Annotated Bibliography – Performance Enhancement Drug Testing

This article qualifies in the analysis because it provides a statistical perspective of the effect of doping with a specific attention on the effects for the individuals between 14 and 17 years and informing the reader that more than half a million young people of these ages use the drugs on a regular basis. The article acknowledges that it is difficult for an athlete to test positive because of the ever increasing ways of doping leaving the essential question as to why the testers even bother. The answer to why bother is the future in the form of the children to whom the behavior of doping has a devastating outcome especially because their bodies are still developing. As the article reiterates, the young people can develop a myriad of health issues including stunted growth, hypertension, high cholesterol, development of cancer, higher risk of diabetes, and even a shortened life span. 

The authors provide an interesting reason as to why it is crucial to have athletes tested for performance enhancement drugs making it a must-have for the analysis as it looks at the relationship between doping and future generations. The article reiterates that professional athletes are often viewed as mentors to the young children who end up copying all that they do both in the pitch and in their personal lives leading to mimicking of the poor drug abuse behaviors. The authors also explore the increasing difficulty of an athlete testing positive as well as an ever sophisticated distribution networks leading to a spread of the doping behavior from the athletic individuals to non-athletic ones. The article suggests that the only way to curb this behavior is the utilization of education programs as well as any other prevention methods like controlling media content to ensure that drugs are not plastered in a sexy or cool way that would encourage them to engage in abuse.     

The importance of this article is rooted on its ability to form a crucial base with respect to the behavior of doping as it starts with a historical analysis of the same and then explains the effects in addition to the roles played by different anti-doping organizations such as ensuring fair play. While the article explains different effects resulting from diverse doping substances, it also explains why it is incredibly difficult to detect doping not only because there are new doping substances but also because the testers need to know which specific substances to test for allowing the new ones to remain undetected for long. However, the authors expound on the reason for continued used even after positive flag where most individuals are allowed to continue playing implying that there are no strict consequences for those caught. The article then recommends the usage of motivational interviewing, pharmacologic interventions, preventive measures, and education in the fight against doping.