Olympic, professional, and intercollegiate athletes in the 1960s and 1970s, and the first Olympic drug-related suspensions occurred during the 1968 Summer Olympics. The first most notable performance-enhancing drug suspension involved Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson being stripped of his 100-meter gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics, although throughout the 1990s and into the 21st century a number of Olympic and professional athletes continued to be suspended for performance-enhancing drug abuse. In 2007, Marion Jones--the first woman to win five medals at one Olympics (in Sydney, Australia, in 2000)--admitted to using steroids and was stripped of her medals. No comprehensive studies, however, have been conducted among professional or other elite athletes to gauge the overall prevalence rate of performance-enhancing drug use among this population, although the 2007 Mitchell Report revealed that some professional baseball athletes had used illegal performance-enhancing substances. Recent studies among college and high school athletes have found that 1 to 4 percent of athletes in these groups reported steroid use or amphetamine use for performance-enhancing purposes.

The most obvious reasons for performance-enhancing drug use among athletes are self-evident: to become a better athlete and have enhanced sport-related outcomes. Athletes also report that they use such substances to recover from and prevent injuries, to improve their appearance, and in some cases in response to pressures from coaches. Stimulants may be used for energy purposes or as a weight loss aid, the latter reason being particularly relevant for sports where appearance can be judged (e.g., gymnastics) or where weight requirements exist (e.g., wrestling). Athletes may abuse painkillers in an effort to conform to a cultural norm that suggests being injured is explicitly or implicitly met with disapproval and playing through pain or injury is rewarded.

Abuse of performance-enhancing drugs can have multiple negative impacts on an athlete's health. Some substances, such as painkillers and amphetamines, can result in physiological and psychological dependence. Steroid use has been linked with a number of physical and psychological problems, including cardiovascular disease, genital shrinkage (among men), development of masculine physical characteristics (among women), and increased mania and rage. It should be noted, however, that most of the research on the long-term effects of steroid use comes from case reports and not well-designed, comprehensive studies.

Aside from the potential negative health impacts, performance-enhancing drug use compromises fundamental assumptions associated with athletic contests. One of the most important assumptions of competitive sport is that all participants are adhering to a standard set of rules and laws. Individuals who intentionally violate these rules in an effort to gain a competitive advantage compromise the integrity and fabric of the activity in which they participate. If those who participate in and are fans of a sport cannot be certain that the competitions are "clean," the resulting decline in credibility could have a considerable negative impact on the sport's popularity and acceptability within the larger culture.

Bibliography:

1) Elliot, Diane L., Esther L. Moe, Linn Goldberg, Carol A. DeFrancesco, Melissa B. Durham, and Hollie Hix-Small. 2006. "Definition and Outcome of Curriculum to Prevent Disordered Eating and Body-Shaping Drug Use." Journal of School Health 76:67-73.

2) Mottram, David R., ed. 2006. Drugs in Sport. 4th ed. New York: Routledge.

3) National Collegiate Athletic Association. 2001. "NCAA Study of Substance Use Habits of College Student-Athletes."

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