Recreational Drugs In Sports

[hopep]

I also don't like the general phrase that encompasses the drugs in sport. They are either categorised as 'performance enhancing' - which very few actually are, or as 'recreational'. The later seems to label them as something that is OK for a bit of a laugh and some quiet down time. Thats not the case! All theses drugs have serious physical, psychological and social outcomes that are nearly always negative. There is no genuine upside and as such repeatedly calling them 'recreational' gets up my nose.

They are expensive, addictive, damage the body and the mind. Why the hell would anyone, who contends to be an elite athlete, ever consider them at all? They are invariably fobbed onto them by some twit under the "thier Recreational Drugs - its OK". Cousins is a classic example. He has a known assocation with night-club owners over many years, these people use sport stars to encourage people into their establishments. Then after a while its "You don't have to buy drinks here, you bring people in, let me get your drinks!"; next comes the "too much drink slows down your game - I've got something that will give you a buzz and won't affect your game, go ahead try it". This last may be followed by a 'its not illegal/addictive/detectable etc.

They get sucked in, and then go on the purchasing list, and eventually onto the pass on to pals list. They are vulnerable, lonely and isolated.

We should drop the 'Recreational' tag and just call them - dangerous drugs that damage your body and brain.

[The EnForcer]

There is no room in sport for any type of banned substances. Kids look up to these people and there behaviour influences them big style. Sports people earn a lot of money which they tend not to mention when they use their excuses of "too much pressure", "constant media attention", "too much expectations" etc. I would like to see some of them handle the pressures that us mere mortals have to deal with on a day to day basis. Boohoo, suck it up boys and live the lucky lives you have been gifted, without drugs. If you can't then f'ck off!

[Jehna]

Totally agree guys. And that is the point I was trying to make. I don't think there is any excuse for taking illicit drugs. I can't understand why anyone would do it, but even more so, elite athletes. Don't feed me this bullshit about pressure and being young and having too much money and blah blah blah. I'm young, I suffer from all sorts of pressures and expectations (though admittedly not in the same way), I have easy access to drugs and I choose not to take them. I'm not trying to say that makes me better than these guys in any way. If you want to take drugs then knock yourself out. I fully believe its your choice. But don't expect my sympathy if it all turns to shit. Suck it up, take responsibility for your own actions and the consequences of those actions like everyone else in this world.

[goony]

jehna has said it right there, take responsibility for your own actions you clowns!! there is no excuse for taking drugs, it is a decision the person has to make themselves and if they do decide to do it and keep on doing it then they are a weak person and dont deserve sympathy, let alone congratulations on completing a rehab course etc pfft drugs are pathetic

[shasta]

Andrew Johns did not try to use his medical condition as an excuse. Quite the opposite. He was caught with one ecstasy pill in his pocket. He could have kept to his story fessed up that he really did know it was there and was thinking of taking it but didn't. There still would have been the suspicion but no proof. Maybe would have lost a couple of earners. But the heat would have been off in a couple of weeks and life carried on.

But he didn't do that. He fessed up to years of struggle with alcohol and drugs live on national TV. What he didn't do like most sufferers was talk about mental illness nor use that as an excuse because that particular taboo is still firmly in society's too hard basket.

He was diagnosed years ago with bi-polar depression. His doctor Professor Gordon Parker, a world leading expert on this condition, rang the family and pleaded for permission to go public about it as he feared what effect the media frenzy would have on his patient.

This illness is not an excuse for drug taking or alcohol abuse. Rather they are symptomatic behaviour of the manic highs in the cycle. The depressive cycle sees a woefully high number of sufferers take their own life.

Rather than casting stones, I feel real sympathy for these people. I can only imagine how bad it must feel to have had such a stellar career end in such circumstances. Everyone who can should support this bloke, not join in the carve-up. Maybe they should go and see the play "Topo" too.

[AndyS]

Maybe, but I thought one of the panel programs made a good point last night. Why tell anyone - his career is over so he could have just kept his gob shut. Instead, the message is potentially "AJ used drugs throughout his career, he didn't get caught and it did him no harm...".

Have to admit, I wondered whether it was a case of a journalist saying "'fess up on your own terms, or we've got enough accumulated evidence that we're going to write it up."

[shasta]

1. Why tell anyone - his career is over so he could have just kept his gob shut. Instead,

2. the message is potentially "AJ used drugs throughout his career, he didn't get caught and it did him no harm...".

