Subj: Ireland: McDaid may make use of banned sports drugs a crime 



Date: Friday, November 6, 1998



Source:    Irish Times





McDaid may make use of banned sports drugs a crime 

By Chris Dooley



Moves to make the use of banned drugs in sport a criminal

offence are being considered by the Minister for Sport.



Dr McDaid has been holding discussions with the Attorney

General, Mr David Byrne, about bringing in criminal sanctions

against drugs cheats.



He is expected to tell delegates at a conference in Dublin today

that he believes athletes alone are not to blame - he considers

that the prevalence of drug use in sport indicates collusion

among trainers, athletes and managers as well as athletes

themselves.



Shortly after taking up office last year, Dr McDaid said one of

his priorities would be to oversee new drug-testing measures.

Since then, a four-year ban has been imposed on swimmer

Michelle de Bruin by FINA, the world governing body of

swimming, for what it said was manipulation of a sample, and

three rugby internationals have tested positive for banned

substances.



Dr McDaid is understood to be concerned that young people

beginning to compete in sports might feel obliged to enter into a

"Faustian pact", taking risks with their long-term health by using

drugs in an effort to improve short-term performance.



The two-day "Sport against Drugs" conference, organised by

the Olympic Council of Ireland, will also be addressed by

Prince Alexandre de Merode, chairman of the medical

commission of the International Olympic Committee, and the

US Olympic committee drug control director, Dr Wade Exum.



Prof David Cowan, head of the IOC laboratory, will also

address the conference, which takes place at a Dublin hotel.



Last month Dr McDaid warned young athletes about the

potential dangers of using a legal muscle building drug, creatine,

in an effort to improve their performance.



Fine Gael's spokesman on sport, Mr Bernard Allen, had said

there were allegations that schools were urging their top

athletes to use the substance.



While it was not illegal, it created an air of acceptability of

performance-enhancing substances, he said.