the testing program isn't as good as His Majesty thinks it is, and what causes a false positive.
NASCAR chairman Brian France called Jeremy Mayfield's positive drug test "a serious violation" of the sport's toughened new drug policy. France said Friday he considers performance-enhancers and recreational drugs to be serious violations. But a person familiar with Mayfield's test results told The Associated Press that Mayfield did not test positive for a performance-enhancing drug. That means Mayfield tested positive for a narcotic or a controlled substance, such as cocaine, marijuana or methamphetamine. France would not reveal what Mayfield was caught using, despite a call from several drivers to disclose the drug. "We had a serious violation of our test, our substance-abuse policy, which gets you an automatic and indefinite suspension and that is where we stand with Jeremy,"
Recreational drugs are normally considered to be things like pot, mushrooms, LSD, and cocaine. Meth isn’t considered to be a recreational drug by any of the County Mounties I know. It’s considered to be a hard core drug, like heroine, opium, and crack. Performance enhancing drugs are normally considered to be things like steroids, ephedrine, and yes, Viagra, a former NA$CAR sponsor.
As to possible drug interaction causing a false positive, there are two OTC drugs which when taken together will give a test result for a prescription drug. I’m not going to put the name here because of potential abuse by somebody but I can tell you in an e-mail later on if you’re interested in finding out the drugs names.
The main active ingredient in OTC cold medications and allergy medicines is pseudoephedrine, which is used in illegal drug labs to make Methedrine, or as it‘s more commonly known as crystal meth or crank. Pseudoephedrine will also give a false positive indication for meth. So you have to wonder if this lab doing the testing is as good as Faux King Brian thinks it is, especially after Dr. Black changed his statements regarding the test results for Mayfield. Plus is there something wrong with the timeline that both Dr. Black and NA$CAR laid out?
"If you should test positive for over-the-counter medications or a prescribed medication that you are on with your doctor, that doesn't result in NASCAR suspending you, you will ... be asked to explain why you have a certain substance that was identified in a test. That's happened a lot, and it doesn't get you a suspension." - HRH Faux King Brian
If this is the case and NA$CAR is so serious about drug abuse, why haven’t we heard anything about drivers coming up positive for OTC drugs? Could it be that some of the Chosen Ones have come up positive for the OTC drugs and NA$CAR doesn’t want we fans to know about it? And if this drug abuse program is so effective, why doesn’t His Royal Highness and the rest of his merry henchmen submit to it to set the example for everyone else in NA$CAR? It’s called “Leadership by Example”. Something that’s used in the military and some civilian businesses. Also, just why did Dr. Black change his statement in regards to Mayfield’s positive test results? That by itself raises suspicion with some fans. As I’ve said since this drug abuse program was initiated, it’s half baked. It’s good that they have one but it lacks a lot. And as we’ve seen time and again, NA$CAR’s leadership isn’t exactly the most consistent leadership around. Here’s comes another palm tree.
NASCAR has "always had the toughest enforcement in sports." - HRH Faux King Brian
I’d say ask Tim Richmond about NA$CAR’s enforcement about drug rules but unfortunately Tim isn’t with us to ask. And if NA$CAR has always had the toughest enforcement in sports, why was Aaron Fike able to do what he did? He wasn’t even caught by NA$CAR. And under the old rules of “reasonable suspicion”, why wasn’t His Royal Highness ever tested? Especially after he went hunting down innocent palm trees in his Lexus. If that wasn't reasonable suspicion I don't know what is. Oh, wait, that's right, drug testing doesn't apply to His Royal Highness and his henchmen. My bad. People might mistake their normally being dopey for being under the influence of some foreign substance.
After an injury before Bristol, Greg Biffle was prescribed something he referred to as "probably questionable." But he claims when he attempted to contact someone that could address his concerns, the answers weren't readily available, so Biffle chose the safer route.
I commend the Biff for going the safe route, but you have to wonder why these supposedly wise and learned men were unable to answer his questions about the prescribed medication. If he couldn’t get an answer on a prescription drug , doesn’t this make you wonder just how effective their testing program is and if the lab is even qualified to do drug testing?
Biffle applauds NASCAR's efforts at stiffening its drug policy and promoting random testing. But without a conclusive list, Biffle believes "anything you take is questionable — even over-the-counter stuff."
Exactly Biff and that’s part of the problem with the drug testing program NA$CAR has. Normal everyday products like aspirin could be questionable. Even Motrin could be questionable. There are a few folks who can get a buzz off of it. But the majority of the population isn’t affected by it. I can see illicit narcotics being on the list. I can see performance enhancing products being on the list. The problem is there’s no list. It’s whatever happens to be the wit and whimsy of the day of NA$CAR as to what’s prohibited. Like their interpretation and enforcement of their own racing rules.
"With these different drugs or different things that you can take, we know we've all heard of certain — not like Claritin, but certain drugs even like that show up in some kind of testing," Biffle added. "I don't know if it's that particular one, but there are others, so I think anything along (those) lines — (anything) other than aspirin or ibuprofen or things like that — have to be questioned, whether you really need to be taking them or not.
