Bird, Edward J.,and Gert G. Wagner. "Sport as a Common Property Resource: A Solution to the Dilemmas of Doping." The Journal of Conflict Resolution 41.6 (1997): 749-66. Sports administrators should adopt new rules to confront athletes with incentives counter to virtuous behavior. Since new cases of doping are discovered every day, the underlying benefits for athletes who use performance-enhancing drugs outweigh any disincentives the current rules provide. Anti-doping norms need to be created using top athletes to legitimize the anti-doping system for other athletes. Sport governing bodies must move from central regulation to decentralized self-monitoring so substantial consideration can be given to the health and welfare of athletes. The issues presented here deal with creating anti-doping norms to control drug use in sports. It proposes collegial monitoring and a drug diary system to discourage secret drug use and place social pressures on athletes who participate in improper drug use. The methods above offer an alternative to ineffective doping regulations that create more laws and costly tests and do not deter athletes.

Kalinski, Michael I. "State-Sponsored Research on Creatine Supplements and Blood Doping in Elite Soviet Sport." Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 46.3 (2003): 445-51. The focus of this discussion was that further open publication of sport biochemistry research may help prevent doping abuse. During the Cold War, exercise biochemistry and physiology were kept secret between the two superpowers, America and the USSR. In the Soviet Union, sports institutions were created for the sole purpose of developing health and fitness programs for Olympic athletes. Their research included blood doping and creatine that was used by Soviet Olympic competitors in the 1970s and 1980s Olympic Games. They found creatine, which is an amino acid, could give sprinters a 1.7 percent performance increase in their fast-twitch white muscle fibers. Blood doping, which is a transfusion of red blood cells, could increase oxygen in the blood stream and prove to be beneficial for endurance athletes. This research offers a look into non-traditional performance-enhancing procedures other than the traditional designer drugs such as steroids.

Kindlundh, Anna M. S., et al. "Adolescent Use of Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids and Relations to Self-Reports of Social, Personality and Health Aspects." European Journal of Public Health 11.3 (2001): 322-28. The risk profile of anabolic-androgenic steroids use is not understood well and must be analyzed to determine the importance of social, personality, and health factors among its users. In this study, personality was evaluated and it was determined that athletes with low self-esteem had a greater desire to improve appearance with steroid use. Proven with the stress-coping model, low social, behavioral and academic competencies are related to drug use. The use of prescription drugs such as tranquillizers and sedatives used to treat mental problems served as a predictor for other drugs including anabolic-androgenic steroids. The research is narrow in its focus on performance-enhancing drugs other than steroids, but is useful in showing the relationship between personality and steroid use.

Kindlundh, Anna M. S., et al. "Factors Associated with Adolescent Use of Doping Agents: Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids." Addiction 94.4 (1999): 543-53. This study is focused on the growing use of doping agents among adolescents. It determined that students who used psychotropic substances, tobacco, and alcohol run a higher risk of using performance-enhancing drugs such as anabolic-androgenic steroids. A total of 2742 students were studied in this analysis. They were subdivided based on their activity in sports and their reasons for use. The results indicate that most students who used other drugs, and lived alone, were more likely to use agents to enhance sports performance. The scope of research was limited to the relationship between socio-economic status and substance use as precursors to doping.

Kohler, R.M.N., and M.I. Lambert. "Urine Nandrolone Metabolites: False Positive Doping Test?" British Journal of Sports Medicine 36.5 (2002): 325-29. Doping tests for illegal steroids such as 19-nortestosterone, also called nandrolone, can be unreliable due to several factors. The International Olympic Committee establishes a doping offense for nandrolone as human urine exceeding 2 ng/ml in men and 5 ng/ml in women. Studies state that it is possible for athletes to exceed this limit without ever having ingested or injected nandrolone. Athletes may have excessive nandrolone in their urine due to several factors that prove the test may be unreliable. These factors include; excessive exercise, genetics, trauma and hypoglycaemic stress. This article shows a need for a new testing system to be designed to replace the antiquated gas chromatography-mass spectrometry system in existence today. A test is needed that will provide a better analysis of whether an athlete is doping to gain an advantage.

