-
Oh, and this:
The real good drugs aren't banned, because they're not known about
is by definition not the case. Category S.0. says
"Any pharmacological substance which is not addressed by any of the subsequent sections of the List and with no current approval by any governmental regulatory health authority for human therapeutic use (e.g. drugs under pre-clinical or clinical development or discontinued, designer drugs, substances approved only for veterinary use) is prohibited at all times"
so if it's "not known about", it's banned by default. It might not be detected because it's not known about, but that's a separate issue.
gbj_tester-
if it's "not known about", it's banned by default. It might not be detected
That was the logic behind BALCO. Conte provided solutions to enable athletes to use banned substances in a manner that would be undetected. His hits were "the cream" (testosterone) and "the clear" (THG, a anabolic steroid variant) but he also provided EPO. Once tests emerged for THG things fell apart.
Using drugs not on the radar but clearly forbidden or in manners to avoid their detection (Conte's "cycle method") ónly can pospone the date of detection. Using substances or training techniques that are allowed in manners to improve performance and get a edge over the competition is clearly the "holly grail" of "sports medicine". When Anquetil used blood transfusions as a form of blood doping it was not forbiiden. Nor was it forbidden when Ed "Success through Science" Burke used blood transfusions on the US Team. The border between highly dubious and high risk methods and "training" are not always clear-- even without any use of drugs a number of heart anomalies is not uncommon to elite athletes (drugs, of course, tend to exacerbate problems) . EPO was banned already in the early 1990s-- before it even caught on the Peleton-- but first tests did not emerge until 2000. Despite the death of Oosterbosch, Draaijer and a number of other Dutch cyclists due to EPO use did not even start to be really widespread until "after" the ban. Interestingly sometimes atheletes are doped with substances that are performance disenhancing.
EdwardZ
Everyone (rich people) are on everything that isn't on wadas list, and more.
Don't think (IMO) many people are taking stuff on wada banned list, only poor people and idiots.
The meldonium scandals proved that.
The real good drugs aren't banned, because they're not known about or so expensive.