A recent study from The University of Queensland鈥檚 (国产探花CCR) delivers some of the first empirical data about public attitudes towards performance enhancing drugs.
Dr Brad Partridge and colleagues surveyed 1265 Australians (aged 18+) via the Queensland Social Survey, about their attitudes toward performance enhancing drugs (PED鈥檚).
The findings showed that 85.8 percent of participants found it unacceptable for healthy people without a diagnosed disorder to use prescription drugs to enhance their concentration or alertness.
In addition, 93 percent of participants disagreed that people who play professional sport should be allowed to use PED鈥檚 if they wanted.
Dr Partridge said one of the most interesting findings of the study was that so many people were against professional athletes taking PED鈥檚, even if the rules would allow them to do so.
鈥淒oping is punished because it鈥檚 against the rules, but what if the prohibition on doping was relaxed and athletes could use PED鈥檚 if they wanted to? Our study suggests that members of the public see doping in sport as completely unacceptable and changing the rules to allow the use of PED鈥檚 wouldn鈥檛 make it any more acceptable in their eyes," Dr Partridge said.
There have been suggestions that prescription stimulants such as Ritalin and Adderall are used by some university students as 鈥渟mart drugs鈥� to help them study or increase normal attention span.
As with doping in sport, the safety of using drugs this way is uncertain and some worry that it amounts to cheating.
鈥淎lthough most people disapproved of using prescription medication for cognitive enhancement, some people are enthusiastic about the idea of enhancement,鈥� Dr Partridge said.
鈥淭hose who thought cognitive enhancement was acceptable were nearly ten times more likely to think athletes should be allowed to engage in doping if they wanted to," he said.
Media: Shannah O鈥橞rien, 国产探花CCR, 07 3346 6041 or s.obrien13@uq.edu.au
