Sports Minister Grant Robertson has issued a warning to athletes using illegal steroids in New Zealand, saying "you will be caught".
In the wake of a Weekend Herald investigation which revealed up to 80 athletes are in line to face sanctions after allegedly committing anti-doping violations, Robertson has thrown his weight behind Drug Free Sport NZ's move to punish offenders, regardless of their age or status.
"I endorse what I've heard. It's a wake-up call for everybody who plays sport that the rules around drugs apply across the board," Robertson told the Herald on Sunday.
"There's no real discretion for Drug Free Sport — they are obliged to take up these cases when they become aware of them.
"This is a wake-up call that if you're involved in sport, you're going to be caught.
"It's a wake-up call particularly for those early in their careers who aren't exposed to the same education around drugs our elite athletes are."
The doping investigation, initiated by medical regulatory body Medsafe, resulted in the arrest and imprisonment of Joshua Francis Townshend this year after he admitted to 129 charges under the Medicines Act. He was sentenced to two years jail at the Christchurch District Court.
Townshend was mixing, packaging and selling clenbuterol and other anabolic steroids from his Christchurch home, mainly through the website clenbuterol.co.nz. The site was shut down but not before information on his client database was made available to DFSNZ.
Those allegedly caught up in the case are from a range of sports, but it is understood rugby players make up a significant portion — more than 40%.
NZ Rugby yesterday issued a statement supporting the investigation.
Conscious of political interference on testing bodies in Russia, and the need to allow DFSNZ to act independently, Robertson will largely adopt a watching brief.
While he downplayed the potential of a hidden drug problem here, Robertson emphasised the importance of protecting New Zealand's clean sporting image.
"At one time, it looks like a large number but the vast majority of people who play sport and are involved in recreational activity in New Zealand are clean.
"We've got to take it seriously but we don't want to overblow the situation with no pro athletes implicated.
"I don't want to diminish it, but it's probably reflective of anyone who has been to a gym — everyone knows there's people out there using steroids.
"There are reasons these rules are in place. We want our sports to be clean; we want even competitions and we want to be able to hold our heads up on the world stage.
"We look at countries like Russia with systemic doping problems — we're nowhere near that but we don't want to let ourselves go down a path to say it's acceptable for athletes to be taking drugs.
"The way it has been handled shows we're not prepared to sacrifice that reputation. New Zealand athletes are often competing against far better resourced opponents. One of our advantages is we are a country who plays fair and plays hard. When we see the possibility of that reputation being tarnished, we act on it."
Robertson welcomed the International Olympic Committee's stance to ban Russia from the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang although clean athletes may compete as individuals. Such action increased pressure on New Zealand to maintain standards.
"I strongly support a rigorous implementation of the rules because only if we do that can we look at others without a hint of hypocrisy and say we need to clamp down on it."
Growing profile and attention on secondary school sports amplified the need for teenagers to understand responsibilities around doping.
Robertson did, however, caution against widespread drug testing in schools. The first step in this process was taken at the top four first XV rugby finals in September.
"We've got to take that one step at a time. It's important we offer education and support to those young athletes coming through. I'm happy to monitor what happened there but ultimately those decisions are made independently by DFS."
