PARTY DRUG TESTS QUERIED

New Zealand's sport anti-doping agency has questioned the merits of
out-of-competition testing of athletes for recreational drugs such as
Ecstasy and cannabis.

The issue is in the headlines after Australian rugby league legend
Andrew Johns admitted regularly taking recreational drugs during his
career.

Under World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) rules, athletes are tested for
recreational drugs only on game days, but the Australian federal
government yesterday flagged that anyone who plays top-level sport
faces being tested for illicit drugs at any time. It proposes
extending the powers of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority to
enable such testing.

But Drug Free Sport New Zealand chief executive Graeme Steel told the
Sunday Star- Times that out-of-competition testing in New Zealand
would escalate lab costs alone by $150 a sample and questioned whether
DFSNZ should be the agency to deal with recreational drug problems in
sport.

"There are significant problems trying to shoehorn in a recreational
drug testing programme alongside a performance-enhancing related programme.

"They're entirely different issues and they need different responses.
To take a specific substance because you feel like you might get a
better result in a sporting competition . . . is entirely different
from doing something because it makes you feel good with your mates.
When you take a performance-enhancing drug you're cheating - it's a
kind of fraud - you're trying to get a result you haven't earned.
Therefore a severe penalty is warranted.

"If you are taking recreational drugs, you're probably harming your
health, but you're not getting an advantage that you wouldn't
otherwise have. So the same range of penalties in our view are not
appropriate."

No sports in New Zealand have an in-house recreational drug-testing
programme.

In the year to June 30, there were 12 positive results from DFSNZ
tests in New Zealand, 11 for cannabis and one for BZP, found in party
pills.