What to do about drugs in sport

And now for a post full of lists...... The issue of performance enhancement in sport is complicated, but people are constantly blending together two separate issues, so lets separate them: What are the ethical and purely practical issues about whether drugs in sport should be policed at all? What do you do with people who, according to the rules as they are currently stated, cheat? Lets tackle the second one first. In sport there are rules, and there are clear consequences for breaking the rules. Unfortunately human nature means we can assume that: people will push the rules to the very edge of what is allowed then people will push past what is allowed if someone pushed past and wasn't reprimanded (caught AND appropriately punished), they will push further Therefore, if there are rules, they need to be enforced in order to (this is the important part) protect the innocent. That is, protect those who choose to follow the rules of competition. Much is made