Schwarzenegger Calls for Tough Steroid Tests
from
Reuters Health SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) -
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, perhaps the world's best known past user
of steroids, said on Tuesday that tougher testing is the only way to reduce the
use of illegal substances in sport.
"I think one of
the most important things is that we have strict and tight controls," the
former Mr. Olympia said at his first news conference as governor, in response
to a question.
"We in
bodybuilding have been having this for years now, for the last 15 years. We're
testing the athletes to make sure they are not taking drugs."
A major steroid
scandal has been unfolding in California in recent weeks as a San Francisco
area laboratory BALCO is under a federal grand jury probe on suspicion of
distributing the new previously undetectable steroid THG. Schwarzenegger said
it was not an issue for a state governor however.
Even as sports
authorities and law enforcement step up the effort to counter steroid use, the
advances of science make it a cat-and-mouse game, Schwarzenegger
said.
"The big
challenge is that for every drug that comes out, there is a new test coming out
to detect that drug," he said. "And then the drug companies come out with
another new drug that you cannot detect. And then you have to come with
research and find ways to detect it again. And by that time a new drug comes
out that you cannot detect. That is the challenge."
Schwarzenegger
has spoken openly about using steroids during his bodybuilding days and again
acknowledged that use in a new interview to accompany the 25th anniversary DVD
of the documentary "Pumping Iron" which was released last week.
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