sports, including juniors.

One of the biggest weapons in the war on drugs is now in the hands of Island sports groups.

With the release today of two critical documents by the Bermuda Council for Drug-Free Sports, national sports bodies and clubs are being asked to read, study and, in three weeks, sign into being perhaps the toughest and most comprehensive drug-testing manuals in the world.

The culmination of a joint effort by the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Recreation, the National Drug Commission and sports groups themselves, the documents -- one a Standard Operating Procedure, the other a Policy on Penalties -- are the first, and most important, of the four phases of the National Drug Free Sports Policy.

They, officials say, are legally and medically-sound guides that bring together elements from other nations into a uniquely Bermudian policy that is already being seen as a model for several Caribbean nations.

"If it's not the best, then it is certainly among the best that's currently out there,'' says Ministry director Tony Roberts, who has overseen the project's development since its birth in the wake of the Miami Seven Affair three years ago.

In short, the standard operating procedure will mean unannounced drug testing for any -- and every -- person involved in Bermuda sports, including juniors.

All athletes, whether they are training for the national soccer squad or batting a ball in a co-ed softball league are subject to a phone call at any time requesting that they make themselves available to be tested for five illicit substances.

Officials would not discuss penalties -- or any other specifics of the documents -- although it is understood that a positive test will result in an offer of treatment to the guilty party. If he or she refuses, their playing careers in Bermuda could be over.

Details on a reinstatement clause were only finalised yesterday before the documents were delivered into the hands of national sports bodies and club officials.

They will meet on November 8 at which time they will be asked to put into place what the vast majority of them agreed to in January, when they endorsed a Mission Statement vowing to rid sports of drugs.

"What this says is that the sports community is undertaking a zero tolerance for drug use,'' said Roberts.

"We want to leave no doubt in anyone's mind that we abhor drug use.'' The policy was, in fact, written by a ten-person interim committee of the Bermuda Council for Drug-Free Sports put together in April and chaired by Vaughn Mosher, who heads Benedict Associates, an Island addiction counselling service contracted by the National Drug Commission to carry out testing and procedures.

The committee, consisting of sports officials such as Neville Tyrrell, Jon Beard, Austin Woods, Denise Kyme and Clint Smith, will ultimately be replaced by a permanent board that will sit to examine results, determine punishment, hear appeals and decide upon reinstatement.

Roberts says this facet is what makes the policy special: Sports groups governing themselves rather than being mandated by Government.

Working closely with the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sports, the committee has ended up with two documents that enhance what is already in place in Canada, recognised world leaders in the war on drugs, said Mosher.

While other nations have largely concentrated solely on performance-enhancing drugs, "Bermuda is the first nation to marry that with illicit drugs under one policy and standard operating procedure,'' Mosher said.

Sports groups already appear to have accepted the zero-tolerance policy. Even though the procedures and penalties won't be in place until next month, body building, cricket, rugby and triathlon teams all recently submitted their athletes for tests. In the case of the Bermuda Bodybuilding Federation, they requested that tests be carried out for performance-enhancing drugs, such as steroids, at a Montreal laboratory.

"They are under no obligation per se but they do have a moral obligation to ensure that their selected representatives are drug free,'' said Roberts.

The NDC has agreed to cover the cost of testing, recently earmarking $60,000 for that purpose.

The only concern now, said Mosher, is national teams waiting too long before stepping forward for tests. At least five days -- ten for performance-enhancing drugs -- is needed to complete tests and analyse results.

Part of the standard operating procedure is also expected to deal with alcohol abuse and athletes can expect to be tested if there is "reasonable cause.'' Said Mosher: "Just like drinking on the job is not appropriate, being intoxicated on the field is also not appropriate.'' Is the policy too tough? Roberts and Mosher say no. Sports, they say, is one of four major influences in life -- along with work, home and church -- and ridding drugs will go a long towards aiding the Island's drug woes.

Education, research and public awareness are other areas that will eventually make up the National Drug-Free Sports Policy.

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