Backing the "Water Hay Oats Alliance" supporting the passage of federal legislation to prohibit the use of performance-enhancing drugs in US racing, Dickinson said he had been on both sides of the issue.
"I have trained in the UK on zero medication. I've also trained in the USA using the permitted medications. The job satisfaction of the former easily outweighs the latter." Dickinson said in the US he raced all his horses on the anti-bleeding drug Lasix, still legal in many US states, but banned in most countries.
"It is disappointing that the debates always revolve around Lasix, when it is the vast amount of painkillers given the week of the race that are far more dangerous. The stacking of anti-inflammatories for five days leading up to the race is only one paralysed jockey away from a gigantic lawsuit."
British-born Dickinson said he had visited 10 of the best thoroughbred racing countries, where the question is always the same: "When is the US going to ditch its permissive medication policies?"
"The rest of the world can run excellent racing without medication and they can't understand why the US can't do likewise. They are disappointed that we can't do what the rest of the world can do and the ability of our horses and the skill of our trainers has become needlessly questioned.
"Some people are addicted to the culture of permissive medication and the leaders of the industry don't have the appetite to change. The outsiders feel that it is hurting our product. The public doesn't like drugs.
"We have the best horses in the world. Let them race without drugs and remove all doubt."
He said there were 26 permitted drugs that were allowed in US racing,
and many of the younger trainers in the industry had not worked without them, and were "scared to go cold turkey".
"Since 2007, yearlings sold for more than $100,000 or more are up 12% in Britain and Ireland but down 22% in the US. France and Hong Kong are leading the way for all graded stakes to be run medication free. If this continues, it will devalue the American thoroughbred," he said.
"Surely it is better for the best horse with the best trainer to win the race, rather than the best chemist. It is not morally defensible to medicate a physically compromised horse in order to get it to race."
He said that good personnel were running testing laboratories, but they were "hopelessly underfunded". He said more out-of-competition testing and freezing of samples was needed. Sample freezing is compulsory in New Zealand.
"One lab director knew their equipment was outdated and feared there was 'open season' in the state so they sent samples to Hong Kong where they found so many drugs it took seven days to clean the equipment."
