Substance Abuse (Hansard, 31 March 2004)

§ Mr. Gardiner
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had on ensuring consistent testing and punishment for substance abuse across all sports in the UK. [164834]

§ Mr. Caborn
It is a matter for UK Sport, the UK's national anti-doping agency, and sport's governing bodies to carry out a robust and consistent in-and-out of competition drug testing programme.
UK Sport is currently in discussion with sport's national governing bodies and other sporting organisations to incorporate the World Anti-Doping Code into the UK's national anti-doping policy in time for this summer's Olympic Games in Athens. The code will standardise drug-testing programmes, including sanctions, across all sports.

§ Mr. Gardiner
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if her Department will make greater resources available for research and development in the field of substance abuse in sport. [164835]

§ Mr. Caborn
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport funds UK Sport to act, among other things, as the UK's national anti-doping agency. It is a matter for UK Sport as the UK's national anti-doping agency to decide on the budget that is allocated from their grant in aid for research and development of drug-free sport.
In 2003–04, UK Sport's grant in aid is £23.48 million of which £2 million will be spent on drug-free sport. No monies were allocated specifically to research and development because the World Anti-Doping Agency both undertakes significant research into performance enhancing substances and methods and shares its findings with national anti-doping organisations and the sporting community. UK Sport has allocated £50,000 for research and development in 2004–05.

§ Mr. Gardiner
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) whit educational work her Department has undertaken to inform(a) athletes and (b) the general population about the dangers of substance abuse in sport; [164836]
(2) if she will outline her Department's educational work in informing (a) athletes and (b) the general population about the dangers of performance enhancing drugs. [164838]

§ Mr. Caborn
The UK, through its national anti-doping agency, UK Sport, is at the forefront of delivering comprehensive and imaginative educational programmes to help athletes train and compete free from performance enhancing substances and methods.
Information is readily available to athletes and their support personnel, sport's national governing bodies, and the wider public on all aspects of the UK's dope testing programme. The education programme includes a variety of delivery methods including booklets, posters and leaflets, through to audience-specific workshops and seminars.
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UK Sport offers comprehensive information via their website and e-mail service including the unparalleled Drug Information Database which helps British athletes to find out information about UK-licensed medications and substances at any time and from any place. For athletes without access to the Internet and e-mail, there is a free-phone drug information line.
During the summer, UK Sport is launching a European Commission-funded project called "Start Clean" which aims to build awareness and appreciation of the importance of drug-free sport in 13 to 17-year olds across the UK.

§ Mr. Gardiner
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will increase the resources available for educating people about substance abuse in sport. [164952]

§ Mr. Caborn
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport funds UK Sport to act, among other things, as the UK's national anti-doping agency. It is a matter for UK Sport as the UK's national anti-doping agency to decide on the budget that is allocated from their grant-in-aid to educate athletes to train and compete free from performance enhancing substances and methods.
In 2003–04, UK Sport's grant-in-aid is £23.48 million of which £2 million will be spent on drug-free sport. Of this, £53,125 will be spent specifically on education programmes for athletes and athlete support personnel. This is in addition to the World Anti-Doping Agency expenditure on education programmes to eradicate doping from sport. UK Sport will allocate around £150,000 for drug-free sport education in 2004–05.