http://www.fai.org/hang_gliding/competitions/antidoping_policy

http://www.fai.org/medical/system/files/cimp_2002_minutes.pdf

There continues to be great public hysteria about the subject of "drugs" as there has been for at least forty years. Much of that hysteria has been for the last few years focused on sports, but there continue to be many hundreds of thousands of people (mostly minorities) who have been jailed for "drug" offenses.

I have written repeatedly about the corruption of drug testing in sports and that corruption just adds to our inability to think clearly about the issues. When is a medication, a drug? What is the legitimate use of these medications? FDA approval or off label prescriptions?

Recently I wrote to Roger Hughes, the FAI General Projects Manager, who appears to have some say with respect to these issues at the FAI (and therefore CIVL). I found it interesting the WADA prohibited list (you can download it from here), listed beta blockers as prohibited, but only for certain sports. The FAI seems to be the agency that determines that they are prohibited for air sports and WADA just goes along with this (see here: http://www.fai.org/antidoping/adrp). I asked Roger about what concerns the FAI had regarding beta blockers. Robert Hughes <<email>> wrote:

I will ask our Medico-Physiological Commission CIMP to comment on beta-blockers.

Regarding their legitimate use, this is treated in the same way as all other substances on the WADA Prohibited List in that you would need to apply for a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE). The TUE application form and further TUE information are available on the FAI website at http://www.fai.org/antidoping/tue.

No answer yet. So I don't know exactly why FAI feels that these medications/drugs should be prohibited except under the TUE. I don't completely understand the TUE process, so it is unclear to me just what prescriptions one needs or what conditions qualify. You can only get beta blockers with a prescription (legally).

There are a number of different "anxiety" medications. Some classes are addictive. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anxiolytic, for example. Beta blockers, which in "high" doses are heart medications and have lots of side effects, in small amounts are used (outside of FDA labeled uses) as anxiety reducers (see here: http://www.ethanwiner.com/BetaBlox.html). You can find out more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_blocker#Adverse_effects, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propranolol,  
http://www.anxietysecrets.com/loungeFrame-11.htm#betablockers, and http://www.concernedcounseling.com/Communities/anxiety/anxieties/8meds/betas.asp .

So I ask readers who have an expertise in this area to write in and comment on this issue. Are the side effects (which seem pretty nasty) an issue at small doses? What doses are applicable to anxiety reduction (10-40 mg)? Are other anxiety reduction medications more applicable (it doesn't seem that way to me reading the literature)? Is there a web site with a good read on these issues?

Here is a discussion among musicians.