Performance Enhancing Drugs + Starcraft?

I was browsing TL earlier today as I was procrastinating from doing some school work when I had a thought about Adderall and other ADHD drugs in Starcraft - I'm currently writing a research paper for my community psychology class focusing on prescription drug abuse. As I was looking at statistics of college students using drugs like Adderall that were not subscribed to them and I thought, "Man, I'm sure there are some Starcraft players out there who take Adderall to help them play all the time." I didn't see anything about drug testing being incorporated into any Starcraft events, and I almost made a post with a poll about it in the SC2 forums, but I found some slightly similar threads had been made so I didn't.

Then I saw this thread, started not a couple hours later:
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Which is about performance enhancing drugs in Starcraft, specifically Adderall.

I'm strongly against anyone using Adderall unless they need and were prescribed it, and when I last checked 80% of the poll voters agreed with me. But 20% that don't is a pretty significant percentage. I read through some comments and many people question how you could go about testing for Adderall and whatnot, some people saying they should do it at all costs, some saying that they should let it happen and enjoy the better games created by it.

But just think, we're still diving into the pharmaceutical age head first. It's relatively new, just like the drugs we've created so far. New better and more efficient psychostimulants are going to be created soon and will replace Adderall and drugs like it as the go-to drug when you need to study, write a paper, or play in a video game tournament. You can't say that Adderall is the last drug a gaming community is going to have to worry about. Stronger, more efficient drugs will become all the rage if they aren't forbidden for use. And that has to happen right now.

That's why I say that we have to regulate professional gaming now, beginning with psychostimulants being forbidden to use during any professional events, unless the player can prove that he has a psychological condition that the drugs are combating. Yes, there are problems with that statement. Clearly some players may actually have ADHD and would need a drug to level the playing field - hopefully the rule would account for that. And sure, players could also pay some loose doctor or psychiatrist to get a prescription. But it's a start. We can't allow the drugs of the future to ruin esports, so we have to take a stand now.

Something about using Adderall and drugs like it just bugs me. Perhaps it's the aura of Starcraft that entices me to become fans of the players so much - they're just regular people. When I see an interview like this one with TLO,
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I just love it. I love that when we turn away from the tournament game live streams we just see normal people sitting there behind computer screens. I love that the interviews are done wherever they can be and in no professional setting. I love that you watch Idra's NASL application video and see it is clearly just shot on his webcam in his tiny, typical room. It makes the stars much more personable and likable. It makes you, the fan, feel more important to the health of the game.

It would be great if esports got huge and these little things began to go away, but the sport of Starcraft needs to stay as pure as it is. Regular people practicing as hard as they can to achieve their goals - not regular people practicing as hard as they can and then popping pills to achieve their goals. I'm a purist, I suppose. But that's the way it should be. Plus, if esports does get big, we wouldn't want the public thinking "that sport is just a bunch of people hopped up on drugs." That wouldn't help esports in the slightest.

What do you think? Should we allow Adderall in esports? What about drugs in the future? What about other drugs? If someone could come with a better plan than mine, I'd love to hear it.

Last edit: 2011-04-07 09:42:09

Br3ezy United States. April 07 2011 06:50. Posts 720

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uh what about steroids?

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wrags United States. April 07 2011 07:12. Posts 377

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if adderall were going to have any effect on anything then it would have already. unless the players who are already winning tournaments or placing consistantly high are taking it now, i highly doubt it will mean anything but a few ladder wins in exchange for feeling cracked out for a few hours

EsX_Raptor United States. April 07 2011 07:46. Posts 2682

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lol

There is no way in hell I'd let my SC2 skills depend on a drug.

surfinbird1 Germany. April 07 2011 09:05. Posts 999

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I strongly agree with you that performance enhancing drugs shouldn't be allowed. Not in Starcraft, nor in any other sport. But a big problem of esports is that a lot of tournaments are held online. At a lan or offline event a la MLG one could certainly test for drugs but how are you gonna control all the online cups where players play from their own home?

