Why is it important to combat doping in sport?
Doping is one of the most important and difficult problems confronting sports today. Doping threatens athlete health. In most cases, the substances/methods abused in doping have not been tested or approved for use by healthy individuals. Often, the substances/methods used for doping have not yet been determined safe enough for therapeutic use. Even more alarming is the abuse of counterfeit or designer drugs- drugs that are not regulated for safety. All of these factors lead to serious health risks to athletes who engage in doping. Doping also threatens the integrity of sport. Doping, the use of artificial enhancements to gain an advantage over others in competition, is cheating and is fundamentally contrary to the spirit of sport. Further, doping robs athletes who play by the rules of their right to competition that is safe and fair. Doping affects not just top athletes, but youths influenced by what the stars do. It is a growing problem of public health proportion that cannot be ignor
