Why Organized Crime Should Not Be Used to Shape Anti-Doping Policy

Traditionally viewed as a problem in sport and one for sporting officials to tackle, performance and image-enhancing drugs are now been reported as a threat to public health and a criminal justice issue.

World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Director General David Howman (R) and WADA President Craig Reedie (L) attend a press conference in the second International Conference on the Pharmaceutical Industry and the Fight Against Doping in Tokyo on Jan. 28, 2015. Toshifumi Kitamura/AFP/Getty Images

The use of performance and image enhancing drugs has traditionally been viewed as a problem in sports and one for sporting officials to tackle. As a result, methods to combat doping have predominately focused on testing and surveillance in sports. However, more recently the use of performance and image enhancing drugs (PIEDs) has been reported as a wider social problem—a threat to public health and a criminal justice issue.

Traditionally viewed as a problem in sports and one for sporting officials to tackle, performance and image enhancing drugs have now been reported as a threat to public health and a criminal justice issue.