Elite athletes may have little to fear from the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) as doping in sports persists unabated. However, ordinary people should be afraid of how WADA’s increasing influence in national policy affects them.
The United States Government recently mandated that a sports nutrition company comply with aspects of the WADA Prohibited List as part of a criminal plea agreement.
The government did not simply require that the company produce dietary supplements compliant with the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), the Anabolic Steroid Control Acts or any other relevant local, state and federal laws affecting the dietary supplement industry. The United States felt it necessary to incorporate a moral agenda above and beyond existing law into the plea agreement.
WADA supposedly exists to keep athletes in sports from doping. However, WADA’s dangerous influence threatens to influence laws that will affect tens of millions of ordinary people around the world who are not competitive athletes and have no aspirations of sports competition. They are simply individuals who are looking to feel better, to look better and to perform better with the help of supplements. [Read more...]
The Real Reason Why the Barry Bonds Witch-Hunt Was a Waste of Money
If you think the government’s prosecution of Barry Bonds was justified because no on is above the law, perjury is a serious crime, yada, yada, yada, then this article is for you. You are entirely missing the point. The pursuit of Bonds was clearly a witch-hunt. Celebrity athletes who use anabolic steroids were an acceptable target. However, the government could have just as easily targeted an “immoral” behavior other than steroid use…
What if the government targeted prominent Christians and asked them about infidelity under oath? What if they prosecuted those Christians who would inevitably lie to protect their community standing and their families? After all, they did break they law – they committed perjury. Would that have been a good use of taxpayer money?
Why is it any different than the witch-hunt targeting celebrity athletes who use steroids? [Read more...]