Cycling, Lance Armstrong, and Drugs

It's a beautiful day outside: sunny with a light breeze, and the temperature is currently 65 degrees.  I have had breakfast, done my grocery shopping, taken care of my kits, and visited and cared for Ooch and the Thore girls.  Lovey is sleeping in the cat tree and Nedi is lying on the tiles, just inside the patio door.  I ran into one of my cabby buddies who drove me up to North Boulder and back, and we discussed the "rolling closures" that will be taking place in the streets around Boulder due to the US Pro Cycling Challenge being here today.  -  The city is expecting more than $8 million in income from today's race - it runs through Boulder twice, and there's a day-long cycling Expo at the Pearl Street Mall.  And it seems a shame that all of the garbage about Lance Armstrong has hit the news while (a) he is cycling in Aspen, and (b) the US Pro Cycling Challenge is being held in Colorado.  Lance Armstrong never failed a drug test; he never tested positive for any banned or illegal substance.  But now, several years after his last Tour de France win, other racers say he was "doping" - and he has been stripped of his titles and winning records only by hear-say evidence from other athletes who were beaten by him.  It seems a little fishy to me....
  Three silly teen aged girls are in critical condition after "experimenting" with prescription drugs and large doses of Tylenol in Virginia.  They all took varying doses of prescription Xanax, Zoloft, codeine, and an unidentified drug used to battle Parkinson's disease, as well as 20 to 50 tablets of Tylenol apiece.  After two of her friends passed out, the third was barely able to call 911 and tell the dispatcher that they had taken "lots of drugs..."  It just amazes me that anyone would do such a thing - with so many side-effects warnings being shown on the TV when drug companies try to garner new patients for their prescription drugs.  As a kid on Chincoteague, I wasn't aware of a drug problem, but since the mid-1970's, it seems to have exploded exponentially.
   Today I have a Redskins game to watch, and tomorrow is a double-header, with the Broncos first and the Jets following.  At least it's nearing the beginning of football season, again!