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many asthma attacks; one too many puffs off his inhaler. Salbutamol, because of its ability to quickly burn fat for the purposes of bodybuilding, is listed as a banned substance by the cycling's international body, the Union Cycliste Internationale. Likewise, track star Justin Gatlin endured a two-year sanction in 2001 for his documented, everyday use of a legally prescribed medication. Suffering from Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Gatlin was issued a prescription for Adderol. This drug, commonly doled out by American doctors for ADHD and narcolepsy, utilizes amphetamines to help suppress excessive quantities of certain amino acids (especially dopamine) which cause the disease. Yet Gatlin, like Petacchi and countless other international sports stars, was denied the right to compete because he had treated his ailment in a medically-approved manner.

Whereas someone like Brett Favre can eat Vicodin like Pez to play through pain and injury, a cyclist or track star or other international athlete must be more judicious with their treatment. The pill-driven American society is quick to support athletes who take medications familiar to themselves; Vicodin is an easily-accessible pill which provides immediate results. But even admitted steroid users in American sports are given relatively lenient punishments and free passes back to the pinnacle of their sports. A baseball player must sit fifty games after a positive steroid or amphetamine result - roughly losing two months of earning power. National Football League stars like San Diego linebacker Shawne Merriman only sit out four games after failing steroid tests, one month gone from their otherwise undisturbed careers. With testing systems in American professional sports decades behind the international sporting community, the United States too often sees recidivist performance enhancers continue to ply their trades with absolutely no consequences to dissuade their illegal actions.

By no means am I attempting to downplay the doping crisis in sports such as cycling. This sport has the most well-documented history of struggle against drug use. Amphetamines, erythropoietin, testosterone and a plethora of other pharmaceuticals have been ingested, injected and absorbed over the years by the peloton in search of a competitive edge. Despite an astronomical increase of both in- and out-of-competition testing, there will always be a percentage of athletes seeking synthetic success. Spanish authorities, during their

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