Beyond “Wishful Thinking”...
Is Drug Testing Accomplishing
What We Intended?
Rick Albrecht, Ph.D.
Department of Movement Science
Grand Valley State University
Copyright  Dr. Rick Albrecht., 2005
Prefacing Comments

As Athletic Trainers -- particularly those of you that
are going into scholastic and collegiate settings -you will be called on to assist -- if not actually
administer -- your institution’s drug testing program

You are going to be told -- time and time again -- by
those advocating drug testing that this is an
essential and effective program
Prefacing Comments

We all would LIKE TO BELIEVE that drug testing
is accomplishing its goals -- however, simply
WISHING the drug testing of athletes to be effective
doesn’t mean it is

After nearly 40 years of drug testing, it’s time we
critically examine whether or not drug testing is
accomplishing its intended purposes
Wishful Thinking:
Drug Testing Ensures Fair
and Equitable Competition

It is impossible to test for all known and unknown
performance-enhancing and “masking” substances

Without this ability, there is no way drug testing can
ever ensure fair and equitable competition

Despite technological advances, drug testing
remains a human endeavor and as such, is subject
to human error

New drug policy: “Clean” drug test means nothing
(example: Marion Jones)
Even Top Drug Testing Officials
“Admit” Testing Can’t Identify Users

Dr. Robert Voy (Director of Drug Testing for the
United States Olympic Committee from 19841989)…
“The testers know that the drug gurus are smarter
than they are. They know how to get under the
radar”
Even Top Drug Testing Officials
“Admit” Testing Can’t Identify Users

Wade Exum (Director, USOC Drug Control from
1991-2000)…
“The USOC does not run a doping control program,
they run a controlled doping program”
Even Top Drug Testing Officials
“Admit” Testing Can’t Identify Users

Dick Pound (Head, World Anti-Doping Agency)…
"It's got to be pretty embarrassing to the USOC to
have their secretary general writing in the letter
where he advises an athlete of a positive sample, 'I
have to send you this, but we already decided this
was inadvertent’. That whole process turned into a
joke."
Even Top Drug Testing Officials
“Admit” Testing Can’t Identify Users

Chuck Yesalis (Professor and National Drug
Expert)…
“Only stupid and careless and foolish people ever
get caught”
Wishful Thinking:
Drug Testing Reduces
Health Risks Among Athletes

Testing for performance-enhancing drugs raises
the ante and pushes those wishing to cheat to
turn to unknown or less detectable substances

These new substances may actually be more of a
health hazard than the original substances
Wishful Thinking:
Drug Testing Reduces
Health Risks Among Athletes

“Providing emergency care for the athletes . . . [is]
more complicated than normal emergency room
situations”
- Dr. Eric Deal
Director of Emergency
Medicine, 1996 Olympic Village

Medical personnel are forced to consult a 60-page
list of allowable medications before prescribing
treatment for Olympic athletes
Wishful Thinking:
Drug Testing Reduces
Health Risks Among Athletes

For the sake of argument, let’s assume for a
moment this is true, doesn’t it then beg the
question…
Why should athletes receive a “higher standard of
medical care” than their peers?
Are we providing drug “screening” benefits for all
students? Why not?
Wishful Thinking:
Drug Testing Protects
“Clean”Athletes

The illusion that athletes who cheat will be
caught by drug testing may actually make
“clean” athletes even more vulnerable to
their unethical competitors

Drug testing may give “clean” athletes a
false sense of security because they assume
a “level” playing field that drug testing can
never provide
Wishful Thinking:
Drug Testing is Justified
Because Athletes Want It

Although many athletes favor mandatory,
unannounced drug testing, many do not

Athletes who oppose drug testing, for any reason,
are generally believed to be cheating

One group of athletes do not have the right to
deprive all others of their civil liberties
Wishful Thinking:
Drug Testing Increases Public
Perception that Games are Fair

Did the fact that Marion Jones has “passed”
over 160 drug tests convince her accusers that
she has competed “clean”?

Does the fact that Lance Armstrong has never
tested positive stop the rumors and accusations
about his drug use?

What is the point of drug testing if neither the
public nor the athletes have faith in the results?
Wishful Thinking:
Drug Testing Improves the
Public Image of Athletes

Mandatory drug testing without “reasonable
suspicion” sends the public the message that
simply being an athlete is enough reason to
suspect an individual of unethical behavior

Intense media coverage of athletes who test
positive simply reinforces the perception that
athletes cannot to be trusted
Wishful Thinking:
Drug Testing Does Not
Infringe on Civil Liberties

Indiscriminate, mandatory drug testing of all
athletes:
• Lacks reasonable suspicion - all athletes are
assumed guilty until they prove themselves innocent
• Without suspicion, becomes a case of unreasonable
search and seizure
• Is an invasion of privacy
• Often lacks adequate “due process” after a positive
test result
Wishful Thinking:
Drug Testing Promotes
Personal Ethics Among Athletes

Testing and sanctions can, at best, only alter
overt behavior, not personal ethics

Drug testing encourages athletes to operate at a
lower level of moral reasoning:
“I won’t use drugs because I might get punished”
-- versus -“I won’t use drugs because it would be cheating
myself and others and dishonoring my sport”
Wishful Thinking:
Drug Testers Only Have the Athletes’
Best Interest in Mind

Drug testing labs and personnel have their own
vested interest in advancing drug testing policies
• Financial
» Individual Salary and Job Security
» Corporate Profits
• Psychological
» Need to “save face” by not contradicting previous
positions

We must make sure our personal interests do not
influence our professional judgments
Wishful Thinking:
Drug Testing Athletes Has No
Effect on Public Testing Policy

Testing highly visible athletes for drug use sets
a dangerous public precedent

Once the public accepts the fact that athletes
are tested, it’s much easier for them to accept
the legitimacy of drug testing policies for the
general public
Wishful Thinking:
Drug Testing is a Legitimate
Solution to a Serious Problem

To assume that drug testing is the solution
means that drug use is the problem rather
than a mere symptom of a larger, more
systemic problem

Focusing on drug testing keeps us from
addressing the real problem of obscene
reward systems and a society-wide “win at all
cost” philosophy
If Drug Testing Does Not Accomplish What
We Intend, Why Do We Do It?

Although drug testing can not ensure “fair and
equitable” competition, it can ensure the illusion
of “fair and equitable” competition

Without the illusion of fairness, the public would
lose interest in the games and the athletes

Without the public’s interest, there would be no
corporate sponsorship
Some Final Points
on Drug Testing

We must always acknowledge the limits of drug
testing

We can’t let our war on drugs become a war on
civil liberties

Without systemic changes, drug testing is
useless… with systemic changes, drug testing
won’t be necessary
Everything We Have Learned After 40 Years of
Drug Testing Leads to Only One Conclusion...