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Docta Spaceman United States. April 07 2011 09:41. Posts 74

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On April 07 2011 09:05 surfinbird1 wrote:
I strongly agree with you that performance enhancing drugs shouldn't be allowed. Not in Starcraft, nor in any other sport. But a big problem of esports is that a lot of tournaments are held online. At a lan or offline event a la MLG one could certainly test for drugs but how are you gonna control all the online cups where players play from their own home?

Well, I don't really know. I would imagine drug testing at certain events and not others is better than no drug testing, isn't it? What else could be done?

BLinD-RawR India. April 07 2011 12:33. Posts 24596

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Natural Nerd Enhancement.......

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bobman15 United Kingdom. April 07 2011 13:06. Posts 2

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With how easy it is to fake an ADHD test, I would say that if it actually helped people would actively take it. I've been on Adderallxr(20mg, previously 30), and previously Concerta(27mg) and though they greatly increase your focus, it seems it reduces my multi-tasking ability also. I easily notice my reactions slower than usual, and I feel that the increase in focus doesn't make up for the slower reactions.

Also, when I first started taking the drugs a few years ago, I remember I had to actively change my life style to be able to continually take the drug. My eating habits changed almost over night, and my ability to exercise seemed stunted while under the medications. Before I was switched to a lower dose I would experience Hallucinations at times and mild panic attacks. Because of my history with the drugs I defiantly wouldn't take them if I was able to attain long periods of focus on my own.

There is also the risk of dependency, withdraw and the fact that if you continually you will eventually build a tolerance to the currant dosage and need to increase to maintain the effects. I know many people who have doubled their dosage because they wanted a longer lasting effect, and after a while decided to switch back to their prescribed dosage and they no longer notice the medicine is working. I really feel that the risk is greater than the means. The perception that Adderall and other ADHD medications makes you a super human is great exaggerated.

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Docta Spaceman United States. April 08 2011 01:13. Posts 74

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On April 07 2011 13:06 bobman15 wrote:
With how easy it is to fake an ADHD test, I would say that if it actually helped people would actively take it. I've been on Adderallxr(20mg, previously 30), and previously Concerta(27mg) and though they greatly increase your focus, it seems it reduces my multi-tasking ability also. I easily notice my reactions slower than usual, and I feel that the increase in focus doesn't make up for the slower reactions.

Also, when I first started taking the drugs a few years ago, I remember I had to actively change my life style to be able to continually take the drug. My eating habits changed almost over night, and my ability to exercise seemed stunted while under the medications. Before I was switched to a lower dose I would experience Hallucinations at times and mild panic attacks. Because of my history with the drugs I defiantly wouldn't take them if I was able to attain long periods of focus on my own.

There is also the risk of dependency, withdraw and the fact that if you continually you will eventually build a tolerance to the currant dosage and need to increase to maintain the effects. I know many people who have doubled their dosage because they wanted a longer lasting effect, and after a while decided to switch back to their prescribed dosage and they no longer notice the medicine is working. I really feel that the risk is greater than the means. The perception that Adderall and other ADHD medications makes you a super human is great exaggerated.

Looks like you just didn't have the right dosage at first. Psychostimulants are going to work a little bit differently for everyone as no one's brain chemistry is exactly the same. I imagine there's a lot of people that would have nothing but extremely positive effects from taking those drugs.

Also, it could be argued that taking Adderall gives you an advantage over other players in practice time - you're able to play at the best of your ability for longer periods of time than someone not taking a stimulant, and thus you're better off when a tournament comes around. But that's something that couldn't possibly be regulated.....

Last edit: 2011-04-08 01:14:01

Kashll United States. April 08 2011 01:17. Posts 930

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Obviously it shouldn't be allowed.

That said I doubt it would actually be that helpful. If you practiced all the time on adderall you'd be too cracked out to even be an intelligent person.

If you didn't practice on aderall then match conditions would be way too different and you'd lose for that reason.

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