Disclaimer: I do not promote, encourage or think that the use of recreational drugs is ok, good, or whatever. I'm pretty generally against the use of all recreational drugs.
It's been released and now well talked about that Tom Booned test positive for cocaine for the second time in an out of competition doping control. The first time he tested positive for cocaine it was determined that since cocaine being used out of competition isn't technically against any anti-doping rules and so he was suspended by his team but not whoever the governing body of cycling is. He also avoided any real criminal charges because he's basically the biggest sports star from Belgium since Eddy Merckx. Boonen's got techno songs written about him, Merckx doesn't have that so maybe he's bigger? No.
I feel the need here for a second disclaimer before I move on. I don't think Tom Boonen should be doing blow, period. However, as much as I don't think Tom should be doing blow, I think the release of this test result is a huge invasion of privacy. When one becomes a professional athlete in today's age you are also agreeing to be tested for banned substances. That's part of the job, so no athlete should have any issue with that. However, as the athlete, you're also trusting that the people doing the testing are only running tests for certain substances and anything else they find is really nobody's business.
I don't know what all shows up in these tests. Maybe the fact that you ate a steak the night before shows up? Maybe the fact that there's a lot of pollen in the air and so maybe that's floating around in your system? I have no idea how it works. However, if those two extreme examples do show up, I'm just as interested to know about them as I am about any recreational drug that isn't banned.
The part I don't understand is what the lab or doping control people hope to gain by releasing this private information about Tom Boonen. Again, I don't know all the legal ins and outs of Belgium, but I'm pretty sure here in America we just had a pretty similar drug related story. Anybody remember that picture of Michael Phelps taking a hit out of what appeared to be a bong and what we all assumed was filled with weed? Remember the outrage? The sheriff where the picture was taking saying they were going after Phelps? Remember how it ended? They couldn't prove anything because it's a picture. You can't drug test a picture! This is a similar situation. The prosecution in this case would have to somehow prove that Tom Boonen ingested cocaine knowingly because all they have from the lab report is that it's in his system. In most cases you have to prove either possession or distribution in order to prosecute for illegal drugs. In this case, they don't know either, so again, what's the lab doing reporting it? What's their agenda?
I'm really starting to get the impression that everybody that works in these labs are all failed athletes who are all angry they couldn't make it so they're out to get the current athletes. It's really the only scenario that makes a lot of these reports make any kind of sense. Maybe there's a code of obligation to report findings of this nature if you work in a lab, but I doubt it. It just seems to me this is a huge breech of privacy. If the governing body of anti-doping and cycling expects the athletes to give up their blood and hair and whatever else they decide to test at any given time, I don't see how they aren't equally obligated to only test and report on any findings that break the rules they are asked to abide by for competitive purposes.
I'm sure the only thing that will come out of this whole ordeal will be a lot of public apologizes by Tom Boonen and another Tour de France where we won't be present. Where that's probably the biggest shame. With the public rivalry that he and Cavendish have going I was really hoping for some fireworks in Tour de France finales. Throw in McEwen, Hushvold, Freirer, Farrar and Petacchi and those would have been some very rapid, star studded finishes. I guess now we'll be left to wonder how Tom's doing sitting at home?
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