The new front in the war on doping: Amateur athletes

 The concept of fighting against drugs is usually associated with either the use of recreational drugs or the use of performance enhancing drugs in professional sports. However, over time, drug usage has filtered down to amateur athletes who are trying to advance to the next level. Very simply, drug usage is a problem that extends beyond what is commonly considered in sports. In some sports, like boxing and weightlifting, amateurs do undergo some drug testing, but the general procedures for anti-doping in amateur athletes are inefficient. High-level amateurs generally have knowledge of legal enhancements and banned substances and are able to engage in exceptions, such as therapeutic exemptions, crafty cycling, and ability to make it through some of the gaps in testing that occur because of the costs. In other words, testing at amateur levels leaves a lot to be desired.

At the same time, policies are challenging to implement because they are expensive and able to be circumvented. There is also the issue of inadvertent use with some research indicating that up to 40% of doping incidents may actually be from athletes unaware of what is in their prescriptions and supplements. This creates another problem because while many athletes do seem to be well-versed in doping, there are many others who simply do not understand the science of what they are doing. This leads to a necessity in scientific education among athletes as well so that there are fewer incidents to begin with.

Reference

Henning, A. D., & Dimeo, P. (2018). The new front in the war on doping: Amateur athletes. International Journal of Drug Policy, 51, 128-136.