Introduction

The use of performance-enhancing substances within the sporting context is a very longstanding phenomenon. It should be noted that the increase in the use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport from the 1960s paralleled a similar increase in the use of 'recreational' drugs in the wider society in most Western countries in the same period. Experts in social policy and in sports management have sought to examine critically key questions relating to the effectiveness of anti-doping policy. Some scholars have argued quite simply that the continued widespread use of drugs indicates that anti-doping policy is ‘ineffective and inappropriate’. As many Western governments introduced new legislation to try to control drug use within the wider society, so sporting bodies introduced drug testing in a number of sports from the 1960s, with the first compulsory Olympic drug testing taking place at the Winter Olympic Games at Grenoble in 1968. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.