Performance enhancers can be defined as "narcotic, hallucinogen, or stimulant that increases talent and quality of play". Amateur sport is defined as "any event played part time, especially unpaid or paid very little to perform". And drug can be defined as "a narcotic, stimulant, or hallucinogen" (OED, 2000). Performance enhancing drugs were synthesized in 1887 and were initially commercially available for over-the-counter use as a nasal decongestant. During World War II, these drugs were used as a means of delaying the onset of fatigue and increasing alertness in soldiers. These substances have all the effects needed to enhance performance and are now used in sports. Every year, hundreds of our future athletes perish due to one major issue – drug use. Drug use is the number one abuse in athletics to this very date. How is it possible for our society to stop such a growing trend? The rules and regulations governing the use of drugs in amateur sport are ineffective. The ease of getting the drugs as well as the offset of punishment and danger (involved in using them) by large financial endorsements is a key factor. In addition the laws are too complicated, the testing process is flawed, and the punishments are too weak and vague. All of these factors lead to the steady and heavy use of performance enhancers in amateur sporting events.
             In our modern society, prescription and non-prescription drugs are both easily accessible and readily available. Laws written by an organization cannot stop this, and are therefore futile. This provides the athlete with a means. He/she – through no fault of anyone – can obtain drugs to use in sport with the same amount of effort that it takes to buy bread at his or her local convenience store. This poses a problem for the athletes and as a result there is often confusion and chaos over what is acceptable and what is not. The International Olympic Committe...