Testing It Up

In previous posts, we shared with you drug testing efforts for Vancouver 2010 – the Winter Games. Drug worries and other scandals aside, any Olympic event is without a doubt an iconic event, and sports is still a way for people to keep themselves happy and healthy.

And what is an important event without a Google doodle? The band of “doodlers” hidden somewhere in Mountain View, California, did yet another great job with the Vancouver 2010 Google doodle. The design is in a hue that is unmistakably wintry blue, featuring that all-important symbol of the Olympics – the Olympic torch.

The Vancouver Winter Games opening ceremonies will be held at 6pm on February 12.

In a previous post, we shared with you the plans for keeping the games “clean,” at least from the perspective of drug use. At this time, the opening of the Winter Olympics is days away, and the pre-game testing has already begun.

Testing is being done in a 1,350 square-meter lab in Richmond, a suburb of Vancouver. There will be more than two thousand tests that will be conducted in the facility during the games. IOC Medical Director Patrick Schamasch gave the following statement:  “This lab is a lab which has been built for the purpose of the games, and which was run by the director of the lab in Montreal, is fully equipped and really the state of the art and I can tell you that the cheaters have to be very careful, because we are totally equipped here.”

What’s for dinner honey? For NYPD cop Anthony Chiofalo, it was meatballs spiked with a little bit of love – pot.

His wife, Catherine, had admitted to investigators that she had spiked her husband’s meatballs with marijuana. She is using marijuana for medical reasons, as a therapy for back pain. In 2006, Chiofalo was fired after failing a drug test. And last week, the Court of Appeals upheld that decision, according to a report on the New York Daily News.

Anthony Chiofalo has been with the NYPD for more than twenty years. He had challenged his termination by Commissioner Raymond Kelly, blaming his wife’s ingenious way of forcing him to retire and arguing that the hair sample test that he was subjected to was not included in the stipulations that the collective bargaining agreement of his union had with the NYPD.

Unfortunately for Chiofalo, the panel of judges who looked over his appeal agreed with Kelly’s decision. The decision explained that the levels of marijuana found after Chiofalo’s test did not look like they could have been reached through “accidental ingestion” or “from second-hand smoke”.

If, indeed, this was all the handiwork of Catherine Chiofalo, then the missus seems to have done one heck of a job in order to get what she wanted.

The judges made the following statement in the decision that was released on Thursday: “The Court of Appeals has held that the Commissioner was empowered to choose the method of drug testing, and that choice was not subject to collective bargaining.”

Next month, the Winter Olympics will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia. While the arrival of world-class athletes is a given, there will be another group of people that will be arriving with them: drug testers.

The presence of performance-enhancing drugs and other banned substances in the various sports disciplines has been the subject of many scandals. With the onset of these incidents, the need for drug testing has become part and parcel of any sports event, including the Olympics, in an attempt to ensure fair play for all athletes concerned.

Twenty American testers have been selected by the U.S. Anti-doping Agency to help their Canadian counterparts conduct testing for athletes to detect use of performance-enhancing drugs and other banned substances. Among these testers are two Western New York residents – registered nurse Dan Rozanski and Dr. Monica Spaulding.

While this is Dan Rozanski’s first time to serve at the Olympics, three-time veteran Dr. Spaulding, who is about to serve in her fourth Olympics as a drug tester, said that this Olympics will feature “perhaps the most intensive testing ever done,” according to a feature on The Buffalo News.

In terms of drug testing per se, though, both Rozanski and Dr. Spaulding have extensive experience, having been involved in the coordination of drug testing for amateur, collegiate and professional athletes. Dr. Spaulding has been involved in drug testing since 1993 and previously worked for the U.S. Olympic Committee both as drug tester and as the trainer for drug testers. Rozanski, on the other hand, has 12 years of experience and works for a company that is involved in testing for MLB, NFL and NHL teams.

Medical marijuana has been legalized in a number of states, but after being touted as a “prohibited substance” for so long, the terms of its use are still clouded. Okay, so a patient who has been legally allowed to use marijuana for medical purposes is protected from prosecution; but what about the workplace? Is the medical marijuana user protected there too?

Apparently not. An article on the Denver Post carries the head line: “Medical marijuana users on uncertain ground in work places.” It shares the story of a few individuals who found their careers in jeopardy for resorting to a treatment method that has been rendered legal.

In one scenario, a writer from Manitou Springs who is suffering from arthritis, Dorian Beth Wenzel, wrote a letter to a local paper that revealed that she used medical marijuana. Soon after, she was called to the office of the human resources director of the organization that she works for where she was told that their office was a drug-free workplace.

Another employee from Denver failed a routine drug test that was taken after figuring in an on-duty car accident. Since the employee was a patient who used medical marijuana, the test came out positive.

What, indeed, can the employer do to an employee who has opted for an alternative treatment plan that is basically legal?

No one really knows for sure, although more often than not, that means that employers are free to interpret the rulings in whatever manner they see fit. Advocacy groups are calling it a form of discrimination, basically against the sick who have chose medical marijuana as treatment. What do you think?

He was dragged into the failed negotiations between boxers Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, but he did not seem to mind. And how could he not end up in the middle of it all? After all, he is at the helm of the U.S. Anti-Doping Association.

