ARTICLE SIXTEEN

Drug Screening and Education Program

I. PURPOSE.

The University of Richmond is committed to developing and maintaining an environment that encourages students participating in intercollegiate athletic competition to avoid the abuse of alcohol and the unauthorized use of controlled substances and performance-enhancing drugs. The integration of a comprehensive educational program with reliable tests and predictable responses to student-athletes who test positive will function as an effective deterrent to substance abuse.

To this end, the program has several components. The education program is designed to discourage student-athletes from alcohol abuse and experimentation with drugs and minimize the risk of drug abuse and drug dependency. An accurate and reliable drug screening program will identify users and abusers of controlled substances and performance-enhancing drugs. Student-athletes who test positive will participate in a program designed to encourage the student-athlete to make positive choices about his or her future conduct, and to discipline those student-athletes who continue to abuse controlled substances and performance-enhancing drugs.

II. POLICY

The unauthorized use of anabolic steroids, stimulants, diuretics, performance enhancing drugs, marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines and any other substance proscribed by federal or state law, or the abuse of alcohol by any member of an intercollegiate athletic team at University of Richmond is expressly prohibited, regardless of whether such use or abuse occurs before, during or after the team's competitive season. "Proscribed substances" as that phrase appears in this Policy Statement include but are not limited to those drugs listed in NCAA Executive Regulations, 31.2.3.1 as adopted in 1986 and as may be amended from time to time (copy attached).

The unauthorized use of the proscribed substances or abuse of alcohol constitutes an abuse of the privilege of practicing for and representing University of Richmond in intercollegiate athletics competition. Such unauthorized use or abuse may result in sanctions, including dismissal from intercollegiate athletic teams, lost of a student-athlete's athletic grant-in-aid, and a permanent prohibition against competing in the intercollegiate athletics program at University of Richmond.

All student-athletes engaged in the intercollegiate athletics program shall participate in a drug and alcohol education program. All student-athletes shall provide urine specimens upon notice from an appropriate official within the Department of Athletics. Said sample shall be subject to analysis by a professional testing laboratory to screen student-athletes to determine use of the proscribed substances. Each student-athlete shall, prior to participating in any sport, acknowledge in writing that he or she has received a copy of this Policy Statement, and shall consent to participate in the drug screening and education program, including but not limited to consenting to the collection of urine to be tested for the presence of the above-referenced proscribed substances.

The program will be designed to protect the confidentiality of data and to assure that information regarding individual student-athletes will not be transmitted to individuals who have neither a right nor a need to know, except as set forth herein.

III. SAMPLES.

The University of Richmond Department of Athletics shall from time to time collect urine samples from student-athletes. Samples to be screened and tested in order to detect the presence of proscribed substances shall be selected at random. Alternatively, if the Director of Athletics has reason to believe that a student-athlete or members of a particular team have been abusing proscribed substances, he/she may mandate that an entire team or an individual be tested. The decision to test any team or individual athlete as a result of this procedure shall rest entirely with the Director of Athletics, who may consult with members of the University's Sports Medicine staff. If the Director of Athletics decides to test any individual student-athlete, the Director shall so advise the Drug Program Administrator, who shall notify the student-athlete. Student-athletes will be advised of the designated time and location for the submission of urine samples. Coaches shall not be notified of the decision to test any team or individual. If the student-athlete fails to submit a urine sample within the designated testing period, he/she will enter be deemed to have produced a positive test sample.

All student-athletes who qualify to participate in NCAA post-season National Championship competition may be tested prior to the onset of such competition.

Following the selection of a qualified drug-testing laboratory, procedures will be established regarding the collection of samples, security of samples, retention of samples for retesting and validity of the laboratory and testing results.

IV. PRE-SANCTION APPEAL.

A student-athlete who contests a laboratory finding that he/she has a proscribed substance in his/her urine sample, may within thirty (30) days following receipt of notice of said laboratory finding, present evidence of the inaccuracy of said finding to the Drug Program Administrator. Upon request from the student-athlete, the Drug Program Administrator shall provide him/her with the names of laboratories determined by the University to be capable of analyzing urine samples for the presence of proscribed substances. The student-athlete may authorize the transmission of his/her urine sample from the laboratory retained by the University to any one of the laboratories identified by the Drug Program Administrator, and shall further authorize the transmission of test results from the laboratory of his/her choice to the Drug Program Administrator.

If the laboratory selected by the student-athlete presents to the Drug Program Administrator a finding that the student-athlete does not have proscribed substances in his/her urine sample, the Drug Program Administrator must rely upon those test results and shall conclude that the student-athlete's urine does not contain proscribed substances.

A student-athlete may present evidence of mitigating circumstances to the Director of Athletics who in his discretion may modify the sanctions set forth in Section V herein.

V. POST-TEST PROCEDURES; SANCTIONS.


A student-athlete whose urine is found to contain proscribed substances will meet with the Drug Program Administrator to review the test results. The student-athlete's parents or guardian, head coach, and the Director of Athetics will be notified of the results.

