Bring in levels of drug law

Lives being ruined

A SPORTS lawyer has claimed laws must be changed to stop athletes such as Shayna Jack having their lives destroyed by accidental drug use.

Queensland sports lawyer Stephen Atkinson says there should be a law introduced to distinguish between deliberate and unintentional drug use.

Jack will return to competition next year after winning her appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against a four-year suspension for a positive test to Ligandrol.

CAS reduced her sentence to two years after finding she did not knowingly ingest the substance.

IOC member and WADA executive board member Dick Pound said she was still guilty of doping because the catch-all law does not discriminate between deliberate and unintentional use, which Atkinson believes unfairly casts a shadow over the athlete’s future.

“No one is ever condoning drug cheating in sport and that there should not be extremely harsh penalties for offenders,’’ he said.

“But athletes who have been found to have not intentionally taken a performingenhancing drug at the very least should have that finding more clearly separated from intentional use.

“Why can’t there be two clearly separate offences for intentional and nonintentional illicit drug use?

“There may be some practical or historical arguments for having one ‘catch all’ offence, but given the amount of shame, humiliation and publicity that such a finding brings the individual, there are much stronger arguments for better separating the two circumstances in terms of how they are categorised and treated.

“It would have potentially life-changing consequences for the relevant individual because they would at least get the opportunity to try and salvage their reputation and have a chance to clearly distinguish themselves from the Lance Armstrongs of the world going forward with their lives.”

The advanced testing procedures are catching many more drug takers but the adjustment has been so great athletes are being caught offguard by using supplements unaware they are placing their careers in jeopardy.