Former White House Drug Spokesman Robert Weiner to Speak At UMass on "Sports and Drugs—A Sordid History," Including Barry Bonds Verdict: 12:20 p.m. Wednesday, April 20, 126 Hasbrouck Lab, UMass

Delivering Ken Feinberg Distinguished History Lecture On Sports And Society, Weiner Will Assert Barry Bonds  Just Tip Of Iceberg And Will Recommend Corrections

Open to Public

AMHERST, Mass., April 15, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Former White House Drug Spokesman Robert Weiner will deliver the Ken Feinberg Distinguished History Lecture Wednesday on "Sports and Drugs—A Sordid History."  Weiner said he will assert that the Barry Bonds verdict is "just the tip of the iceberg" and will recommend corrections. He will discuss drug abuse prevalence in all major sports, past and present.

Weiner said he will contend that Barry Bonds' trial and conviction for obstruction is only the latest chapter of drugs in sport—it's a sordid history, now being corrected with a long, long way to go. "Bonds was not alone in obstructing evidence—he followed the party line.  Only 68 of 500 players that baseball's official Mitchell Report wanted to interview were willing to talk. The NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, and Soccer players' unions block every attempt to test and verify. The former United States Delegate to WADA told me last week, 'The testing system in most major league franchises is a sham. The unions are aiding and abetting drug use.'"

Weiner said the issue is important because "polls show that youth pay attention to sports stars. Between 500,000 and a million youth use steroids annually.  When home run king Mark McGwire admitted using androstenodione, youth use of it quintupled.  When McGwire stopped using, his home run capacity plummeted from 70 to 30 and he dropped out of baseball. On steroids, kids have committed murders, other violent crimes, become schizophrenic, and committed suicide, as testified to by parents in Congress."

Weiner is former spokesman for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy for six years and a former spokesman for the World Anti Doping Agency at the Olympics. He was also a senior aide to Congressmen John Conyers (MI), Charles Rangel (NY), Claude Pepper (FL), Ed Koch (NY), and a political aide to Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA).  A former Amherst resident, he received his M.A. in History from UMass and is giving the Ken Feinberg Distinguished History Lecture Wednesday  at 12:20 p.m. at Hasbrouk Lab 126, U. of Mass.  The Public is invited.

Photo:  http://www.weinerpublic.com/bobweiner.jpg  

Contact: Gavriel Swerling/Bob Weiner 301-283-0821/202-306-1200

SOURCE Robert Weiner Associates