Justify Failed Drug Test Before Derby

[cal828]

Originally Posted by Kasept

Not so much in feed as in hay. It's not a medication/drug. Scopolamine (and with it atropine) are naturally occurring in jimsonweed which gets into hay bales as a matter of course. Horses generally will bypass it in when grazing fields, but will eat it as part of the hay flake they receive daily. It's toxicity is very volatile and unpredictable. Scopolamine positives date back 40 years, particularly in California, and are the kind of incident relegated to fine-generating contaminations.

Is it banned because of its detrimental effects or because of its performance enhancing effects and if it does enhance performance, how?