The 2019 WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) Prohibited List comes into effect on 1st January 2019. There’s not much change, in practical terms or in anything that’s likely to affect anyone’s daily life, from 2018.
As the development of new drugs proceeds apace, the vast majority of changes are to specify new names for existing drugs, or additional examples of classes of drugs that have already been banned. There are a number of ways of checking on particular drugs that you may be prescribed, or ingredients in supplements that you may take, as detailed below.
Gene and cell doping remains banned, and there has been a change to clarify what doping procedures are illegal.
Stem cell treatment is becoming more widespread in treating injuries, so it’s clarified that stem cell treatments to restore normal function are permitted, but using them to enhance a person’s physical functioning is banned.
The opioid painkiller tramadol is coming under increasing scrutiny and though it is not prohibited, it is starting to be regarded as dangerous. At the moment, cycling is going to test for tramadol before races next year, and ban (for that race) anyone found to have it in their bloodstream. Athletics may follow but the seriousness of the concerns suggest that no-one should race (or train hard) using it anyway.
No change in the rulings, but CBD oil is getting more and more easily available in the UK. If it is purely synthetic it is OK. Formulations commonly sold in the UK are made from organic cannabis and contain tiny quantities of THC (the stuff people smoke weed for.) Legal in terms of the law, and not enough for you to notice, but any quantity at all renders you in breach of the anti-doping regulations. If you use CBD oil, research whether it contains THC or not.
While we’re on this, again no change in rulings, but in more and more countries, and states of the USA, cannabis and a host of products derived from it are becoming legally available. (This trend will continue.) Most will contain THC, as above, which is banned for athletes.
Advice on nutritional supplements remains, in general, to stick to proper foods and a healthy diet, and nutritional supplements should not be necessary. If you do use one, then basically it’s up to you to research it on the internet – the www.globaldro.com site contains plenty of information – and keep a record of the information you find (your internet browser will contain a ‘Save Page’ option so that you can take a copy of what you found on your own computer). UK Anti-Doping has issued advice on the use of supplements and asked for all athletes and coaches to read it – here.
For more information check out the ‘Clean Sport Blog‘, which includes information on how to get TUEs and how to interpret the lists. WADA’s list of changes since 2018 (3 pages) are summarised here. The full 2019 WADA Prohibited List (10 pages) is here. An easy way to check particular medications is by using the website www.globaldro.com.
To stay in touch with changes, you can follow the ‘Clean Sport Blog‘ on Twitter or by email – details on the right-hand-side of the ‘About Us’ page. And remember the “100% Me Clean Sport” mobile app, available on the Apple App Store, Google Play or the Windows Store – search for ‘Clean Sport’. Medicines and ingredients can quickly be looked up to see if they are banned. (Plus other useful stuff for those on out-of-competition testing programmes.)
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