Anti-Doping Partnership Commentary On Mitchell Report, USA

Main Category: Sports Medicine / Fitness
Also Included In: Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs
Article Date: 14 Dec 2007 - 2:00 PDT

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The heightened profile of doping in sports with the release of the Mitchell Report and the indictment of Barry Bonds calls attention to the need for health, fitness and sports professionals to take lead in eradicating steroids for sports or training purposes, says the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). In light of the report, ACSM reiterates its call for leagues to adopt strict anti-doping codes and international standards for their athletes.

Earlier this year, ACSM and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) formed Professionals Against Doping in Sports (PADS) to discourage steroids and other banned substance use in sports, with a focus on ensuring that physicians, scientists, and other professionals who work with athletes do not encourage, support, or tolerate the use of banned substances. Read the partnership announcement here .

PADS unites and commits the professional community of physicians, scientists, athletic trainers, and others to drug-free sports, and works to reduce this major challenge to health in sports and the integrity of sports performance and legacies. Their initiatives also will address issues related to the integrity of sports performance and athletic achievements and their links to suspected steroid abuse with specific recommendations for sports leagues where athletes are suspected of doping violations.

"The indictment of a baseball record holder together with the release of the Mitchell report hopefully signals that doping issues are out for good from behind closed training room doors and back alleys," said Gary I. Wadler, M.D., FACSM, an ACSM spokesman on doping and expert on drug use in sports. "The non-therapeutic use of steroids and human growth hormone (HGH) is illegal and represents a significant health risk to the abuser. The attention really deserves to be on the need for professional sports leagues to adopt the international anti-doping code."

Wadler has previously testified before Congress that professional baseball should adopt the World Anti-Doping Agency code, and that sanctions should be leveraged against sports leagues, healthcare professionals and athletes who violate it.

"You want competitors in sports to be using natural ability and trained talent to compete, without the issue or suspicion of drug use intended to provide an unfair advantage," said Robert Sallis, M.D., FACSM, ACSM president. "But the forefront of concern about steroids and doping is the short- and long-term health and welfare of the athlete."

ACSM has a long history of calling for a ban on performance-enhancing substances, including anabolic steroids and their precursors. ACSM's Position Stand, "The Use of Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids in Sports," condemns the use of these drugs among athletes. To read a copy of this Position Stand, please visit http://www.acsm-msse.org.

About the American College of Sports Medicine

ACSM is the largest sports medicine and exercise science organization in the world. More than 20,000 international, national, and regional members are dedicated to advancing and integrating scientific research to provide educational and practical applications of exercise science and sports medicine.

American College of Sports Medicine