Education high on agenda in war on drugs in sports

THE education of the athletes and their coaches is high on the agenda of the Barbados National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA).

Speaking at a lunch-time lecture of the National Council of Substance Abuse, Dr. Adrian Lorde, who has been at the head of the NADA and the Regional Anti-Doping Agency for a number of years, said that though Barbados is small and the support system isn’t as big as some of the other countries, one thing they have focused on was the education of the athletes and coaches.

Lorde was presenting on Performance Enhancing Drugs in Sports and why they are banned in sports.

His presentation included the advancements in the detection, things to be aware of, things removed from the banned list, and the criterion for a substance to be on the list.

With the advances in detection and increased overall testing, he revealed that only a one per cent increase in adverse findings has been had.

Lorde said the International Olympic Committee, in an effort to have clean games, encourages testing before the games.

“We have been doing pretty good in our education and testing in several sports and through the BOA and the Anti-Doping Commission, we do testing.

“When there is any international or regional championships here (Barbados) those organisations can request us to do the testing, but most don’t have the budget to pay for the testing.”

Lorde said that people have been more sensitive in the substances they use and now parents and athletes are more concerned and he has encouraged them to use the international websites to see if the substances are on the list.

Some of the more popular sports in which testing has been done in Barbados are bodybuilding, track and field, and weight-lifting. However, Lorde pointed out that they have done testing in several other sports, despite the limited budget and lack of staff.

He mentioned that they have a lot of doping officers available for the testing, but their focus is to do a lot more education. (CG)