eSports League Will Start Policing Drug Use Among Gamers

Drug testing athletes is nothing new, and the same sort of policy will soon apply to gamers. Earlier this month, pro Counter-Strike player Kory 'Semphis' Friesen admitted to using Adderall, along with others on his then-team Cloud9, during a big tournament. Some consider this cheating, as Adderall, much like Ritalin, can be abused to help improve concentration and focus for anything ranging from studying to playing video games. Adderall use among pro gamers isn't uncommon, and that's a problem.

Following the disclosure, the Electronic Sports League, an eSports organization, has revealed that it will start "policing" drug use among gamers at its events. Particulars on how it will do this and what its official policy will be weren't given at this point, but it did confirm its plans.

The upcoming policy was confirmed by ESL's Head of Communications' Anna Rozwandowicz to Motherboard. She said, in part, that ESL has "taken steps to move forward" with policing drug use, providing education related to it, and taking steps to prevent its use by competitors.

She also confirmed that the Cloud9 team won't be punished for the claimed drug use, as the organization has "no way of knowing whether Semphis, despite what he said, has actually taken Adderall or not."

VIA: Vice