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aim of this study was to gather information into the principal methods
and means employed to supply adolescents with doping agents and others
substances used to improve their sporting performance. We conducted
a nation wide study in France among adolescent athletes, using a self-completed
questionnaire. Exploitable questionnaires (n = 6402) were returned,
corresponding to 48.9% for the girls and 51.1% for the boys, both
aged on average from 16.1 ± 2.2 years. These adolescents practise
on average 10.0 ± 5.2 hours of sport per week. 21.9% participate on
a national or international competition level. Of our respondents,
4.0% (95% confidence interval: 3.5% - 4.5%) say they have been enticed
into using products which are prohibited for athletes. 10.3% of the
adolescents say that they have received substances to improve their
performance at least once from an average of two different people.
It was mostly a friend, their parents and the family doctor. On average,
in 33.2% of the cases, the adolescent received the product without
asking for it, and in nearly half the cases (46.6%), the adolescent
paid for the product. We feel that it is necessary to better understand
the ways in which this black market functions: for example; the initial
sources of the products sold, the number and the 'profiles' of the
dealers, the general organisation of the market and the sums of money
involved.
KEY
WORDS: Doping in sport, adolescents, enticement, black market.
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