Mushers to be tested for drugs during 2010 Iditarod

Anchorage Daily News ^ | December 5th, 2009 11:42 PM | MATIAS SAARI

[skeptoid]

The Iditarod plans to test mushers for drugs and alcohol in March, a change many mushers have no problem with -- but one that three-time champion Lance Mackey scoffs at. "I think it's a little bit ridiculous," Mackey said Wednesday night from his home near Fairbanks after a training run. "It is a dog race, not a human race. It (using a drug) doesn't affect the outcome of the race." Mackey, a throat cancer survivor who has a medical marijuana card, admits to using marijuana on the trail and thinks his success has made some of his competitors jealous. "It isn't the reason I've won three years in a row," said Mackey, though he concedes marijuana helps him stay awake and focused during the 1,100-mile race that takes winners nearly 10 days to complete. Now Mackey will have to change his ways or risk disqualification. Drug testing will be a part of next year's race, said Stan Hooley, executive director of the Iditarod Trail Committee, although officials haven't yet decided who will get tested or when or where.

[skeptoid]

Lance says he will pee in the cup.

AL GRILLO / Associated Press archive 2009

Three-time Iditarod champion Lance Mackey admits to marijuana use on the trail in the past but will abstain due to the new rules.

[Huskrrrr]

“It is a dog race, not a human race.”

Please Fido, pee into this cup.

[Frantzie]

LOL! Maybe the PGA will get around to testing Tiger but I will not hold my breath.

[Liberty Valance]

I would think a wee dram to warm the insides could be classified as medicinal/beneficial
after a long ice numbing day on the trail.

[valkyry1]

//Please Fido, pee into this cup.//

They’ll have to make it look like a fence post or something.

[UCANSEE2]

I wasn’t aware that Smoking pot kept anyone either awake, or warm.

Pot is more or less the opposite of ‘speed’.

Maybe it makes him forget he’s cold. Maybe.

[goseminoles]

If he is a throat cancer survivor, why smoke marijuana? Dumbass.

[FlyVet]

I'd think a good musher would already know his dogs are giving everything they've got, without drugs. You'd kill them.

As a kid, we had a Beagle. He was like the 5th child, a member of the family.

When it came to running, he had the heart of a lion, the way would chase us down on our bikes. He'd get so out of breath we had to give him a break. It was if he'd rather bust his heart than quit chasing us. It was in his blood.