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Do you think Riot should start drug testing competitive players?

WhoSoup·10/23/2014, 11:12:36 AM·3 votes·1,540 views

Hey all, this is probably going to be a pretty controversial topic, so I'm gonna stat out by saying that I am not accusing anyone of actually doping.

Why would someone cheat? League has become very high profile in recent history, possibly being more popular than traditional sports ( http://qz.com/195098/last-year-71-million-people-watched-other-people-play-video-games/ ). In addition there are millions of dollars of prize money, exposure and fame attached to competitive league. In that kind of environment there are always people looking for an edge. Even in the season 2 finals several teams were fined for cheating (through means other than substance abuse), and most people will probably remember the big tour de france / lance armstrong doping scandal.

I am sure that there are teams, managers or organizations out there that would be ruthless enough to abuse the system.

** How would someone cheat? **

That's a much more interesting question. There are various beta blockers that would help players deal with the immense stress and pressure they are under on the stage. Beta blockers are, for example, banned by the IOC. And there are various amphetamines (ie Adderall) that can help players with concentration, focus and energy to play for several hours (much longer than most other athletes or players are competing).

I'm not particularly knowledgeable in this area, and these are the two biggest obvious examples I could think of, but someone here might know way more than I do.

I really think Riot, who are working very hard to make Esports legitimate, should consider this and take measure to ensure that Esports remains competitive and fair to all teams.

21 Comments

chuybakka10/24/2014, 6:58:07 AM3 votes

By banning beta blockers and certain amphetamines you are eliminating legitimate medicine from the players. Just like how you can't really ban all pain meds for other sports it would be the same here. But for the most part drug tests are there to eliminate the unfair advantage given by a specific drug and unless a player can be proven to be taken a certain med only for the benefits you can't really say ban it all.

Some of these drugs are prescribed by the players doctors. Would you also ban any sort of medicine meant for mental health? Or how about pain meds the hand cramps that are bound to happen after playing for elongated periods?

Austin Covello10/25/2014, 9:35:18 PM2 votes

They should just ban energy drinks and mountain dew. :P

Juniorlokey10/23/2014, 1:19:32 PM2 votes

I think they should leave the players alone, I can't even amount the stress a lot of players already have to deal with, they're literally fighting for their job. The last thing riot should do is test their integrity. Besides I think players should be able to smoke marijuana to relax.

PoisonedPeace10/23/2014, 11:43:18 AM2 votes

Drug testing....These are a bunch of teenage/early 20's boys. I would be willing to bet 98% of NA league players use some sort of recreational drug.

I know OP mentioned performance enhancers, but most sports that ban ped's also ban recreationals.

Fooler10/25/2014, 3:51:53 PM1 votes

darien plz

prozak8210/28/2014, 9:49:02 PM1 votes

first wed need to determine if any drugs actually help you win games easier or if it's just speculation. mental performance is harder to quantify than physical performance

CLG Factor10/30/2014, 4:59:01 AM1 votes

If there are meds that can make someone good at league i will be surprised