NASCAR’s Amended Drug Policy
NASCAR’s Amended Drug Policy. (Sub-titled, Huh, is that all there is?)
Ok, I’ve been waiting for this policy to hit the streets and I have to say, as one who experienced the U.S. Navy’s system for 20 years, is this it?
The single change is testing of all drivers and crew members will be conducted before 2009 starts and random testing after that?
THAT took all these months to hash out with the experts?
Don’t get me wrong, that’s essentially what the Navy, and many private companies for that matter do. But after looking at the blurb on NASCAR’s press site I was left wanting. Taking their cue I downloaded the “official release” hoping to find some meat on dem bones.
Nope, no meat, just a little gristle in the way of naming the two outside experts at AEGIS Sciences Corporation and Dr. David L. Black.
So what’s missing that has my hackles standing on end?
First they give no detail of what random means. Is it as ambiguous as the “reasonable suspicion” clause in the previous policy? (which remains in effect BTW) How is it random and who determines it?
Secondly, and this is in their words, “violation of the policy can be triggered with the use of any drug or medication if NASCAR believes it has been abused or misused.”
Geesh, can we get a little more vague? Well actually no they couldn’t, ’cause this means any foreign substance detected can result in penalties.
(Falling back on my Navy abuse training here, and don’t ask how many “samples” I had to watch while given. The thought of all those swingin’, well, never-mind.)
A driver or crew member taking Motrin, Bayer Select Pain Relief Formula or Excedrin can pop a false positive for Marijuana. Nyquil, Contact, Sudafed, Allerest and Dimetapp can all turn up as Ecstacy or Amphetamine usage.
At bare minimum a long and comprehensive list of drugs with the potential of giving false positives must be well known to all involved. The list is frickin’ endless, and surprising in what you can unknowingly get in trouble with.
And finally NASCAR has not published as part of the policy a list of banned substances. Its an egregious error on their part.
When first implemented the Navy failed to provide a banned list of drugs. The first few rounds of random tests over the course of the first year produced several cases that were tossed out because the drug found, although a narcotic, wasn’t on any list, wasn’t commonly thought to be abused and the lawyer obtained by the accused won on appeal.
On the other hand, as I recall, some of the same nitwits were later caught with other drugs, but you see my point. It doesn’t take a Clarence Darrow to win a case when nothing is definitively outline as illegal. And you can believe with few, very few, exceptions there were no Clarence Darrows in the Naval Legal Service at the time.
And that random thing, it just ain’t gonna fly unless some meat is added to that sandwich, a definition is in order.
I guess you can say I’m disappointed and hope that what little has been given for public consumption isn’t all there is.
Maybe I’m jumping the gun, if so that’s ok, NASCAR can accomplish what I’m skeptical about as long as it’s done.
I don’t need to know about it. But those that fall under the policy damn sure do and the hope from this corner is what’s suggested is taking place behind closed doors.
UPDATE: Some clarification on what random means come via the press conference held at Dover.
It’s based on a ratio. It’s on AEGIS. We can expect upwards of probably anywhere from 12 to 14 individuals to be tested per series per weekend. We’ll have separate pools for the drivers. Probably on average about two drivers per series will be tested each week. Again, that’s all random. Someone could be tested once, someone can be tested way more than that. It will be all computer generated and run by AEGIS.
UPDATE II: Ahem… this hack blogger, and former semi-professional tally-wacker watcher, stands supported by an expert, or two.
Publish a list of banned substances NASCAR before a modern day Clarence Darrow rubs egg all over your collective faces.
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In F1 a few years back Ruben’s, who had a head cold, gave a positive for some over the counter product.
Nobody suggested for one moment that he was cheating, but it was an example of a lack of known banned substances 7 products.
Thomas Enge was booted as F3000 champ (it went to Justin Wilson) for testing positive to canibus. Only problem was, & this was NEVER resolved, was that the test may have been to accurate & he was a victim of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Even Eddie Irvine came to his defense saying that he had been in the exact same situation & quickly left the party.
Whether Enge was innocent, or making up a b/s story, was never cleared. The whole thing highlighted the problems of testing.
IMHO, they will not find performance enhancing drugs, we have already discussed how steriods can’t make a car go quicker. However, they had better be prepared for someone coming in positive for recreational drugs…..it’s almost a certainty.
The Navy had a big problem with people claiming innocence because the “guilty” person claimed they were just at a place where marijuana was smoked.
Navy being what it is, it didn’t wash, many normal rights are tossed aside in the mil.
That’s not the case in the civilian world.
The policy is not clear at all. If a driver takes valerian, an herb that is helpful for sleep, will it show as a benzo? Can poppy seed muffins really show up as an opiate?
I like the idea of numerous drivers being tested randomly, but random has to have some structure.
You mean Poppyseeds that can pop for heroin and give a false positive?
Like the poppy seeds on top of your bran muffin you have with your over-priced latte at Star[big]bucks? why yes… yes they can.
[...] also points out a flaw I railed about in September when the amended policy came out, the policy cites 38 drugs and thresholds (i.e. the amount [...]
[...] Dr. Charles Yesalis, a Penn State professor who has testified before Congress on performance-enhancing drugs has called into question NASCAR’s lack of a published list of banned substances something I’ve called an “egregious error” when the new policy was first announced. [...]
[...] The included video is Dr. Wadler of the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) who describes the effect of methamphetamine usage and is very critical of NASCAR’s lack of a published banned drug list, something I’ve noted early on. (see April 2008 and Sept 2008) [...]