Lipsyte, Robert. "Athletes Have the Right to Accept the Risks and Benefits of Performance-Enhancing Drugs." Drugs and Sports. William Dudley, ed. San Diego: Greenhaven P, 2001. 59-61. Athletes have the right to accept the risk and rewards associated with performance-enhancing drugs. They should not be held to a higher standard than society when they use chemical means to enhance their performance. Drug testing is unfair and moreover results in a battle between those who manage and profit from sports and the athletes who use drugs. New drugs are being manufactured every day that are too new to be detected. Athletes continue to use them while management gives the public the appearance that everything is under control. The result is an expensive waste of time and money on something that should be made public and legalized like Prozac and Viagra. This article suggests a different perspective on drug use by athletes.

Mehlman, Maxwell J. "What's Wrong with Using Drugs in Sports? Nothing." USA Today. 11 Aug. 2004. 14 Oct. 2004 <http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2004-08-11-mehlman_x.htm>. There is nothing wrong with athletes who take drugs for sports improvement. Drugs are no different than the new technology that is being placed in athletes hands in the form of super sized tennis racquets and TechZilla bats. The use of drugs is not unfair if only some athletes can get them. It is no different than the few athletes who can acquire the best coaches and training facilities. The only reason people justify the policy against drugs in sports is because it offends their aesthetic sensibilities. When peoples taste change so will their view on rules against the drugs used by athletes. This material was helpful in offering a rebuttal to the argument that performance-enhancing drugs in sports ruin the fairness and integrity of competition.

Perko, Mike, et al. "Giving New Meaning to the Term 'Taking One for the Team': Influences on the Use/Non-Use of Dietary Supplements among Adolescent Athletes." American Journal of Health Studies 16.2 (2000): 99-106. This article attempts to understand and predict human behavior regarding adolescent athletes and their use of dietary supplements. It assesses the influences, intentions, beliefs, and attitudes among young adult athletes and their will for dominance in sports. A sample of 1737 student athletes ranging from 14 to 19 years of age was studied using three guidelines: attitude towards the behavior, subjective norms, and behavioral intention. This criteria weighed attitudes and norms on the decision making process. It concluded that the attitudes toward the use of dietary supplements show a lack of knowledge about the safety of supplements and whether or not they work. This research was one of the first studies to use theory as a framework to determine what motivates adolescent athletes to use dietary supplements. It offers a different approach by evaluating young athletes intentions based on norms and behavior.

Powers, Michael E. "The Safety and Efficacy of Anabolic Steroid Precursors: What is the Scientific Evidence?" Journal of Athletic Training 37.3 (2002): 300-05. Athletes are using nutritional supplements marketed as natural testosterone enhancers to improve performance. These steroid precursors are advertised to increase endogenous testosterone production and protein synthesis but have little scientific support and may cause serious side effects. Most scientific data does not support the manufacture's claims of increased strength and lean body mass. The risks associated with anabolic steroid precursors, such as heart disease and increased estrogen production in men, outweigh any muscle gain and strength benefits. The issues covered provide an insightful look into the deceptive practices of supplement manufactures and the risks associated with these over the counter drugs.

Yesalis, Charles E., Stephen P. Courson, and James E. Wright. "History of Anabolic Steroid Use in Sport and Exercise." Anabolic Steroids in Sport and Exercise. Charles E. Yesalis, ed. Champaign: Human Kinetics, 2000. 51-71. The use of performance-enhancing drugs among athletes today is most likely the greatest problem facing sports. Anabolic steroids were first reportedly used in the National Football League in the 1960s. It was introduced to the San Diego Chargers players as pills by their strength coach. From there it evolved through the years as an acceptable way to compete in a league that values strength and power. Testimonies from former players such as Indianapolis linebacker Johnny Cookes validates these claims by saying the worst problem in the NFL are steroids. Not only is steroids a problem, but the test themselves are as flawed as the coaches who administer them. Although the material mostly concerns sports history, it provides key insight into the way professional athletes cope with drug use and test.

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