NFL looks at changes to drug testing
September 6th, 2006 by ddetox
The NFL is talking with its players’ union about beefing up its testing program for performance-enhancing drugs with the changes possibly taking effect this season, according to a newspaper report. The changes could include more testing and increasing the number of banned substances, the New York Times reported Wednesday. “We are in the process of re-evaluation, trying to determine if more is better, if it’s the right time to add substances, to add more tests,” Harold Henderson, the league’s executive vice-president for labour relations, told the paper. “It might make sense to do some tweaking.” The NFL does approximately 10,000 tests for performance-enhancing drugs a year and there are about 2,000 players in the league. Players are randomly selected for testing and can be tested during the off-season. The NFL announced in June that it added amphetamines to the list of banned performance-enhancers starting this season. Amphetamines were previously listed as a “substance-abuse drug,” but are now in the same category as steroids and other enhancers that carry much stronger penalties. This season will serve as a transition year, where a first positive test would bring a warning and put a player into the drug program. But in 2007, amphetamines will be tested for on a regular basis. A first positive test will result in a four-game suspension, the same penalty now levied for positive steroids tests. In addition to the amphetamines change, the penalty for a second positive test for performance-enhancing drugs was increased from six to eight games. A third positive test still carries a one-year suspension.
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