Our Mission

OVER ONE HUNDRED MEMBERS FROM TWENTY-SIX COUNTRIES BRING QUALITY DRUG TESTING TO THE RACING INDUSTRY

The membership of the AORC consists of individuals, not laboratories, and is limited to those concerned with the detection of drugs in racing animals. The scope of each operation is defined by the drug control measures of the rules of racing in each jurisdiction served. From the inception of the AORC, its membership has been international. As the AORC is a member of the ARCI (Association of Racing Commissioners International), annual meetings are held in conjunction with other industry segments alternating every other year to an international venue.

The objectives of the AORC as outlined in the constitution are " ...to encourage the advancement of those branches of science applicable to the detection of drugs in biological materials; the promotion of research in those fields; the improvement in the qualifications and usefulness of racing through high standards of technical training, ethics, and performance, through exchange of information among members; and furthering of public education and welfare by cooperation of the members with each other and official agencies. "

In the early twentieth century, drug testing was based on the Straub reaction in mice whereby a biological fluid extract from a tested animal was injected into a mouse. If the mouse displayed any one of a number of predetermined signs, the animal was considered to be drugged. Drug testing has emerged from its primitive beginnings to become a very precise and sensitive science.