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Over the past century, sports has become a cut-throat profession. Now, more than ever, the emphasis is placed on not only on entertainment, but on extreme performance. This has undoubtedly increased pressure on sportsmen and contributed to drug use within the sporting community.
Despite all of the current tests available to identify drug use, another hurdle facing testers is the fact that some performance-enhancing agents are still undetectable. However, the use of performance enhancing drugs is not only a scientific issue, but also an ethical one. Using drugs is unfair and un-sportsmanlike. Cheating therefore undermines the very essence of sport.
History
The practice of using artificial substances (drugs) or methods to enhance athletic performance is referred to as doping. The use of drugs to boost performance is not a novel idea and has, in fact, been used as far back as ancient Greece. The Greek competitors of this period were willing to take any concoction that might improve their performance, from extracts of mushrooms to preparations of plant seeds. Today drug scandals are everywhere in both professional and amateur sports, such as in national sport leagues and the Olympics.