In an interview with MLive.com, Tygart called the urine testing that is being used by the country’s boxing commissions as “a joke”. This stance may have led boxing to give its views on performance-enhancing drugs a second look.

As for Mayweather Jr.’s announcement about demanding Olympic-style drug tests for all his fights, he had this to say: “At the end of the day, our interest is the interests of clean athletes. So anyone, Mayweather or otherwise, who stands up and says ‘I want the best program to protect my right to compete,’ we’re going to support him.”

Apparently, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is serious about the integrity of any fight he will figure in, especially when it comes to drug use. According to a post on 411mania.com, Mayweather will be demanding random drug testing in the form of urine as well as blood tests for all future bouts. This was reportedly revealed by Mayweather Jr.’s advisor and friend, Leonard Ellerbe.

The post quoted Ellerbe: “Whoever fights Floyd Mayweather in the future, that person will be subjected to random blood and urine testing. Floyd is out front, championing this effort to change the way the sport is handled in the future.”

The random blood-drawing “demand” became an obstacle for a proposed fight with Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao, and is expected to become an issue as well for ongoing negotiations that will pit Mayweather Jr. against Shane Mosley. The latter is said to have previous links to BALCO and reportedly used performance-enhancing drugs as he trained for a rematch with Oscar de la Hoya in 2003.

We wonder how that one will turn out. The fight with Pacquiao has ended with most of the fighting done outside the boxing arena – and he did not even have a proven history of drug use. It will be interesting to see how these negotiations will play out, and if Mayweather Jr. will end up in a bout with anyone in the near future.

What all this seems to indicate is that Mayweather Jr. is positioning himself as an advocate for drug-free drug bouts – although there may be those who will think that he is merely dodging an actual bout in the ring.

A report on CNN reveals that NASA is currently investigating a “rare and isolated incident” after cocaine was found in a processing hangar at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The cocaine, albeit only small in amount, was found on the floor near a bathroom in the “restricted area of the processing hangar for the shuttle Discovery”, based on a statement from NASA. Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana says further: “This is a rare and isolated incident, and I’m disappointed that it happened, but it should not detract from the outstanding work that is being done by a dedicated team on a daily basis.”

Drug testing has been performed on the employees that work in the area where the cocaine was discovered. The number of employees was estimated at 200, and included both NASA personnel and contractors.

A healthcare lab testing facility, known for its ability to provide a variety of medical lab tests, has begun to offer onsite and mobile employee drug screening in Dallas, as well as in the surrounding North Texas area. Since ANY LAB TEST NOW North Dallas first opened its doors in 2007, the facility has been able to provide the community with various tests, including thyroid testing and paternity testing.

Through a release on PR Web, ANY LAB TEST NOW North Dallas announced that in addition to the services that they currently offer, employers can now also choose to use the facility for employee drug screening and background checks. The press release reads:

“ANY LAB TEST NOW is the one stop shop for all pre-employment, random, reasonable suspicion and post accident drug screens. Employers can take advantage of a background check web portal tailored specifically to fit their needs regardless the size of their business. It is an ANY LAB TEST NOW policy to conduct all urine, saliva, blood and alcohol drug screens to the standards set forth by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) as outlined in 49 CFR Part 40.”

In addition, employers can also avail of employee wellness programs through the facility. ANY LAB TEST NOW can go on company site to administer flu shots or perform overall health evaluations of company employees. The latter can be a means through which underlying future health issues may be uncovered. ANY LAB TEST NOW also provides the North Texas and Southern Oklahoma areas with round the clock mobile DOT Drug Testing and Alcohol Testing.

Greg Johnson, owner of ANY LAB TEST NOW North Dallas, is quoted with the following statement: “We understand this is a service oriented industry and will do whatever it takes to meet the needs of our clients.” There are currently two ANY LAB TEST NOW North Dallas facilities, with two more scheduled to open by next year.

At the end of March this year, we ran a post regarding two Indian pilots who failed random breath analyzer tests prior to flying on scheduled commercial flights. Early this month, a story revealed that a total of 24 pilots failed in pre-flight medical examinations as of end of November, proof that pilots are still taking a drink or two and ending up positive for alcohol prior to a scheduled flight.

With the Yuletide season and the expected increase in number of international travelers, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has put its foot down and implemented a no-exception 100% alcohol testing for all pilots who will be flying internationally from India. Alcohol tests are thus mandatory for all pilots of Air India, Jet and Kingfisher.

The same directive holds true for all flights that are coming home to India from a foreign airport; the cockpit crew will be required to pass breath analyzer tests prior to a flight. If an Indian airliner medico is not stationed at a foreign airport, then an international flight is required to have a doctor on board to perform the testing prior to the flight home, following Indian aviation safety laws and not the foreign country’s local rules.

Such a zero-tolerance policy is important. History has proven, after all, how vulnerable the aviation industry is to irresponsible internal acts of the people who are involved in it as well as to external attacks from those with the intention of spreading terror, as evidenced by the repeated use of commercial airliners in attempted and completed acts of terrorism. And the sad thing about it is that innocent civilian lives are caught in the middle of it all.

At present, Indian safety laws only call for random pre-flight breath tests, but that may become more stringent in 2010.