Unless there is a list Biff, everything is questionable. Aspirin, Ibuprofen, everything. And if you had arthritis or severe back pain the way myself and other folks do, you can’t just “tough it out“.
France said the competitors are "encouraged to understand" that if they test positive for over-the-counter meds or prescription drugs from a doctor that is on the list, it would not necessarily result in an automatic suspension. But Black or an associate from Aegis will expect an explanation as to why the results were positive.
Once again, since there is no list, how can any drug, prescription, OTC, or illicit be on it? You keep saying there is a list Your Highness, but time and again the drivers have said they don’t have a list. So which is it? Is there a definitive list or isn’t there and when will it be made available to the teams?
"The process going forward is a process. It's not just 'NASCAR says' or 'the laboratory says' you tested positive. That would obviously be true. But there's a process for the road back, a variety of other things. There's clarification of the test for Jeremy's benefit. That process is ongoing; that process is still going on now."
This is the problem. It’s an on-going process because it wasn’t well thought out to begin with and you’re either trying to play catch-up or trying to cover your butt. If Mayfield is innocent, as he says he is, he shouldn’t need to be applying for re-instatement. He should be automatically returned to ownership and have his driving credentials re-instated and be issued a massive apology from not only yourself, but several drivers in the garage as well as a few dozen folks in the media circus. But only if he’s innocent as he says he is. And this is something that isn’t covered in your drug testing program. What if a driver or crewmember is actually innocent and has a false positive? What do you do then? By making them apply for re-instatement, you’re making them appear guilty in the court of public opinion. So you better be coming up with a plan for that Your Highness.
"I haven't had any discussions with them about why there's not a list or whatever. Everyone just wants to make sure they're right and they don't accidentally trip up. I thought this thing was supposed to keep marijuana, cocaine, heroin and things like that out of the deal. That was my assumption of what the drug policy was all about." -Mark Martin
This is the problem with having a drug testing program that is half baked and not well thought out ahead of time. You assume that it’s to prevent illicit drugs from being used by drivers and crewmembers. But how about those crewmembers and possibly drivers who are using various supplements used in body building which have been banned by various professional sports? Are they on the list? Oh, right, there is no list for the drivers. So we don’t even know if they’re banned or not.
So I believe what you're going to see is the NASCAR testing policy evolve. They're going to figure out how to make it better, so that everyone understands it more completely…because -- myself included -- there are a lot of people that don't really understand exactly what's going on and how all the procedures work. - Cousin Carl
This is a problem with the program. It’s evolving. Instead of going to folks with years of experience with drug testing, education, urinalysis, etc. NA$CAR didn’t really bother to do that. So it has to evolve to cover its mistakes and omissions. If they really want to make it better, they need to go to the military and find out how a drug testing program is supposed to be run. They’re program may not be perfect, but it’s a damn sight better than what NA$CAR is trying to use. Plus it was well thought out before it was implemented.
"When we had the meeting in the beginning of the year, Dr. Black (NASCAR's drug czar) gave every single driver and owner his personal cell phone number and said 'If you have any questions about any medication, about any vitamin or supplement, you can call me, and we'll talk about it and make sure that's okay.' - Matt Kenseth
Drivers and crewmembers shouldn’t have to be calling Dr. Black to begin with. If they had a definitive list to give to their doctors, they wouldn’t need to call. But as NA$CAR isn’t the “All Seeing All Knowing Oz” like they think they are, it wasn’t necessary to have a list. Now, it looks like it’s going to bite them in the butt because they don’t have one. I can see some possible court cases brewing off of this one.
“The big worry is really about what can create a 'false positive.' “ - Jeff Gordon
Exactly Jeff. OTC cold and allergy medications can give a false positive. OTC pain killers and some anti-inflammatory medications can give false positives. Why wasn’t this thought about ahead of time by NA$CAR? After all, didn’t Faux King Brian say he knows what’s best for the sport? Obviously it wasn’t well thought out, planned, or implemented. Just another thing that HRH doesn’t “know what is best” about.
"Just don't take drugs“. "Don't do anything stupid and you won't get caught“.
"Nobody deserves anything -- no lists, nothing. Don't do drugs, don't do stupid stuff. "Let's not point any fingers at Jeremy. The truth will be known by the people who need to know it. "We don't need to know it. It's none of our business. "That's the problem with everybody – they've got to know everything. "Everybody wants to know what the hell Jeremy did. That's his business and NASCAR's business, and they'll handle it." - Dale Jr.
“Don’t do anything stupid and you won’t get caught“. Like intentionally spinning out your car to bring out a caution and then admitting to it. But Jr. has a good point about not doing drugs. He should’ve said illegal or illicit drugs though. And he’s right about not pointing the finger at Jeremy the way some folks in the garage, NA$CAR, and media are giving the finger to Jeremy right now. But the list is a very important thing. If a driver has to take certain medications for a medical condition, he sure wants to know if that medication is on the list. Otherwise, what happens when he comes up positive for a legitimate medication and has been indefinitely suspended for its use? Or maybe his doctor can give him an alternate medication which isn’t prohibited for his medical condition. That’s where a list comes in handy. But since there’s no list, it’s a moot point.
