Help...all drug test experts...ephedrine?

[canadianhitman]

A good friend of mine just got selected for a random drug test at a pro volleyball event. He took an ephedrine (which is banned) at around 8am. He was tested at 6pm. I am pretty sure it would definately still be in his system. The question is, though, if drug tests differentiate between ephedrine and the pseudoephedrine used in over-the-counter cold remedies. When questioned by the testers, he mentioned that he had used Sudafed in the morning for a cold. Is he screwed, or might he slip by???

 

[poopypants]

they are going to actually test him for ephedrine?

 

[beefybull]

MAYBE he'll slip by, depends how lax the judges are on the matter and if they buy his Sudafed excuse. Someone would have to have specific knowledge and know whether or not Psuedoephedrine & Ephedrine break down into similar metabolites.

 

[MikeyG]

Hmm... intresting topic-- I may tell him to actually take the OTC drug medicines, and take a slightly higher dose to offset the epehdrine-psuedoephedrine ratio--

just a thought

 

[canadianhitman]

Poopy- yes, they test for ephedrine. And to answer your question, BeefyBull, I believe that the same body that governs testing for the Canadian Olympic Committee is responsible for this test. It will all come down to how specific the protocol for the V-ball federation is, because they most certainly can do some very specific testing if they have been asked to do so.

 

[reaktor]

i'm not expert on testing subject,but i dont think they test for ephedrine ,pseudo specificly, but they do for banned substances
urine sample will show traces of metabolites,and i think(read somwhere) that ephedrine,pseudo ,amphetamine ,etc will break down into similar metabolite.

 

[speller]

his explanation of taking sudefed was a bad one. under athletics canada (i believe it was mentioned this is a Canadian athlete) and also under NCAA guideline sudefed is a banned drug, acutally its what it contains (psuedoephedrine) is a banned substance. he will most likely get burned. there have been many athletes in the past that get suspended for 2 to 4 years for taking sudefed. it it the athletes respnsibility to know what they are putting in their system. unfortunalely playing the "i didn't know role" will not hold up for this one.

 

[faster1]

Actually (the suspension) it will be 6 months probably. The suspensions are kind of categorized by drug (unofficially)

I wish there wasn't all this crap re: Ephedra, b/c they were thinking about legalizing sudafed a few years ago. When you have a cold there isn't much you can take.

I can't remember the clearance time for sudafed (it's a matter of hours though). So he might be okay. I do know that you can have a certain amount of sudafed in your sample and still be negative.

Best of luck!

 

[Mad_World]

Guys are right, most Canadian federations use the IOC list of banned substances. List which includes A LOT of OTC remedies (Sudafed among others).

An athlete is considered responsible of everything he ingests. If he tests positive for ephedrine he cannot use the defense that he took sudafed for his cold because sudafed is itself on the banned list and cannot be used, even to treat a cold.