Anti-doping officials are frustrated with Britain’s refusal to criminalize the personal use of anabolic steroids as the 2012 Summer Olympics come to London. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has celebrated victories in several countries that have adopted tougher anti-doping legislation. Australia, Canada, China and Italy all enacted either permanent or temporary legislation that increased the penalties for steroid use and trafficking when they were the host country for either the Summer or Winter Olympics.
“It is not a criminal offense for personal consumption for athletes in this country,” according to a spokesman for the British Olympics minister Hugh Robertson. “But they will be dealt with under anti-doping law if they are caught with drugs in their system.”
Athletes can legally use anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), even when obtained through black market sources, in the United Kingdom.
In September 2011, the British government made a small concession to the anti-doping crusaders lobbying for tougher steroid law. While the personal possession of steroids for self-administration remains perfectly legal under the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act, it will be illegal to order steroids via the internet for delivery by mail. The personal importation of steroids and PEDs will be restricted to personal custody only. It is unclear exactly when this amendment will be enacted but it is expected to occur before the Olympics.
At any rate, it will remain perfectly legal for athletes from around the world to fly into London with steroids in their luggage.
Furthermore, prior to the most recent amendment to the British steroids laws, it was illegal to use steroids produced domestically by underground labs (UGLs). After the new amendment is enacted, individuals will be able to legally obtain UGL steroids for their personal use.
Anti-doping officials feel that countries around the world, especially those hosting the Olympics, should change their national drug laws in order to make it easier to catch athletes who use steroids. It would clearly make WADA’s job easier, but should ordinary citizens who are not Olympic athletes also be forced, under threat of criminal law, to follow the same anti-doping rules as athletes?
Source:
Rogers, M. (April 6, 2012). Britain’s lax steroids laws leave WADA to enforce drug use by athletes at the Olympics. Retrieved from http://sports.yahoo.com/news/britains-lax-steroids-laws-leave-033500239–oly.html
