Intake of steroids by surfers

Anabolic steroids are taken by surfers too. Sport governing body claims that controlled medicines are an essential problem in this sport. That’s why the Association of Surfing Professionals made a decision to implicate testing for anabolic steroids and other forbidden medicines that are used for increase of performance.
The Association of Surfing Professionals led certain discussions with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). They asked how they could introduce testing for forbidden medications into surfing. Since anti-doping program of the WADA is considered to be the best policy, the surfing organization desires to apply this protocol. It goes without saying that this is the next victory of the WADA which promotes the possibility to control anti-doping programs in sports.
Everyone knows that surfing is a competitive sport. So, strength, speed and endurance are main abilities which promote winning. So, surfers could be convinced that administration of anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs induces success greatly. It is also important to take in consideration that amount of money which is got by winners is large. Winners obtain no less than 100, 000 dollars. Desire to get money could lead surfers to decision to administrate anabolic steroids.
Nonetheless, it is said that usage of anabolic steroids and other products that have performance-enhancing effects is not widespread in surfing. Many persons think that intake of recreational drugs is more widespread among surfers than administration of steroids. Sport of 1970s and 1980s was oftan associated with marijuana and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Current facts justify this impression. The number of surfers that are caught using marijuana, methamphetamine and cocaine is quite high.
The professional surfer Andi Irons died in November 2010. A heart attack that he had was caused by drug abuse. It was defined that steroids hadn’t been implicated in this fatal case. Traces of methamphetamine, cocaine and methadone metabolites were found in his body.
Another surfer, Peter Davi, died in December 2007. High levels of meth were also found in his system.
As for the professional surfer Anthony Ruffo, he was caught distributing meth.
Only Neco Padaratz, a professional surfer from Brazil, was caught using steroids. He received a one-year ban. This person tested positive for forbidden medications in 2004. This person said that he had used these products to get a full recovery from back injuries. In spite of his defense, he was sentenced to a ban. He was the first person who was caught administrating steroids by the Association of Surfing Professionals. According to many sources, he remains to be the only surfer that has ever been caught by the ASP.
The ASP has already the primary budget for introduction of the WADA steroid program into surfing.
Although it is unlikely that steroids represent a problem in surfing, the new anti-doping program can create a wrong public impression.