Since I started writing this on Saturday, more things have come out. Mayfield has named Claritin D as the culprit. He’s also looking at possible legal action to get back to his position as a driver/owner. During the initial reporting of this fiasco, a member of the media asked if Claritin D was involved to which a non-answer was given. For those who haven’t been around the block a few times, if Jeremy does take NA$CAR to court, NA$CAR will drag their feet as much as possible to drag the case out to try to make folks forget it exist and to financially drain the person filing the case in hopes they’ll drop it. Also, as Claritin is an official sponsor, you can bet dollars to donuts NA$CAR will do everything in their power to keep the sponsor’s name “clean”. Just like the official tire provider never bringing bad tires to the track. Just ask Jabber Jaws and his parrot. Should things look unfavorable towards NA$CAR in court, they will go behind closed doors and reach a deal which won’t be made public because there will be a confidentiality clause attached to the agreement. However, you’ll know it because it will mean Mayfield will be back behind the wheel and will be able to resume his other job as owner.
Normally, when urinalysis is done and there are two samples, which is the case here, the second sample is sent to an independent lab for testing just in case the results from the first testing lab could possibly be tainted or have been done with some procedural errors. In this case, the “B Sample” was tested by the same lab as the first sample. So if the first sample was tainted or there was a procedural error which gave a false positive, they’d get the same results from the second sample.
In an interview with Tony Furr by Marty Smith, Furr says that Mayfield has had allergy problems as long as he has known him and that Mayfield takes Claritin for his allergies. Just prior to the drug testing at Richmond, Mayfield had to purchase some Claritin for his allergies and did so at a store near the track. Mayfield even offered to do a hair follicle test, which allows drug testing to go back further than what the normal urinalysis does. It’s a painful procedure to have done but if Mayfield is insisting it be done, then why not do it.
The more and more that comes out about this whole thing the more it starts to stink like limburger cheese. The same lab testing both samples, the changing of statements by Dr. Black, the problems with the timeline, an official sponsor’s product being involved and the known greed of NA$CAR for sponsor money, plus their past track record with Tim Richmond and Aaron Fike. The more than comes out, the more it looks like NA$CAR and the drug testing program will get a rather large black eye. But let’s see what happens.
Unsubstantiated rumors have it that when the drug abuse program was first being implemented, His Royal Highness decided to submit a sample to check the system out. Plus he really needed to do #1. When given instructions, he was told “Ready, Aim, Fire”. Well, as luck would have it, he followed the instructions. Somewhat. After he found his “natural endowment“, which required a 30 minute search to locate, he was more than ready to give a sample. When he finally submitted his sample, it was “Ready Fire Aim”. Sort of like how NA$CAR tends to deal with drivers who upset the Royal Barge by voicing accurate opinions or proving that NA$CAR has made a mistake.
His Highness managed to spray the floor, walls, Mafia Mike’s shoes, and a urinal before finally getting his aim controlled and getting some in the cup. He did manage to get enough in the cup for them to do testing and the results came back positive for a very serious drug known as “stupidity” and an alcohol content of 180 proof, making him a fire hazard in the event he should be cut. People under the influence of “stupidity” tend to do things which lack a great deal of common sense, a common problem in the NA$CAR hierarchy since Bill France Jr. stepped down. Like ruining a racing format that works, following IROC in making all the cars standardized and look alike, trying to turn auto racing into a “stick and ball” sport, shutting down traditional tracks, moving traditional race dates around, and proclaiming that you know what’s best for the sport after you admit you don‘t know much about it. The results of His Majesty’s test were never released publicly and have only been reported in rumors around the Ivory Towers of Daytona and the Chart House. Of course, whenever someone mentions these rumored test results within earshot of His Highness, he immediately screams out, “It’s Dale Jr.’s fault”.
Another unsubstantiated rumor was that His
Highness had a complete annual physical. As a
part of his physical, he needed to see a
proctologist for a colonoscopy. Dr. Seymour
Butts, proctologist to the stars and amateur
astronomer, performed the colonoscopy. During
the procedure, not only did he locate His
Majesty’s missing crown, but also his head
(which explains his constipation problem). Upon
further examination and based upon his skills as
an amateur astronomer, Dr. Butts was able to
declare “There‘s no intelligent life in Uranus“ to
His Highness, the Emperor of All things
NA$CAR. The only maladies found during the
physical were the total lack of common sense,
no testicular fortitude, and a case of cranial-rectalitis. But remember folks, these are unsubstantiated rumors.
With Memorial Day coming, please take some time to remember why we have Memorial Day. It isn’t just to have a 3 day weekend or an excuse for a cookout or to have a few beers. It’s to remember the sacrifices that were made and the lives given by our fellow citizens and members of the military to keep our country free. So if you happen to run across a veteran or you know one, let them know you appreciate the sacrifices they and their comrades-in-arms have made for us.
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