Ex-Dreadlocked RB In Dope Test Deadlock



The Dolphins' Ricky Williams may have tested positive for something, and it wasn't shyness.

According to the report, the Post saw NFL documents that showed Williams' attorney, Gary Ostrow, had filed arguments with the league over the fairness of its drug testing policy. Williams reportedly scored a 15 on the league's testing scale -- the lowest score that would register as a positive test result and one that, according to the report, is consistent with occasional marijuana use. A second sample taken later on Dec. 10 scored a 14 -- a level that would not have warranted league action without an initial positive result, according to the Post.

"Ricky is pretty confident he's going to beat this thing," one source told the paper. "When he took the test, for example, he was dehydrated after exercising. Dehydration sometimes causes people who would be negative to test positive."

Dr. Gary Wadler, a New York University professor and doping expert, told the Post that he has never heard of dehydration being successfully used as a drug defense.




(many adults heard Coach Ditka's exhortation to "take the Levitra Challenge", but only Ricky volunteered for a personal demonstration)

"Clearly, athletes will search every method they can, including analyzing each rule very precisely, the handling of the sample and the validity of the laboratory," Wadler said. "But marijuana is not a substance that occurs normally in the body and the only argument you can really make is passive inhalation. But for a cutoff above that level? You smoked. And you inhaled."

Posted: Sat - May 15, 2004 at 02:54 AM      

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