getting rid of drugs on the playing field.

And elite sprinter Troy Douglas has been asked to return to Bermuda for the November 29-30 workshop to speak on his experiences as a drug free athlete on the world stage.

Youth and Sports Minister Tim Smith said the department's intention to implement a drug free sports policy in Bermuda was announced a year ago.

Since then, members of the department had met with representatives of local sports clubs and sporting bodies, local coaches, the Police, the Ministry of Education, the Chief Medical Officer, the Chief Pathologist and others.

Mr. Smith said it had become clear during talks with different organisations that people wanted the department to take a leadership or coordinating role in developing the policy.

So the conference was prepared with the assistance of the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sports (CCES) and will take place at the Bermuda College.

The National Drug Commission (NDC) will co-host the conference as well as pay for the Canadian organisation's involvement.

The conference will tackle three major areas which are: encouraging sport governing bodies to reach an agreement on what the mission statement should try to accomplish; developing policies through small group discussion which can then be brought together; and establishing a series of steps to follow and a level of commitment from the governing bodies.

After the conference each sport will then be looked at individually, said CCES representative Paul Melia.

He said the use of drugs in sports undermined the confidence of parents who encouraged their children to take part in them.

"The potential impact of this is very frightening,'' he said.

The CCES was set up in the wake of the Ben Johnson doping scandal at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul when the top sprinter was forced to return his 100-metres gold medal.

Bermuda's heightened awareness of drugs in sport came after the Miami Seven scandal when members of the Bermuda Under 23 soccer team were arrested in Miami on drugs charges.

Now the CCES has been retained by the department to help develop the policy for drug free sports that is consistent with Bermuda's requirements.

The department has sent out letters containing the information covered in the past year's meetings to sporting bodies who have been asked to read and digest the material in time for the conference, said Youth and Sport director Brenton Roberts.

Casey Wade, the policy and programme coordinator of the CCES, said the developed policy would focus on education and doping control including the detection and deterrence of illegal substance use.

These include illicit drugs -- cocaine and heroin for example -- and performance enhancers.

DRUGS DGS