Lab founder: Sports need to close drug loopholes

NEW YORK (CNN) -- The man whose lab distributed performance-enhancing drugs to athletes says the policies of American professional baseball and football leagues encourage their use.

Victor Conte, founder of BALCO, or the Bay Area Laboratories Co-Operative, said Thursday that Major League Baseball and the National Football League test for only half or fewer of the 60 stimulants the World Anti-Doping Agency lists as banned substances.

"What that basically tells the players is that the front doors to the barn are closed, but the side doors and the back door are wide open," he said, pointing out that NFL players can use the 50 substances their league does not test for and baseball players can choose from 30 substances not subject to testing.

Conte, who served four months in prison for distributing performance-enhancing drugs to professional athletes, said he now wants to help "come up with solutions" to the doping problem. Watch Conte say stronger testing is needed »

"I know exactly where the loopholes are, and by me being able to define those and provide the dimensions of those loopholes, collectively, we can put together the material to plug those holes," Conte told CNN.

Conte said baseball, especially, needs to toughen its policies, which currently tell players that they are "subject" to off-season drug testing.

"If you look at the policy, what is the consequence for making yourself unavailable if there is a request for testing? Well, there is no consequence," Conte said. "So it's really an inept program and until they really step up and put an effective program in place, there will continue to be players that will be using performance-enhancing drugs."

Conte's comments came just hours before the release of a much-anticipated report on steroid and performance enhancers in baseball from former Sen. George Mitchell, which is expected to name as many as 80 former and current players as having used illegal substances.

Conte said he also has suggested drug-testing changes at the Olympic level.

"My suggestion was to test the top 20 athletes 10 times a year, and to do this specifically during the off-season, because this is when they do their strength training and use the anabolic steroids and develop the strength base that serves them throughout the season," he said. "So it needs to be the higher ranked athletes and more target testing during the off-season."

Commenting on leaks about the content of the Mitchell report, Conte said he was encouraged to hear that it would include a recommendation to have an independent agency conduct drug testing for professional sports.

In the past, sports leagues have largely been self-policed.

"I think having the fox guard the hen house is a very bad idea," Conte said.

He added that on the down side, he's not happy that the Mitchell report apparently does not address the problem of amphetamine or stimulant use by athletes.

"Stimulants are equally as bad for you in terms of adverse health effects as steroids and they just seem to be glossing over that at this point in time," he explained.

He also expressed surprise at the November indictment of baseball home-run king Barry Bonds on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. Bonds pleaded not guilty to the counts last week.

The federal indictment stems from Bonds' December 2003 appearance before a grand jury investigating the distribution of steroids by BALCO. The seven-time National League MVP repeatedly denied knowingly taking banned substances.

"I know there is some evidence they have collected against Barry Bonds, but I just didn't think they would indict because I didn't think they had enough credible evidence to reach the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard," Conte said.

Conte was released from prison in March 2006, after serving four months for his conviction on conspiracy and money laundering charges in connection with BALCO.

He admitted to knowingly participating in a conspiracy to illegally distribute steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs," U.S. Attorney Kevin Ryan said in a 2005 news release. E-mail to a friend

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