Floyd Landis calls for legalised doping

IMHO the idea of storing samples, for possible future analysis when we have new tests, is a genuine advance.

EPO and autologous transfusions are tricky. Maybe they need a compulsory daily blood sample for all tour riders once it's underway.

not full wrote:

I have talked with on many runs an olympian on the subject of doping, he said , in essence exactly what floyd is saying "testing is a joke" "unless you're doing it wrong you will never get caught" etc etc . I feel like at the top of the game it is common knowledge that you should never get caught for things such as epo.

So, does the olympian also think they should simply legalize doping?

As a pragmatic matter, I think all doping should be allowable.

It shouldn't be actively encouraged, however.

All criminal activity should be investigated and prosecuted, however.

So the question becomes: you have a 10.00s 100m runner making some money running; with the travel schedule and all, he's just not able to maintain his performance, and is also not able to improve so that he can earn more money--are 'roids a medical necessity for him?

Is cortisone or an anti-inflammatory medically necessary for the guy bagging groceries, so that he can continue working in the face of work-induced carpal tunnel syndrome?

Is spondylosyndesis a medically necessary procedure for the guy throwing around bags of animal feed, because he injured his back at work?

Should these people have to find different jobs instead?

Are sleep aids medically necessary for a nervous attorney, in order that he may continue representing clients effectively?

Legalize any and all doping for sport, but maintain some substances as "controlled substances" so that their administration and control remains with the physicians. If some athlete runs afoul of the control laws, they should be duly prosecuted, and their performances expunged due to a lack of competition eligibility on moral grounds (e.g. unlawful possession, importation, distribution, administration, or manufacture).

This would encourage health through pharmacology, minimize egregious over-doping by including physicians to mediate the drug intake, preserve a degree of morality through adherence to controlled/prohibited substance laws, and would be economically efficient.

MAYBE top performance lists would have to be re-started, but so what? The cost of doing that would be trivial compared to the savings to be had.

The dawn of a new era, the "Open Era".

PEDs are effectively legal in sports already. Witness Soli nsky, Symmo nds, Ru pp, Carmelita Jeter, Tyson Gay. Witness Roy Halliday, Tim Lincecum, Cliff Lee. Witness Lance Armstrong, Floyd Landis. Witness Floyd Mayweather Jr, Manny Pacquiao. Witness MLB, NFL, NHL. Witness scripted Hollywood stunt shows MMA, WWE, UFC.

Sprint Geezer wrote:

Legalize any and all doping for sport, but maintain some substances as "controlled substances" so that their administration and control remains with the physicians. If some athlete runs afoul of the control laws, they should be duly prosecuted, and their performances expunged due to a lack of competition eligibility on moral grounds (e.g. unlawful possession, importation, distribution, administration, or manufacture).

That is total nonsense and is what is happening now.

The physicians and chemical companies who advertise and prescribe the medications are the criminals.

The athletes who take the prescriptions are the victims.

Sure, go after the chemical companies and physicians if you like, though they have written the laws to protect themselves.

But leave the athletes out of that mix.

Been there Done that wrote:

It's already that way.

None of the pro leagues are clamping down on dope.

NCAA, IAAF, USATF has internal people administer the tests.

It's like having L.A.P.D. brass clamp down on it's officers epidemic amount of summary executions of Black males.

I will leave the last one as the most idiotic thing you posted.

IAAF/USATF do not have internal folks doing the testing and adjudicating. WADA/USADA handle that task. NCAA outsources its testing, but adjudicates the cases. Not a good set up.

The pro leagues are not doing a great job on doping, but better than they were just a few years ago.

It is NOT what happens now.

Doping is not officially sanctioned.

It is not criminal to either advertise medication (within reason), or to prescribe medication on the basis of professional medical judgment.

The athlete is only a "victim" if they have been somehow wronged, and suffered some sort of loss or damage as a result of that wrong. We have civil courts and causes of action to address those cases; it would be essentially the same as any other medical malpractice claim.

Athletes, like everybody else, should be in the "mix" when it comes to criminal law.

For instance, crack cocaine is a prohibited substance, with criminal penalties for its possession, sale, distribution, etc.--even though it may improve athletic performance (a la Sotomayor), criminal sanctions should be visited upon the criminal athlete.

Same goes for violation of statutes regulating controlled substances.

If legitimated, PED use could generate a body of public knowledge that could enhance the safety and effectiveness of PED therapies in the future. Just another benefit.

If medically-supervised legal doping were allowed, would there be any interest in a parallel league in which anti-doping rules applied?

Does anybody care about "natural bodybuilding", or "unmodified powerlifting" besides the athletes who do it?

I, for one, would be very interested in BOTH leagues, natural and doped.

I'm not sure how wide spread PEDs are in all sports but I believe in the Tour the riders must be below a reading of 50 on one of the blood profile parameters...amazingly enough most can produce a sample that is at 49.something and be LEGAL to race. How is this limit so well approached and maximized!??!?!

The testers at meets ate NCAA, USATF, IAAF people. They use high school kids, medicial students, athletic dept employees, volunteers to administer the tests and handle the samples. The NCAA, USATF, IAAF can deptutize any anonymous person or volunteer to chapparone athletes, take, handle and transport samples. The chain of custody is not secure. Any of these people might slip in or allow others to slip in phony samples. This is a clear conflict of interest ripe with corruption and fraud. That's how others we compete against get away have gotten away with doping.

Maybe Floyd should give back the proceeds to all those supporters who bought his book 3 years ago proclaiming his innocence....they are the ones who really got screwed Floyd, not you!!

Believing that Lance cheated is like believing in aliens. Sure it's possible, and many people have claimed to have "seen" UFO's, but until there is actually legitimate evidence I have no reason to believe it is true.

shoe guy wrote:

Believing that Lance cheated is like believing in aliens. Sure it's possible, and many people have claimed to have "seen" UFO's, but until there is actually legitimate evidence I have no reason to believe it is true.

I'm with you!

landis will simply claim the book was a work of fiction and keep the cash. this is how the landis mind works.

shoe guy wrote:

Believing that LanDIS cheated is like believing in aliens. Sure it's possible, and many people have claimed to have "seen" UFO's, but until there is actually legitimate evidence I have no reason to believe it is true.

Did you actually mean this^^. Landis is illegitimate. Legitimacy of all things is always in question.

future testing methods wrote:

Some day, testing will become so good, that they will be able to tell what you ate and drank on any give day, of your entire life. They will know the amount of intake, the time, and possibly even where you bought the food and drink.

Maybe the testing will be so good we won't have to race. They'll be able to tell who the best is by blood testing alone.

Well, that is an interesting prediction. Blood testing would determine your time for the distance you wanted to run. No need to run and get all sweaty.

A runner like, oh I don't know, Nick Symmonds for example, cam inject HGH on a daily basis and have literally zero chance of testing positive. That's f'd up.

J.R. wrote:

The drugs and drug testing are a sham.

The sooner the importance of them is done away with the better.

The Drugs are a sham? really? Hate to break it too you, but you're clueless. The sooner we do away with attitudes like yours, the better.