cannabisnews.com: U.S. Supports New Drug Standards!





U.S. Supports New Drug Standards!
Posted by FoM on January 26, 1999 at 06:00:16 PT

McCaffrey Pledges $1 Million Toward Advanced Olympic Testing.Olympic athletes should be available for drug testing 365 days a year, not just during Olympic years, and there should be an independent agency to administer such tests, said Barry McCaffrey, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
McCaffrey, the White House's drug czar, put those and other recommendations for eliminating athlete drug use into a 10-page policy paper sent to International Olympic Committee members.McCaffrey will be part of the U.S. delegation led by U.S. Olympic Committee President Bill Hybl that will attend the IOC world conference on doping held in Lausanne, Switzerland, Feb. 2-4."We're going there to argue for the future, for a common, collective principal of athletes that don't need to dope themselves to compete," McCaffrey said. "We're going to go over and put down a payment of a million dollars on the table to begin the process."The $1 million in federal funds will go toward developing advanced drug testing for illegal performance-enhancing drugs.The U.S. government became interested in the USOC's efforts to eliminate drug use by athletes following an incident at the 1998 Winter Olympics. Canadian snowboarder Ross Rebagliati was stripped of his gold medal in the giant slalom after testing positive for marijuana.Rebagliati argued that marijuana was not a performance-enhancing drug and should not be banned. The Office of National Drug Control Policy was concerned that this case sent the wrong message to young people and has worked with the USOC on the issue.The Office of National Drug Control Policy's involvement "brings to the IOC's attention a very strong voice representing the American people," USOC spokesman Mike Moran said. "It's a very powerful voice, working with us."McCaffrey's proposal also includes standardizing testing methods for every sport and every country, making available the National Institute on Drug Abuse for research, providing incentives for athletes, coaches and trainers to come forward to report use of illegal substances and awarding supplemental medals to those athletes who were deprived a medal by another athlete's use of performance-enhancing drugs to earn a victory."If it's understood there's no statute of limitations [for being caught using performance-enhancing drugs], it's a powerful incentive not to compete through cheating," McCaffrey said.McCaffrey also said he would like to see the IOC create such an independent agency for testing in time for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. His office has been in contact with several countries eliciting support for the proposal.Some questioned whether taking on such a thorny issue while the IOC is embroiled in controversy was a good idea."This crisis they're now undergoing may allow us to take a fresh look at some very tough problems," McCaffrey said. "Taking on the doping challenge will not be easy. . . . There must be institutional reform if the IOC can do the heavy lifting required to protect athletes from a doping regime." © Copyright 1999 The Washington Post Company
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Comment #1 posted by douglas jones on March 01, 2000 at 05:47:58 PT
drug testing
i think that your idea is a good one.
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