By Jasbird
July 27 2003

The Government not only want sports-people to be banned for 2 years for using performance enhancing drugs but also want them banned for using non-performance enhancing drugs such as cannabis. The purpose of this is to set the right kind of example for young people.

Note: When the police catch a non-sports-person with cannabis they will normally offer that person a 'caution' - which effectively means letting them go for an admission of guilt.

If the police tested a non-sports-person for drugs and found cannabis in the system they wouldn't even bother with the caution because to be convicted of possession of drugs the cops must be able to find a usable amount of the drug.

But the UK government wants to sack football players for smoking weed because football players are seen as 'setting an example' to youth - despite the fact that they wouldn't even be able to get a criminal conviction in a British court.

Why are sports-people being singled out in this way? Shouldn't teachers and child-care workers also be sacked? What about public officials and politicians? Recently half the shadow-cabinet (Tories) admitted to smoking dope when they were younger.

Channel 4 claim that half the BBC are on cocaine and cocaine is a more dangerous drugs than cannabis (coke is class A rather then class B). Shouldn't all these TV entertainers also face drugs tests and be sacked. It's unfair just to set an example of the ones that get caught.

The government are threatening to withhold funding from sports bodies that do not comply with their dictat.

PS 1: Can someone tell me which particular act of Parliament gives the government to power to blackmail sports associations in this way?

PS 1: In a reverse case the UK has banned some drugs (made them illegal for everyone) which are claimed to be performance enhancing because they have been used by sports-people. These illegal drugs are not dangerous but have been criminalised nevertheless in contradiction of the Misuse of Drugs Act (1971). This Act is supposed to ban only "dangerous" or "harmful" drugs.

One example of such a drug is DHEA (aka Prasterone) - which you don't even need a prescription to get in the USA and which is less dangerous than aspirin or paracetamol - which are two legal over-the-counter performance enhancing drugs!

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