Adolescents sportifs, offre et demande de substances pour ameliorer la performance Adolescent athletes and the demand and supply of drugs to improve their performance

摘要

Introduction.-Little is known about the main methods and means employed to supply adolescents with doping agents and others substances used to improve their sporting performance.Main facts.-A study in France among all the adolescent of the 'Union nationale du sport scolaire', using a self-completed questionnaire, furnished 6402 exploitable questionnaires, 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% said they had been enticed into using products, which are prohibited for athletes. 10.3% of the adolescents stated that they had 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. In nearly half the cases (46.6%), the adolescent paid for the product.Conclusion.-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