"THE DOPING PROBLEM is a crisis in values," say international athletes and educators Saxon White and Ronald Laura. The ethical dilemma—what is right and what is wrong—about drugs and sports focuses on what people are willing to do to win. It also examines whether what they do is unfair to others or harmful to themselves and to sports. This dilemma involves much more than just what athletes think and do about drug use.

These ethical decisions also must be made by coaches and trainers and by people in professional and amateur sports organizations. They must be made, as well, by those who direct sports in countries where athletes' medals are used to build national prestige.

Coaches and trainers

Coaches and trainers sometimes are seen as major obstacles to drug-free sports. Steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs have been handed...