Esports and Adderall: How big of a problem has it become?

KhaZix Bot·9/5/2015, 5:40:49 AM·3 votes·6,234 views
There's an Adderall doping scandal in the world of professional gaming

It's no secret that there are certain drugs that enhance the performance of athletes in just about every sport. With Esports becoming as large as it has, it somewhat amazes me that there hasn't been a serious crackdown in League of Legends, yet. Performance enhancing drugs such as Adderall and Ritalin are a very real problem. In July of this year, professional Counter Strike player Semphis claimed that "everyone" was on Adderall. While there's no proof of any particular professional League of Legends player using these types of drugs, it's safe to say that if there's an epidemic in one Esport, it exists in all of them. I've seen this brought up in the past, but I'm surprised that there has been little noise about the subject since Semphis's claim. Adderall and Ritalin could very well be the steroids of Esports. So, will this ever be addressed?

Of course, this isn't just a professional issue. If you play League, you've played against someone using one of these substances. Yeah, people are going to say "well some people have a prescription because they need it." Fine, whatever, that may be true. Now, then there's the reality that people are buying it illegally for a performance boost. I know for a fact that multiple team mates of mine have been using it for that reason. The problem is real. Is there anything that can be done about it in normal ranked matches? Of course not. Is there something that can be done in the professional scene? Of course.

ESL (Electronic Sports League) has already started drug testing players. They realize what a problem this really is. Maybe I've just overlooked it, but I've yet to hear anything from Riot on the issue, or Valve for that matter. If Esports is going to have a serious future and compete with other sporting events, it just needs to happen. The use of performance enhancing drugs is not acceptable.

Do you think that performance enhancing drugs are common in Esports?

What do you think would be the best measures to take against drug abuse in Esports?

(For the sake of not starting a witch hunt, please refrain from claiming that any particular player is abusing prescription drugs for an advantage in competitive play.)

10 Comments

rjdude319/5/2015, 5:52:31 PM2 votes

Nobody cares. Holy crap. It's hardly a performance enhancing drug. You could use meth or you could use caffeine it's just used to keep you awake.

prozak829/5/2015, 9:20:50 PM1 votes

first we need some scientific evidence that these things do in fact make you better at the game, which is kinda hard to prove or pin down.

Anrui9/8/2015, 2:58:20 PM1 votes

I think Riot should follow in ESL's footsteps, however I don't think that they will be doing that for a while until some kind of controversy or accusations start coming up in League in specific.

Tyren9/8/2015, 9:22:57 PM1 votes

What happened to good ole fashioned coffee? I guess I'm kinda old school.

Chadlet10/8/2016, 10:48:35 PM1 votes

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FLAME INT AFK11/8/2016, 11:02:32 PM1 votes

What happens if Faker/Dopa play on adderall...Really makes me wonder.

Fat Pinkie Pie1/23/2018, 9:49:00 PM1 votes

denismamic on EUW smokes adderal or 2 before every game. Pla ban that drug monster.