Weiner will talk about what he believes to be a hidden history of drug use among famous athletes.

“Professional sports are a sham, they have an interest in only covering up and only setting records,” said Weiner in a phone interview.

According to the release, only 68 of 500 players were willing to participate in interviews with baseball’s official Mitchell Report. Weiner said in the interview that when Major League Baseball player Mark McGwire revealed his use of androstenodione, the use of the drug by youths quintupled.

“The problem is the testing can never keep up with the cheaters,” said Weiner. “Over half of baseball players take drugs that can’t be tested for.” According to Weiner, the Major League Baseball officials test for the minimum they need to pass players. Weiner gave the example of officials’ lack of testing for the human growth hormone [HGH].
In the lecture, Weiner will discuss the types of dangerous effects of these kinds of drugs have on the athletes who partake in using them as performance enhancers and the direct effect of drug use among professional athletes on the youth.

“Kids look up to sports stars, yet a large majority of kids know sports stars do drugs,” Weiner said.

Weiner also plans to discuss the recent conviction of Barry Bonds, who was found guilty of obstruction of justice upon evidence that he was lying to a grand jury in 2003 about his use of anabolic steroids, according to an article titled “A Rundown of the Barry Bonds Trial” and published on April 6 in the Los Angeles Times’s Sports section.

The abrupt retirement of Tampa Bay Rays player Manny Ramirez will also be a subject Weiner will touch upon during the lecture. Recent reports have suggested Ramirez’ retirement occurred after he was notified of an issue with his tests for Major League Baseball’s drug policy.

The release also states that Weiner feels that Bonds was not alone in his obstruction of justice, and talks about how the recent scandals concerning Bonds and Ramirez, and the pending Roger Clemens trial and Lance Armstrong investigation are “only the latest chapter of drugs in sport.”

Weiner said during the phone interview that he was struck by the recent press on Ramirez and Bonds and described them as “just the tip of the iceberg.” The release states that Weiner will offer suggestions for how to rectify the situation of drug abuse amongst athletes.

The event will take place at 12:20 p.m. in 126 Hasbrouck Laboratory.

Nancy Pierce can be reached at [email protected].