National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - News and Features

September 15, 1997

Survey shows steroid use on decline

Periodic study reveals increased consumption of amphetamines

The latest NCAA study of drug use by student-athletes shows that anabolic steroid use is at its lowest levels since the study began in 1985 but that amphetamine consumption among all student-athletes has increased since the last study in 1993.

The NCAA Study of Substance Use and Abuse Habits of College Student-Athletes was the fourth in a series conducted for the NCAA to measure substance-use patterns of NCAA college athletes.

The study showed that anabolic steroid use dropped to 1.1 percent, which is by far the lowest figure in the four studies. The highest percentage was in 1989, when 4.9 percent of those responding said they used steroids.

Football athletes reported the most frequent use of steroids among the sports that have been included in all four surveys. However, only 2.2 percent of the football players said they used steroids, which is a substantial decline from previous studies. The other percentages were 8.4 percent (1985), 9.7 percent (1989) and 5.0 percent (1993).

While steroid use is down, consumption of amphetamines appears to be up, climbing from 2.1 percent in the 1993 study to 3.1 percent. Amphetamine consumption increased in women's sports, with 4.7 percent of women's softball and swimming athletes acknowledging such use.

Those figures are the highest for any sport since the 1989 survey, when 5.5 percent of the basketball players questioned said they used amphetamines.

Amphetamine use was high in some men's sports, too. In lacrosse, 8.8 percent said they used amphetamines in the last year, while in water polo, the figure was 7.1 percent. Neither sport was included in previous studies.

Some changes were made in the survey methodology for this year's study, although researchers noted that the alterations were meant to build on analyses conducted in the previous work, which was administered by Michigan State University.

This study was conducted by the NCAA, with assistance from the Faculty Athletic Representatives Association (FARA). The sampling base was broadened to include student-athletes from all NCAA sports and all NCAA member institutions. Given that researchers designed the sampling patterns to represent the entirety of the student-athlete population and that the survey questions were similar to those of previous studies, researchers concluded that comparisons with previous studies were appropriate.

Other findings from the survey:

  • People who have used anabolic steroids are more likely to use other supplemental products (for example, creatine) than those who have never used anabolic steroids.

  • Regarding social drugs, the use of alcohol and smokeless tobacco were down from 1993 levels. Reported use of cocaine was about the same as before, but the use of marijuana was up.

  • African-Americans reported the lowest rates of drug usage in both ergogenic and social drugs.

  • Reported rates of social drug use were high in men's and women's lacrosse, men's soccer, and men's swimming and water polo.

  • A much higher proportion of student-athletes reported that they used marijuana or amphetamines 40 or more times than in 1993. Of those who acknowledged marijuana usage, 23.6 percent said they consumed it 40 or more times in the previous year, compared to 13.0 percent in 1993. With amphetamines, 36.2 percent said they had used them in the previous year (compared to 12.0 percent from the previous study).

  • More than half of those who reported alcohol use said they did so one or fewer times a week, on average.

  • A much higher proportion of those using anabolic steroids reported having begun taking them in junior high school. In the 1993 study, only 2.9 percent said they began steroid use in junior high; in the 1997 survey, 26.9 percent said use began in junior high.

  • Use of cocaine began much later than in previous studies. More than half of those who used cocaine said they did not begin to do so until college.

    The study also focused on why athletes do -- and do not -- choose to use drugs.

    The survey showed that more than half of steroid users said they took the drug to help them deal with injuries, a significant change from 1993 (a jump from 8.8 percent up to 28.3 percent). Most of those using amphetamines said they did so for social reasons or to give them more energy (46 percent). But 13.5 percent said they used amphetamines as an appetite suppressant, up sharply over the 2.9 percent who acknowledged using amphetamines for that purpose in the 1993 survey.

    A higher percentage of athletes who chose not to use drugs said they did so because of their beliefs. A larger percentage than in the past cited health considerations as a reason not to use drugs.

    Although student-athletes are divided about whether they believe there is a problem of illegal drug use among college athletes, they do strongly agree that athletes use fewer drugs than other college students. Most also believe that they do not need to take drugs to keep up with competition, that the NCAA and its member institutions should test athletes for drugs and that NCAA drug testing has deterred college athletes from using drugs.

    Percy Bates, faculty athletics representative at the University of Michigan, oversaw administration of the survey on a national basis. He was pleased with the results and anticipates FARA involvement in the future, probably replicating the study on the same four-year cycle.

    "Once in every four years is ample," he said. "It takes a while to discover a trend. If you did it next year or even in two years, the results probably would look much the same."

    Bates noted that by using faculty athletics representatives, the NCAA benefited financially and also was able to gain a much larger sample than in the past.

    "Just as importantly," Bates said, "this enabled faculty representatives to get involved on their individual campuses through the administration of this process. Many student-athletes had not been involved with their faculty representative before."

    Copies of the study may be obtained from the sports sciences staff at the national office.