Government To Blackmail Sport Over Drug Use
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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