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 b0red5tiff
THE CANDY KING
Registered: 09/16/06
Posts: 7,019
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 Life bans in tough new drug regime
#7501992 - 10/09/07 03:54 PM (10 months, 22 days ago) |
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http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,22539170-23218,00.html
AUSTRALIA's leading sportsmen and women face life bans under a strict new out-of-competition illicit drug policy to be introduced next year as the Federal Government responds to what it claims is growing community concern about the abuse of drugs in sport.
The Government will commit an annual $21 million to conduct a minimum 6000 tests in all major sports. Sports Minister George Brandis, and the Minister advising the PM on illicit drugs, Christopher Pyne, will announce the new protocols in Melbourne.
This new initiative is independent but concurrent to ASADA's performance-enhancing policy and procedures. A player who offends for the first time will not be named but a third offence could see sports stars disqualified for life. It is a significantly tougher policy than the one introduced by the AFL two years ago and constantly derided as soft on drugs by government members including Prime Minister John Howard.
The policy will not be compulsory but government sources said major professional sports of cricket, swimming, basketball, cycling, tennis, rugby league and rugby union had committed to the new protocols.
The policy is available to all sports, encourages sanctions for first offences, addresses minimum standards of testing, management of results and education and funding of 6000 tests.
A first offender is afforded confidentiality but he or she faces:
* Formal warning of a breach;
* Counselling and rehabilitation;
* Notice of further target testing;
* Suspended fine or suspension from competition.
A second offence will see the player named publicly and face suspension, which will vary according to the seriousness of the breach. He is also liable to be fined on top of the initial suspended fine incurred for a first offence.
A third breach sees the player named publicly and suspended, which could include a life ban.
It also provides for a moratorium while the code is bedded down. The thrust of the policy is aimed at sports and their stars who are considered role models by the community but any national sport can use the regime to test for illicit drugs.
Administrators will work with the Australian Anti-Doping Authority to establish programs specific to their particular sports. The Government expects the new drug policy to be written into player contracts and competition rules. ASADA will not conduct the testing. That will fall to the national sporting bodies who must authorise any tests undertaken by clubs.
Sports that agree to the policy will have all their related expenses funded by the Government, although sports will be allocated money according to the likelihood of those sports being at risk to illicit drugs abuse. Sports will be required to report to ASADA twice a year.
It will not be necessary under the policy to test positive to breach the code. Possession or third-party testimony can also be used to assess a breach of the rule as would any attempted tampering with a sample or interference in the collection procedure.
The list of banned drugs is governed principally by the World Anti-Doping Agency and clearly identified in the policy announcement. They include stimulants (such as amphetamines, cocaine); narcotics (heroin); cannabinoids (marijuana) and others such as LSD.
The Government is also committed to an education program which it identifies as a key element in the fight against illicit drugs and will take advice from codes that already have programs in place and will consult with major drug education and treatment facilities, the Australian Drug Foundation and the Australian Federal Police.
The document stipulates that once a sport embraces the code and its minimum standards set by ASADA it can apply for Government funding from July 1. Sports that establish programs before 2009 will do so under an amnesty.
The philosophy of the code is based on the role sport has in defining the Australian culture and character. And while it considers performance-enhancing issues under control, the Government identifies that sport as a positive influence in the community has never been under greater threat because of illicit drugs.
This season has been a wretched one for the AFL and NRL. West Coast pin-up boy Ben Cousins was suspended and spent a month in rehabilitation in California, rugby league legend Andrew Johns admitted to drug and alcohol issues throughout his career and this week former West Coast champion Chris Mainwaring died suddenly, aged 41. Reports suggest he had taken a mix of marijuana and ecstasy.
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***if you're reading this then you're already asleep***
***if we're gonna kill each other how are we gonna live forever? if we're gonna live forever how are we gonna kill each other?***
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 oso
man
Registered: 09/27/06
Posts: 158
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Re: Life bans in tough new drug regime [Re: b0red5tiff]
#7505971 - 10/10/07 03:51 PM (10 months, 21 days ago) |
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$21 million? Seriously?
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"When tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign foe."
James Madison
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Visionary Tools
Kiffah
Registered: 06/23/07
Posts: 2,933
Last seen: 24 days, 16 hours
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Re: Life bans in tough new drug regime [Re: oso]
#7506152 - 10/10/07 04:36 PM (10 months, 21 days ago) |
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John Howard: Determined to turn Australia into the down under police state.
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In times of universal deceit, the truth becomes a revolutionary act.
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero
Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 15,475
Loc: Caribbean
Last seen: 11 minutes, 20 seconds
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Re: Life bans in tough new drug regime [Re: oso]
#7506303 - 10/10/07 05:15 PM (10 months, 21 days ago) |
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> $21 million? Seriously?
Good use for tax payer money... making certain athletes aren't cheating. I'm certain the child without health care starving on the streets appreciates that athletes will now be tested to ensure they are clean from performance enhancing drugs.
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Just another spore in the wind.
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