David Howman, the director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), believes that “mafia-organized crime” is responsible for pushing anabolic steroids in sports. Howman was in New York to deliver the keynote address entitled “Trends and Progress in the Fight against Doping in Sport” for the 2011 Partnership for Clean Conference on December 1, 2011.
“[T]he cheaters that are really clever are now cleverer, or they’re getting more help, and that’s a challenge,” Howman told CyclingNews.com
CyclingNews.com reported that Howman was clearly referring to organized crime organizations as the source of the help. Howman believes organized crime has focused on anabolic steroids and performance-enhancing drugs because of the greater financial rewards.
“We know that the mafia-organised crime is making more money from pushing steroids than it is through pushing heroin,” according to Howman.
Howman has made this assertion several times over the past year. He claims that organized crime’s preference for steroids over heroin is an established fact and not merely his opinion. He has cited Interpol as the source of his claim. Interpol has not publicly backed up Howman’s claim.
WADA has moved beyond characterizing the use of steroids as solely a problem for competitive sports. If organized crime is pushing anabolic steroids over heroin, Howman would like us to believe that performance-enhancing drugs represent a major threat to the public health.
Source:
Benson, D. (December 1, 2011). Howman talks tough on organised crime and doping. Retrieved from http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/howman-talks-tough-on-organised-crime-and-doping
