World Anti-Doping: Research Study - Interesting

[Dtownry]

http://www.wada-ama.org/rtecontent/document/donati_report_trafficking_2007-03_06.pdf

Doing some research I came across this rather interesting (but long) report. It starts out slow, but the later sections have some pretty informative information, stories, and statistics. I am a bit of a history buff so I enjoyed reading this.

Here are some selected sections from the Table of Contents to give you a general idea of content:

• TRAFFIC IN DOPING SUBSTANCES: RECENT HISTORY
• ROLE OF THE ITALO-AMERICAN MAFIA IN THE 70S AND 80S
• DAVID JENKINS, THE “GOOD GUY” FROM EDINBURGH
• DICTATORS ARE ALSO INVOLVED IN THE TRAFFICKING OF DOPING SUBSTANCES
• HOW PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES LOOKED AFTER STARVING CHILDREN IN THE THIRD WORLD
• ROLE OF THE RUSSIAN CRIMINAL ORGANIZATIONS AND OTHER FORMER SOVIET COUNTRIES
• DOPING THE ASIAN WAY
• TRAFFICKING ON THE INTERNET
• THE MILITARY, POLICE AUTHORITIES AND DOPING
• DOPING AND ARAB GULF COUNTRIES
• WESTERN EUROPE’S ROLE
• THE PRESENT SITUATION IN THE USA
• THE SCANDAL OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL MULTINATIONAL SERONO
• THE DISTURBING INCIDENT IN SOUTH AFRICA
• AN EXCHANGE BETWEEN ANIMALS AND PEOPLE: AUSTRALIAN VETERINARY HORMONES
• THE MAIN DOPING ROUTES

 

[PillarofBalance]

Wow... I plan on reading this in its entirety which will take time but so far the first few dozen pages are so full of falsehoods, hyperbole and unsupported claims it is astounding...

 

[Dtownry]

I would definitely like to know your thoughts on it. I am going to print a hard copy and go through it...

 

[LeanHerm]

Yeah very long but seems like a good read

 

[Curiosity]

I read most of it, there is some interesting history mixed in with some unsubstantiated claims.

I found the history of the steroid and peptide black market, and its shift from Italian Mafia control, to Russian Organized Crime, to Thailand and Mexico, and now mostly to China to be an interesting history. Also, the many many examples of law enforcement and military selling and using steroids rang true. Finally, the strong evidence that pharmaceutical companies have often purposefully overproduced these compounds, and then allowed them to be diverted to the black market, is hard to deny. Especially interesting was the story of how millions of dollar worth of GH was stolen from the island of cyprus, enough to supply the entire european continent for months, and the questions of "why was so much GH on this tiny island, how come there was no security guarding millions of dollars worth of product, etc." seems clear that it was put there to be stolen while the manufacturer looked the other way.

What's missing from the article is any analysis of whether steroids are actually harmful to atheletes and bodybuilders. But that's to be expected in an article published by an organization that exists on the notion that PEDs are harmful and should be eradicated. If they came out and said that PEDs weren't harmful, it would beg the question of why everyone at WADA is being paid all this money to try to eliminate them in the first place, and they'd be out of jobs and out of power.