LeVaughn Flynn, Staff Reporter 
Dr Patrece Charles-Freeman, executive director of JADCO, sits in her office on South Odeon Ave. She has a PhD in environmental health management which she started at the Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, USA and completed at the University of the West Indies, Mona. Between 2002 and 2007, she was the director of health at Food For the Poor. She was appointed project director in January, succeeding Ann Shirley, and later promoted to executive director. - Photo by LeVaughn Flynn
ON JULY 25, the Jamaican Government approved the Anti-Doping in Sport Act 2008. This is a set of rules which has now become law and will guide all local athletes in relation to doping in sports. The act provides a legal framework to govern doping violations and thus, ensure fair play in sports.
The Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) was formed in 2005 to execute the national anti-doping programme in accordance with the international governing body - the World Anti-Doping Association (WADA). On February 10, 2004, Jamaica became the 97th signatory state to the UNESCO Copenhagen Declaration on anti-doping in sport and operates under the universal World Anti-Doping Code.
Since the approval of the act in July, JADCO has been busy doing preliminary work to effectively manage Jamaica's anti-doping programme. The Jamaica Anti-Doping Unit (JADU), which is headed by executive director Dr Patrece Charles-Freeman, is the body that runs the daily activity of JADCO.
JADCO vs JADU
JADCO is the board of directors appointed by the Minister of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports, Olivia Grange. The board is chaired by Professor Errol Morrison while Dr Marion Bullock-Ducasse is the vice-chairman. Other members are Dr Herbert Elliott, Mike Fennell, Howard Aris, Alveta Knight, Joan Brown, Vilma McDonald, Chris Stokes, Zavia Mayne, Dr Andrew Wheatley, Molly Rhone and ex-officio members Dr Charles-Freeman, executive director, and Faith Innerarity, acting permanent secretary.
JADU is the secretariat of JADCO which, Charles-Freeman said is "delegated the duties to carry out the mandate of the board which is establishing and implementing a doping control programme for Jamaica".
The board of directors further established three committees - a disciplinary committee, an appeal committee and a therapeutic use exemption committee (TUEC), which are all independent of JADCO.
The disciplinary committee members are chairman Kent Gammon, vice-chairman Lenox Gayle, vice-chairman Jeffrey Mordecai, Dr Peter Charles, Juliet Cuthbert, Bert Cameron, Peter Prendegast, Dr Japheth Ford and Dr Winston Isles.
The appeal committee members are Professor E. Nigel Harris - chairman, Horace Gray - Vice-Chairman Michael Deans, Maurice Foster, Ali McNabb and Raphel Codling. The TUEC members are yet to be finalised.
SETTING the FOUNDATION
Since July, when Senate approved the bill, JADCO, said Charles-Freeman, has been compiling an athletes' database of all international and local athletes who are represented by a local sporting body. From this database, JADCO will formulate a registered testing pool and athletes will be tested in and out of competition. This includes junior athletes that participate in high school competitions.
JADCO is also establishing its Anti-Doping Administration and Management System, more commonly known as ADAMS. A key component of this online programme is that athletes are given a username and password and they can log in their whereabouts so they can be kept track of in case of random drug testing.
JADCO will also be embarking on an aggressive educational campaign targeted primarily at junior athletes.
"We are practising preventative measures now," the executive director stated. "And since there is this doping culture forming, we are trying to fight against that."
Charles-Freeman said the campaign would be done in conjunction with the Ministry of Health and G.C. Foster College, which will have an anti-doping course included in its curriculum. Workshops and seminars will also be held across the island.
HOW ANTI-DOPING VIOLATIONS OCCUR
1. A prohibited substance is in the athlete's specimen;
2. A prohibited substance or method has been used;
3. An athlete refuses to submit or evades sample collection;
4. An athlete fails to provide whereabouts information;
5. Tampering or an attempt to tamper with doping control;
6. There is possession of prohibited substances or prohibited methods;
7. There is trafficking in prohibited substances or prohibited methods; and
8. An attempt is made or where administration of prohibited methods or substances occur.
TESTING PROCEDURE
An anti-doping test costs anywhere between US$200-300 per athlete. This includes purchasing the sample kit, the doping control testing form and shipment. The test can be done anytime, anywhere, in or out of competition. Urine and/or blood may be collected by a doping control officer (DCO), who is often accompanied by a certified chaperone. After the athlete is informed of the doping test, he or she is asked to sign a form confirming he or she has been notified for doping control.
In the case of a urine sample, the athlete is given a reservoir and is asked to check that it hasn't been tampered with. The athlete must remove all clothing covering the mid-section of the body and pass the urine in full view of the DCO, which is of the same gender as the athlete.
