High schools, colleges and universities, and professional sports teams test their athletes, either randomly or individually with probable cause, for drug abuse.  Whether these organizations are testing for the use of recreational drugs, such as marijuana, or for the use of performance enhancing drugs, such as steroids or the human growth hormone, the underlying issue is whether this testing is a violation of the athletes' privacy rights.  Supporters of drug testing argue that drugs are against the law, they are unhealthy, they offer unfair advantages (whether a drug user performs below or above his/her potential), and they are against the rules of the game at hand and are therefore unsportsmanlike.  Those in opposition to drug testing say that one risking his health is a personal choice, that rules are made and whether one follows them is a personal choice, that we affect our bodies daily with drugs (even if it is caffeine or nicotine), and that what an athlete does in his spare time is his choice and should not be scrutinized.  Athletics is a highly organized institution in today's society--it is one that involves many people, standards, and rules.  It is not at all surprising then that an issue as serious as drug testing is facing such strong disagreement from each of its opposing sides.  Though it is unrealistic to expect everyone to eventually agree on this issue, hopefully a compromise can be reached that will satisfy the contending forces.  Below are a few examples illustrating this heated debate:

Performance-Enhancing Drugs, Fair Competition, and Olympic Sport (JAMA Abstracts-July 17, 1996) (http://www.ama-assn.org/sci-pubs/journals/archive/jama/vol_276/no_3/sc6150a.htm)
Drug control has become an important part of the Olympic games, and included in this article are different methods of drug testing, testing during training, at preliminary competitions, and at the Olympic games, and ethical issues involving performance-enhancing drugs.

Olympic Countdown Volume #14:  Drug Testing and the Olympics (http://www.dfat.gov.au/olympic/olympic_count14.html)
One of the biggest problems in organizing the Olympic competition is ensuring that none of the athletes are benefited from performance-enhancing drugs, and so "doping control" is an integral part of this world event.

Drug Testing for IAAF  (http://euler.ntu.ac.uk/international/drugcont.html)
Drug abuse and other such violations in sport have significant penalties and media attention to those found to be guilty.

Drug Testing and the High School Athlete
(http://www.sddt.com/files/library/96headlines/05_96/DN96_05_29/DN96_05_29_06.html)
There is increasing drug use, both recreational and performance enhancing, among high school athletes, and the Supreme Court ruled that testing for these drugs is not a violation of one's fourth amendment privacy rights.

Vernonia Boy Loses Appeal on Drug Test  (http://www.pantless.com/~pdxnorml/O_Vernonia_appeal_052196.html)
A student's five-year fight to prevent his public school from mandatory drug testing ended with the Supreme Court rejecting the appeal.

Court Halts Drug Testing of Students (http://www.bergen.com/ed/test9708271.htm)
A judge in Bergen County, New Jersey, stopped a local high school from testing for drugs among student athletes.

WSF Position: Institutionalized Drug Use (http://www.lifetimetv.com/WoSport/TOPICS/SUBABUSE/intdrug.htm)
The Women's Sports Foundation goes on record stating its opposition to all performance enhancing drugs.

P.E. 410--Sports and Society  (http://home.cord.edu/dept/sports/41011dru.htm)
Concordia Administration debates proposals for drug testing and severe punishments among Cobber Athletes.
 

 Return to class readings page:  Kinesiology 493: Philosophy of Kinesiology