The NCAA is looking to revamp it’s drug policy after the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports informally proposed changes to testing for both performance enhancing and recreational drugs.
According to Brian Burnsed on NCAA.org, the group has recommended changes that would strengthen the testing against PEDs and create more of a deterrence program for recreation drug use, which would focus on education rather than punishment.
Under this approach the responsibility for deterrence will be shared between the NCAA and member schools. Use of recreational drugs should absolutely be discouraged, the committee members said; but because they do not provide a competitive advantage, alternative approaches to testing should be developed.
According to Burnsed, the NCAA has tested student-athletes for drugs at championship events since 1986, but the testing hasn’t actually deterred drug use. Marijuana use has remained static while opiate use has gone up in the past 30 years.
A story last week in Sports Illustrated noted that the NCAA’s marijuana testing threshold is actually 10 times what is used for airline pilots. This article surfaced after two Oregon players were suspended for last Monday’s national championship game after failing a random NCAA drug test. Both players reportedly tested positive for marijuana.
While suspensions might still be handed down for recreational drug use, players who fail drug tests might also be subject to increased education as well as intervention and behavioral management programs.
But for the committee, the main focus is stopping performance enhancing drug use in collegiate athletics. According to Burnsed, NCAA research has shows that student-athletes are less likely to use performance enhancing drugs if there’s a 30 percent chance of them getting caught. Currently, teams are tested once a year for performance enhancing drugs, but it doesn’t meet the 30 percent threshold.
However, the goal of the committee is to raise the student-athlete’s awareness that there’s now a greater possibility that they could be tested in season, out of season and during all championship events.
“It is our hope the proposed model will address drug deterrence in the most effective way to change behavior,” Brant Berkstresser, committee chair and head athletic trainer at Harvard University, said. “We feel that the NCAA should be focused on drug testing for those substances that may provide an unfair performance advantage.”
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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @YahooDrSaturday
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