Athletes busted using everyday items doping with VickŸ??s Vapor Inhaler

With the way sports governing bodies are going after steroid users these days, it’s no surprise to see more athletes getting busted. However, it is ludicrous that some professional athletes are going down for using everyday items like Vick’s Vapor Inhaler. And the crazy thing is the punishments being handed down are sticking.

Over the years there have been some great travesties in the history of sports. And I’m not talking great as in events that make us all stop for a second to marvel at the moment. I’m talking great as in some of the biggest squanderings of all time in the history of sports throughout the world.

A few of the events that will always live in sports infamy throughout time include:

- The Soviet Union basketball team being given extra time against the United States in the 1972 Olympics:

Down by one point with three seconds to play, the Soviets are greatly aided by the officials, who put time back on the clock two different times. On their third chance, the Soviets made a game winning lay-up to take the basketball gold medal in 1972.

- Colorado’s football team gets a fifth down that leads to a 33-31 victory over Missouri in 1990:

With under a minute to go, Colorado gained a first down near the goal line and the quarterback spiked the ball to stop the clock. After two rushing tries failed to get the Colorado Buffaloes into the end zone their quarterback again spiked the ball on fourth down, which should have ended the game. Instead, officials made a mistake and gave Colorado another down which allowed them to beat Missouri and later win the college football National Championship.

- Fan interference allows Yankees to beat the Orioles in Game 1 of the 1996 ALCS:

Down by one run, the Yankees Derek Jeter hits a fly ball to right field that is caught by a fan who reached over the fence to pull the ball in over the right fielder’s head. Instead of calling fan interference, the umpire rules the hit a homer which ties the game. The Yankees would then go on to win the game in extra innings.

Well you can go ahead and add a new chapter to the list of terrible sports travesties as there is now something going on that makes all of the previously mentioned events seem like minor footnotes. Athletes are being punished, or even banned from their respective sports for using everyday items and medications like any regular non-athlete would use.

I touched on this subject a little while back when I told you about how some athletes were turning up positive steroid tests after using vitamins and supplements that were supposed to be clean (some people were even ingesting steroids after using Vitamin C tablets!). But a recent Los Angeles Times investigation has shown that the situation is getting even more out of hand as of late.

Their investigation centered around 250 cases that involved athletes from many different sports and basically came to the conclusion that most of these competitors are having titles, prize money, and medals taken away for testing positive for banned substances where the amount is so insignificant that it would have no effect on their performance. Even worse, some athletes are receiving career-ending suspensions from this crap.

Take the case of British Alpine skier Alain Baxter for example. Baxter was on top of the world after becoming the first Briton ever to win an Olympic medal in Alpine skiing when he captured a bronze. Just a couple of days later, his reputation was in shambles after he tested positive for the banned substance methamphetamine.

He was of course ordered to forfeit his bronze medal which, at the time, seemed reasonable. That was until it was discovered where his source of methamphetamines really came from. The Vick’s Vapor Inhaler that Alain Baxter had been using to treat his nasal congestion contained small amounts of a chemical that closely resembled methamphetamine.

Obviously, after hearing this evidence, anti-doping officials would return Baxter’s medal to him, right? Especially after hearing testimony from a Vick’s scientist that the compound found in the inhaler and the compound meth are structurally different. Unfortunately, common sense didn’t win out in this situation and the ruling stood because the anti-doping authorities said the chemicals were related.

The LA Times investigation found that cases similar to Baxter were a common theme throughout the world of sports. Standout University of Virginia swimmer Rachel Burke knows the pain of Alain Baxter all too well as she was also unfairly busted for a banned substance when she tested positive for an obscure steroid boldione that came from a contaminated nutritional drink. Burke, who never once turned up a positive test in well over a decade of competitive swimming, said, “For people who have never had to deal with something like this, it\'s hard to grasp what it takes away from you.”

Burke further reflected on the controversy by saying, “You have no idea what happened. You have no control over the fact that they are going to announce to the entire public that Rachael Burke, this girl that everyone has seen grow up in the spotlight, has tested positive for steroids. The next day, you have to walk on the pool deck and people are saying, \'I wonder if that\'s why you were so good when you were 8 years old.\' You\'re accused and convicted without a chance to defend yourself.”

Much of the blame for these super stringent rulings is directed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) that was created in 1999 to combat what was perceived as a growing threat to the integrity of international sports. Many contend the organization that was first created out of necessity has overstepped its boundaries.

WADA frequently seems to resemble something in the way of a three-headed monster in its practices rather than a fair court process. WADA authorities not only propose and write anti-doping laws but they also act as the judge and executioner when deciding cases. Appeals or challenges to their decisions are nonexistent as well which further cements WADA’s image as the dictatorship of fair play in sports.

On top of all this, it also seems that WADA is allowed to harass athletes as much as they want with their random drug testing which can occur at any hour of the day. In fact, athletes must submit to any and every unannounced drug test that is thrown their way and they even have to provide details of where they can be found at any time of the year.

One would think that the criticism of this totalitarian system of athlete policing would eventually lead WADA to curb their strict ways and lighten up on their policies. But Chairman Dick Pound’s comments suggest otherwise as he said that sports doping is actually, “The biggest threat to sports.”

WADA’s own statistics suggest a different story. They also suggest a waste of money as their biggest affiliate, the U. S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), produced a report that showed out of their 8175 tests, only 20 resulted in sanctions. In other words, after spending $5,600,000 dollars on testing thousands of athletes, less than 0.5% of the tests actually brought about any serious allegations and out these cases, most of the athletes were busted for using supplements or prescription medications that contained extremely small traces of banned substances.

Now in my opinion, that’s wasted money.
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Author: George Spellwin