JADCO's doping control brochure states: "Athletes are required to remove any clothing from the knees to mid-chest and from the hands to the elbows. This provides the doping control official with a direct observation of the urine leaving the athlete's body. These provisions are meant to ensure that it is the athlete's own urine and help prevent possible manipulation of the urine sample."
Charles-Freeman pointed out: "If the chaperone isn't seeing the urine passed directly into the vessel then that chaperone can no longer work with JADU."
An uninhibited view of the urine passing directly into the container is necessary to avoid any foul play.
"There was this one guy who turned up pregnant because he brought his wife's urine," Charles-Freeman said, making reference to an international case.
The athlete next divides the urine into two samples, A and B, and seals them in specially-marked bottles, checking that the numbers on the reservoir and package correspond.
After the sample has been collected by the DCO, the athlete indicates on the doping control form whether he or she has a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) certificate and if any prescription or non-prescription medications or supplements were taken recently. The TUE allows athletes to ingest medication that contains prohibited substances in small doses.
Finally the DCO, the athlete and anyone else that participated in the test sign the doping control form. The athlete is given a copy of the form. The laboratory copy contains no information that could identify the athlete.
JADCO would then ship the sample to a WADA-certified lab, of which there are 33 around the world, the closest to Jamaica being in the United States.
The results are then shipped back. Athletes are only identified by numbers, not names.
The cost of the testing is absorbed by JADCO. If there is a specific request by the sporting body to test a particular athlete - the cost may be shared.
WHAT IF THERE'S A POSITIVE SAMPLE?
If an athlete's A sample is returned positive, he or she can make a request for the B sample to be tested also. If the B sample does not correspond with the A sample, the results are ignored. If the B sample is also positive, it is investigated by the doping control results manager.
The case is then referred to the independent disciplinary panel by JADCO. Within 14 days of being notified by JADCO of the positive result, the disciplinary panel must hold a hearing with the athlete. A written decision must be issued within 20 days of the notification date and a written reason for the decision must be issued within 30 days of the notification date.
If the athlete wishes to appeal the decision, the case then goes to the appeal panel.
The athlete must submit his or her appeal in writing within 14 days of the decision by the disciplinary panel. Within 21 days of receiving the appeal from the athlete, the appeal panel must examine the evidence. A decision on the appeal is due within 30 days of receiving the appeal and a written reason for the decision must be issued within 60 days of receiving the appeal.
Barring special circumstances, an appeal process should not exceed three months. The only institution that can overturn a decision of the appeal panel is the Court of Arbitration for Sport based in Lausanne, Switzerland.
THERAPEUTIC USE EXEMPTION
This is a critical by-law which allows athletes to take medication which contains banned substances, but in limited doses. An athlete wishing to do this must obtain a TUE certificate. The athlete must apply to the international sporting federation concerned, through the TUE committee, no later than 21 days before competition in an international event. After receiving the certificate, the athlete must inform JADCO. The TUE committee will comprise six highly qualified medical doctors and will be responsible for granting or denying the certificate.
JADCO VS RADO
Jamaica did not join the Caribbean's Regional Anti-Doping Organisation (RADO) and was criticised for it, particularly with the delay in setting up its own anti-doping body.
It was felt that with Jamaica possessing so many high-calibre international athletes, substantially more than the other Caribbean islands, it merited the nation having its own independent anti-doping body.
In a July 22 speech to Parliament, Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller, who spearheaded the establishment of JADCO in 2005 while her party was in power, said: "Mr Speaker, it is important to note that the Government of Jamaica, after extensive consultation with members of the Jamaica Olympic Association, the heads of other national sports associations, and also with WADA officials, decided not to join the Caribbean RADO.
"Instead, we took the more difficult route to form our own independent national anti-doping organisation. The rationale for this move was based on the outstanding performances by Jamaican athletes in almost 40 sporting disciplines at the regional and international level. Hence, we saw the need to establish a comprehensive national anti-doping programme in keeping with the anti-doping programmes of the more developed countries."
FUNDING
JADCO falls under the auspices of the Ministry of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports and is funded by that ministry. The commission's first annual budget is $62 million. Charles-Freeman said JADCO is eligible for a maximum US$30,000 grant from UNESCO. She added that the educational campaign, which is mandated by WADA, will demand the lion's share of the budget.
"Our approved budget of approximately $62 million is not enough to have a full-blown educational programme for the year," she said. "Right now we are OK because that's start-up capital, but the budget will definitely have to increase next year, probably twice as much, to be able to maintain the educational programme and the doping control programme."
