The NCAA News - News & Features

Drug-education and drug-testing issues

1. Penalties for Tobacco Use.

The committee noted that the Council had not endorsed the earlier recommendations to apply the ejection penalty currently applicable to student-athletes to all others included under the tobacco ban (i.e., games personnel, including officials). It understood the Council's position regarding the difficulty in enforcement. However, it continues to believe that a double standard exists that allows games personnel and officials to ignore the ban and forces the student-athletes to be penalized if they violate the ban. Results of NCAA conference surveys verify this concern since only 50 percent of the conferences have penalties in place that apply to games personnel.

Recommendations:

a. The committee again recommends that legislation be sponsored that establishes uniform penalties for personnel, including coaches and officials, for their use of tobacco products in violation of NCAA legislation. Although the committee understands the practical difficulty in ejecting a coach or official, it believes that penalties such as suspending a coach's or official's participation in a subsequent contest or withholding payment to officials are possible alternate enforceable sanctions.

b. The committee recommends that the NCAA ban on the use of tobacco products also include those products that are indistinguishable from genuine tobacco products (e.g., mint snuff and other tobacco "substitutes") and that the current legislation be modified to make this clear.

2. Recognizing other Positive Cases.

The committee remains concerned that student-athletes who test positive by other athletics organizations (e.g., U.S. Olympic Committee, U.S. Swimming, USA Track and Field, etc.) are eligible to compete in NCAA championship events. Such a concern also is present in many coaches organizations.

Previously, the committee had recommended that the Council sponsor legislation authorizing NCAA testing of student-athletes who test positive for banned substances by another athletics drug-testing organization. The committee had agreed to develop a list of athletics organizations covered under the program and had agreed to contact these organizations to obtain lists of student-athletes who test positive. The NCAA would not release its results to these organizations. It was noted that this program would not include high-school or institutional (universities' programs) drug-testing results.

Recommendation:

The committee asked the Council to reconsider its earlier decision, and to sponsor legislation authorizing NCAA testing of student-athletes who test positive by another athletics drug-testing organization. Such legislation has the support of many coaches organizations.