Athlete drug testing is performed at various levels from school athletes to Olympic games. These drug tests are conducted to identify the drug abuse of the athletes and put them off. Athlete drug testing has strict principles that restrict the drug abused athletes from the competition. This has forced the athletes to avoid all the banned substances. These tests will be confirmed with GC/MS (Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry) method, which detects various chemical features of the drug substances.

Why Athlete Drug Testing
In view to deter the illicit drug abuse there are certain reasons for setting up the athlete drug testing. The following are some of them:

• Restrict And Deter Drug Use: Athlete drug testing detects the drug abuse of the participants. It can put them off and restrict from future abuse. It provides certain educational and awareness programs for their welfare.

• To Avoid Unfair Competition: The drug-abused athletes have an unfair competitive advantage of improved performance. Athlete drug testing process takes required measures to stop violating the principles of athletics. It is an ideal solution for examining the drug usage, which preserves the competition from unfair practices.

• To Avoid Hazardous Influence: The drug-abused athletes will certainly influence children and teenagers negatively. It can also damage the reputation of the athletic program and the sports authority. Therefore, athlete drug testing can prevent such harmful impacts.

• Secure Athletes Health: There would be severe hazards of drug abuse in athletic activities. Therefore, drug testing can help the athletes to lead a productive and healthy lifestyle and shows the means to prevent drug abuse.

Athlete Drug Testing Procedure
The athlete drug testing begins with the collection of urine specimen from all the athletes participating in the competition. For some substances detection, it may require blood specimen for testing. Though it is a simple procedure, it is commenced with a formal and highly regulated process. This is to make sure that the specimen collected is tamper proof. This require athletes to sign a contract saying that they have understood and accepted the regulations of the program and are willing to participate in drug testing.

There will be well-trained examiners appointed to carry out the specimen collection and conduct the drug testing. The athlete who results positive in the drug test will be restricted from the athletics, so that there would be a fair competition among the athletes. The positive resulted athletes have the right to perform second analysis of their specimen, which will be observed by the athlete or their representative.

The above framework gives you the essential information about the athlete drug testing and its purposes and procedure.