TESTING RUNS WILD

The recent rash of drug suspensions to hit track and field has rejuvenated
a long-running debate about just how pervasive is the use of
performance-enhancing drugs.

Surprisingly, it has failed to raise another -- that of testing athletes
for the use of drugs such as marijuana, cocaine and other non-performance
enhancing substances. Testing for these drugs is a sticky wicket. Or if
it's not, it should be.

No one can argue that smoking cannabis, using cocaine or any of these types
of drugs aids an athlete's performance. In fact, it hurts their ability to
compete, due to the chemical effects on the brain, nervous system, muscles
and other major body functions.

In North America, even police officers cannot order tests for these drugs
without just cause. An officer making a traffic stop needs evidence that
will stand up in court before testing a driver.

They must have similar evidence before making a search of a person's body,
car or home.

Yet a sports governing body can order an athlete to pee into a bottle at
any time, with no cause or warning, then test them for whatever it desires.

Cuban high jumper Javier Sotomayor is a case in point. He has been
convicted of no crime. No one believes cocaine helped him set a world
record, or played a role in his jumping one millimetre higher. Yet he is
vilified around the world for something the public had no legal right -- or
need -- to know.

Yes, such drugs are illegal. But there is a legal system in place to deal
with this. For an athletic organization to have the right to make such
tests, and to release them to the public without any recourse by the
athlete, is a gross violation of a person's privacy.

It's no different than an employer forcing workers to submit to such tests,
a practice being foisted on more and more people. Or peeking into windows
at night to ensure that sex is conducted according to community norms.

The cause is noble, but the means is unjust. It's an insidious Big Brother
tactic, and we should not allow it.