What performance enhancing drugs have been or are banned in the Olympics?
General Reference (not clearly pro or con)
[Editor's Note: The International Olympic Committee and the US Olympic Committee are among 625 sports organizations worldwide (as of Dec. 19, 2008) that have adopted the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) "Code" banning 192 performance enhancing substances and methods (147 KB) . Drugs are added and removed from this list by WADA annually.]
David R. Mottram, PhD, Professor of Pharmacy at Liverpool John Moores University, and Michele Verroken, MA, Founding Director of Sporting Integrity consultancy, in the chapter "Doping Control in Sport" of the 2005 book Doping in Sports, wrote:
"The IOC [International Olympic Committee] instituted its first compulsory doping controls at the Winter Olympic Games in Grenoble, France in 1968 and again at the Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City in the same year. At that time the list of banned substances issued in 1967 included narcotic analgesics and stimulants, which comprised sympathomimetic amines, psychomotor stimulants and miscellaneous central nervous system stimulants. Although it was suspected that androgenic anabolic steroids were being used at this time, testing methods were insufficiently developed to warrant the inclusion of anabolic steroids in the list of banned substances...
The IOC...added anabolic steroids to the list of banned substances in 1975...
Blood doping was added to the IOC list of banned substances and methods after the 1984 Olympic Games, contrary to their policy of not banning anything for which an unequivocal testing procedure was not available...
The IOC introduced the new doping class of 'Peptide Hormones and Analogues' in 1989, despite the non-existence of unequivocal tests for these agents. Currently, this class includes human growth hormone (hGH), human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) and adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH), including all releasing factors for these hormones. The list also includes erythropoietin (EPO)...
In March 1993, the IOC removed codeine from the list and permitted its use for therapeutic purposes. In September 1994, the IOC allowed two further narcotic analgesics, dihydrocodeine and dextromethorphan, for therapeutic use...
In January 2004 a number of OTC medicines (bupropion, caffeine, phenylephrine, phenylpropanolamine, pipradol, pseudoephedrine, synephrine) were removed from the prohibited list. However, they were placed on a monitoring programme in order to continue to detect patterns of their misuse in sport...
Two of the main groups of anti-asthma drugs are corticosteroids and ß2 -adrenoceptor agonists. Both groups of drugs are subject to WADA [World Anti-Doping Agency] doping control regulations. Indeed, the ß2 -adrenoceptor agonists are classed as both stimulants and as anabolic agents...The WADA regulations compound the problem for the athlete in that, in the case of the ß2 -adrenoceptor agonists, they are permitted subject to Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) approval, whilst certain drugs in this case (salbutamol, terbutaline, formoterol and salmeterol) are permitted for use by inhalation subject to an Abbreviated TUE...
In January 2001, the IOC, as part of its annual review of banned substances, changed the list of permitted ß2 -agonists by including formoterol as a permitted drug and by banning the previously permitted terbutaline. This led to confusion, as the change was introduced with little prior notice. Soon after, the IOC re-introduced terbutaline as a permitted drug."
The US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), in its website's "FAQ" page section on testing (accessed Nov. 5, 2008), stated:
"The WADA [World Anti-Doping Agency] Prohibited List identifies those prohibited substances and methods that are prohibited at all times (both in-competition and out-of-competition)...Generally, the substances and methods in the following categories - anabolic agents, hormones and related substances, beta-2 agonists, agents with anti-estrogenic activity, diuretics and other masking agents, enhancement of oxygen transfer, chemical and physical manipulation, and gene doping - are tested OOC [out-of-competition]. Over-the-counter dietary supplements may contain substances in these prohibited categories...
Generally, the IC [in-competition] testing menu includes all of the categories included in the OOC program plus stimulants, narcotics, marijuana, glucocorticosteroids and classes of prohibited substances in certain circumstances (i.e., alcohol and beta-blockers)."
The Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), in its "Equine Prohibited List" updated Nov. 17, 2006, applicable to the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, Beijing 2008, listed the following as prohibited substances:
"Agents, cocktails or mixtures of substances that may affect the performance of a horse; masking agents; substances with no generally accepted medical use in competition horses; substances which are usually products prescribed for use in humans or other species; agents used to hypersensitise or desensitise the limbs or body parts...
Agents which could influence performance by relieving pain, sedating, stimulating or producing/modifying other physiological or behavioural effects...
Substances that either have limited performance enhancing potential or to which horses may have been accidentally exposed, including certain dietary contaminants."
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), in its "The 2008 Prohibited List International Standard" published Sep. 22, 2007, applicable to the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, Beijing 2008, stated:
"S1. ANABOLIC AGENTS
Anabolic agents are prohibited.
1. Anabolic Androgenic Steroids (AAS)
a. Exogenous AAS...
b. Endogenous AAS...
2. Other Anabolic Agents, including but not limited to:
3. Gonadotrophins (e.g. LH, hCG), prohibited in males only;
4. Insulins;
5. Corticotrophins...
S3. BETA-2 AGONISTS
All beta-2 agonists including their D- and L-isomers are prohibited...
S4. HORMONE ANTAGONISTS AND MODULATORS...
S5. DIURETICS AND OTHER MASKING AGENTS...
M1. ENHANCEMENT OF OXYGEN TRANSFER
The following are prohibited:
1. Blood doping, including the use of autologous, homologous or heterologous blood or red blood cell products of any origin.
2. Artificially enhancing the uptake, transport or delivery of oxygen, including but not limited to perfluorochemicals, efaproxiral (RSR13) and modified haemoglobin products (e.g. haemoglobin-based blood substitutes, microencapsulated haemoglobin products)...
M3. GENE DOPING
The non-therapeutic use of cells, genes, genetic elements, or of the modulation of gene expression, having the capacity to enhance athletic performance, is prohibited...
S6. STIMULANTS All stimulants (including both their (D- & L-) optical isomers where relevant) are prohibited, except imidazole derivatives for topical use and those stimulants included in the 2008 Monitoring Program."
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