Posted by CrockerFan
on July 19, 2012, 3:56 am, in reply to "Legal Stimulant above "threshold"?"
71.116.14.80
Situation one is out because they don’t test for caffeine or nicotine. Both are stimulants but both also present very little risk on the race track and no thresholds exist for their use. The World Anti Doping Agency removed caffeine from their list back in 2004 and all they do is monitor nicotine usage. They have talked about banning nicotine but no definitive proof exists that it enhances performance. NASCAR neither lists nor tests for either.
Situation two is out because if it was prescribed and reported most of this would have been handled behind closed doors. The first thing the MRO would have done would have been to call him and his physician to clarify the prescription. Sometimes an original A specimen will come back positive but the MRO will not notify NASCAR of the positive test that’s because he feels it does not affect the integrity or safety of the competition i.e. an overdose of Ritalin. As long as the driver and the physician cooperate and the MRO is satisfied that an abuse of a prescription drug is not happening the public never even hears about it. The fact that they notified NASCAR prior to the B sample being tested means that it is fairly serious and they want everyone at the next test. What it probably means is they got a positive on the gas chromatograph for an illicit drug, which had no reasonable explanation. If it were any kind of prescription drug that he had legally the B sample test would have already been done.
If I had to guess I would say the band will be upheld on the 24th, however they will not tell the public what the drug was. The only way we will find out is if there is a lawsuit; in Mayfield’s case NASCAR never released the drug type it only came out because the court records were public. The other option is the team or more specifically A.J. releases the results. I’m 90% sure I know what it is, but I’m hoping some lab clown screwed up and forgot to clean the machine because that is his best hope. Take Care.
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