The student-athlete will participate in an education program, and will be retested three (3) times within 180 days from the date of the positive test.

Retests shall be scheduled in consultation with a drug testing laboratory or the University's team physician to assure that all traces of the proscribed substances identified in a prior test have passed through the student-athlete's system, and will not be re-detected.

The student-athlete whose urine is found to contain anabolic steroids shall be deemed ineligible to compete for the remainder of the current academic year.

If a student-athlete is convicted of an alcohol or durg related criminal offense at any time during matriculation at the University of Richmond, he/she will be deemed ineligible to compete for the remainder of the current academic year.

  1. Positive Retests.

    The test results will be reviewed. The student-athlete will participate in an education program. The student-athlete's parents or guardian will be notified of the test's results, as will his/her head coach, the Director of Athletics and the student-athlete's Dean.

    If a student-athlete with one conviction of an alcohol or drug related criminal offense during matriculation at the University of Richmond, then has a positive test result or is convicted of a second alcohol or drug related criminal offense, he/she will immediately be dismissed from his/her intercollegiate athletic team and will be prohibited from representing the University of Richmond in intercollegiate athletic competition for the remainder of his/her matriculation at the University.

    If a student-athlete loses his/her athletically related financial aid as a result of a positive retest he/she shall be granted the opportunity for a hearing by the appropriate University authorities, consistent with procedures set forth at the University of Richmond.

  2. Negative Retests.

    If, at any time subsequent to a positive test, a student-athlete's urine is found to contain no proscribed substances in three consecutive retests, he/she will be subject to the testing procedures set forth in Section III herein. However, if at any time thereafter the student-athlete tests positive for any of the proscribed substances, that athlete will automatically be subject to procedures and sanctions as set forth in Section V herein and be treated appropriately.

VI. AMENDMENTS.

This program may be amended from time to time at the discretion of the Director of Athletics. Amendments shall be distributed to all student-athletes. No amendment shall be applied retroactively if such application will adversely effect a student-athlete's right to prior notice of standards of conduct or discipline.

The Executive Committee shall authorize methods for drug testing of student-athletes who compete in NCAA championships and certified post-season football contests. The authorized methods, and any subsequent modifications, shall be published in The NCAA News and copies of the report shall be available, on request, to member institutions. The Executive Committee shall determine those championships and certified post-season football contests for which drug tests shall be made and the procedures to be followed in disclosing its determinations.

31.2.3.1 Banned Drugs. The following is the list of banned-drug classes:

(1) Psychomotor and central nervous system stimulants:

                  
     amiphenazole                meclofenoxate
     amphetamine                 methamphetamine
     bemigride                   methylphenidate
     benzphetamine               nikethamide
     caffeine                     pemoline
     chlorphentermine             pentetrazol
     cocaine                     phendimetrazine
     cropropamide                 phenmetrazine
     crothetamide                 phentermine
     diethylpropion               picrotoxine
     dimethyl amphetamine         pipradol
     doxapram                     prolintane
     ephedrwe
     ethamivan                    strychnine
     ethyl amphetamine            AND RELATED COMPOUNDS
     fencamfamine

(2) Anabolic steroids:

     androstenedione
     boldenone                nandrolone
     clostebol                Norandrostenedione
     clenbuterol              
     dehydrochlormethyl-      norethandrolone
     testosterone             nandrolone
     dehydroepiandrosterone   oxandrolone
     dihydrotestosterone       
     dromostanolone           oxymesterone
     fluoxymesterone          oxymetholone
     mesterolone              stanozolol
     methenolone              testosterone
     methandienone            AND RELATED COMPOUNDS
     methyltestosterone       Other anablic agents: Clenbuterol

(3) Diuretics:

       acetazolamide            hydroflumethiazide
       bendroflumethiazide      methyclothiazide
       benzthiazide             metolazone
       Bumetanide
       chlorothiazide           polythiazide
       chlorthalidone           quinethazone
       ethacrynic acid          spironolactone
       flumethiazide            triamterene
       furosemide               trichlormethiazide
       hydrochlorothiazide      AND RELATED COMPOUNDS

(4) Street drugs:

      heroin                   marijuana
      THC (tetrahydrocannabinol)3

(5) Peptide hormones and analogues

      chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG - human chorionic gonadotrophin)
      corticotrophine (ACTH)
      erythropoietin (EPO)
      growth hormone (HGH, somatotrophin)
     *All the respective releasing factors of the above-mentioned substances also are banned.


Definition of positive depends on the following:

 

  1. for caffeine - if the concentration in urine exceeds 15 micrograms/ml.
  2. for testosterone - if the ratio of the total concentration of testosterone or the use of any other manipulation has the result of increasing the ration of the total concentration of testosterone to that of epitesterone in the urine to greater than 6:1, unless there is evidence that this ratio is due to a physiological or pathological condition.
  3. for marijuana and THC - if the concentration in the urine of THC metabolite exceeds 25 nanograms/ml.

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