Substances and attitudes

Sport activities improve quality of life, physically and psychosocially.

Highly competitive sports, expectations, fear of failure, the desire for success, these are some of the reasons to consume drugs during sports.

These are the drugs forbidden by the International Olympic Committee (IOC): stimulants, narcotics, beta blockers, diuretics, peptide hormones and their derivatives.

Also, blood doping is forbidden, as well as, pharmacological, physical or chemical manipulation of the urine.

Other drugs, such as alcohol, marijuana, cannabis, local anesthetics and corticosteroids, are not forbidden, but restricted.

Some federations have their own lists of forbidden substances.

Cocaine, crack and heroin in sport

Cocaine is a powerful Central Nervous System stimulant, responsible for the death of some professional and university sportsmen. The dangerous effects of cocaine are the reason for its prohibition.

Snorted or smoked as crack, cocaine takes a toll on our Nervous, Respiratory and Circulatory Systems. Its ongoing use provokes addiction, dependency, anxiety and psychotic disorders.

Crack is a form of cocaine that produces a strong addiction and its effects are felt in few seconds, followed by a devastating descent. It's as damaging as cocaine, but its action is faster and more intense, so it can produce pulmonary disorders, bad nutrition and psychological disorders.

Heroin, as well as, morphine and codeine, belongs to the opiates category. These last two types of drug, which have medical uses to relieve pain, are different from heroin in that they can be legally prescribed by doctors. Heroin is highly addictive and dangerous. Its short-term effects can cause insomnia, nausea, nasal drip, irritability, tremors, loss of appetite and vomiting; as well as, the increase of the cardiac frequency and arterial pressure, pains, muscular spasms and psychopathologic disorders.

The TAVAD philosophy about drug use in sports

All sports significantly increase the production of "Endogen Opiates" (Endorphins) and what we perceive as well-being. Unfortunately, for elite sportsmen, the excessive production of endorphins can produce the need for the feeling of well-being outside the competition area. That need can lead to drug use in order to experience similar sensations of well-being more frequently.