Drugs in sport--results of the past 6 years of dope testing in South Africa.

Screening procedures were performed on 2,066 urine specimens collected from competitors in 17 different sports during the period 1986-1991. Samples were tested by gas chromatography and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry for the presence of stimulants, narcotics and anabolic steroids. Drugs classified as forbidden substances by the International Olympic Committee were detected in 113 (5.5%) of the samples. Nineteen-nortestosterone and fencamfamine were the anabolic steroid and stimulant most frequently detected. The ephedrines as a group accounted for 35 (31.0%) of the positive samples. This high incidence of the use of banned substances indicates that the dope testing programme to curb use of banned substances by competitors in sport should continue and be expanded to other sports.