3.Have to admit, I wondered whether it was a case of a journalist saying "'fess up on your own terms, or we've got enough accumulated evidence that we're going to write it up."

1. Like I said it would have blown over. But he didn't do that.
2. He didn't get to choose the message. He got caught by the coppers.
3. Do you reckon ANY journo could sit on accumulated evidence like that while he was still playing?

[travelling_gerry]

3. Do you reckon ANY journo could sit on accumulated evidence like that while he was still playing?

Thats what stumps me in this whole thing Shasta......

Isnt it amazing that all the journos are coming out now saying....yeh....we knew that.....AND DIDNT REPORT ON IT?????

Yet Grumbles Growden and his cronies regularly report on stuff that doesnt even have a whiff??

[hopep]

Shasta has some good points to make. A lot of people who rise to be sports stars are 'goal oriented' and often 'manicly driven' personalities. They are already 'different' to the rest of us. Add in stardom and the social and cultural isolation is intense.
Drugs and alchohol seem such an easy release, yet are fundamentaly damaging.
My point was, yes sports stars are vulnerable, as such they make easy prey for drug peddlers. Their isolation is part of the problem. Labeling drugs as "recreational" indicates that they are OK and have no side effects. thats the wrong message altogether. These drugs are illegal for a good reason.
AJ, Cousins, Tuquiri, even Sailor - all need help. But the light weight methods for detection consistently send the message that governing bodies don't want to know and are happy to let it all slide.
They need to be caught using early on in their careers to help them, not to condem them. A thorough sports drug screening program would catch a lot more, but actually help them in the long term.
The AFL, NRL programs are carpet sweeping, not detection programs. They fail their sports and their athletes.

[AndyS]

I suppose the question is to what extent you want the sport to be their surrogate parent. I'd settle for simply knowing that they are playing clean - every player submits a sample pre-game and, say, one from each side is randomly picked for testing. It may still be law of averages, but I reckon the act of submitting a sample would tend to focus their attention on the risk they are taking. Outside that, I actually don't really care what they do...they're adults and responsible for their own actions. They may be role models, under pressure, possibly even delicate and artistic souls terribly tortured by all the attention and isolation - well tough: that's what they signed up for when they took the opportunity of playing sport for a living. They don't like it, they can always retire and get a 9 to 5 job. Are they really under more pressure than firemen, cops or air traffic controllers?

[Jehna]

I suppose the question is to what extent you want the sport to be their surrogate parent. I'd settle for simply knowing that they are playing clean - every player submits a sample pre-game and, say, one from each side is randomly picked for testing. It may still be law of averages, but I reckon the act of submitting a sample would tend to focus their attention on the risk they are taking. Outside that, I actually don't really care what they do...they're adults and responsible for their own actions. They may be role models, under pressure, possibly even delicate and artistic souls terribly tortured by all the attention and isolation - well tough: that's what they signed up for when they took the opportunity of playing sport for a living. They don't like it, they can always retire and get a 9 to 5 job. Are they really under more pressure than firemen, cops or air traffic controllers?

[shasta]

Isnt it amazing that all the journos are coming out now saying....yeh....we knew that.....AND DIDNT REPORT ON IT?????

I wouldn't believe them for a second, mate. They may have heard a few vague rumors or suspicions but no way they had any proof or even quotable sauces. We know how loosely those insider sauces can be used. Otherwise it would have been front page news.

[Flamethrower]

League players win a drugs holiday
By JACQUELIN MAGNAY - SMH | Wednesday, 5 September 2007
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4191037a1823.html

National Rugby League players will be given six weeks' grace in which they will not be tested for illicit drugs such as ecstasy and cocaine after league officials struck a deal with the players.

Despite talk of new uniform drug testing of players after Andrew Johns's confession that he used recreational drugs throughout his career, the Sydney Morning Herald has revealed players will not be tested while on holiday.

Players from teams outside the top eight, who finished their season last weekend, will escape scrutiny until they return from their six weeks of leave. And when players from the other finals teams finally enjoy their six weeks off, they too will not be tested for illicit drugs until they return to off-season training.

Johns, 33, confessed to taking drugs in the off-season as well as during the season, but the NRL has insisted that under its new policy, the now retired star's drug taking would have been detected.

The drug testing loophole has come about because the NRL illicit drugs policy is club-based and relies on club officials conducting the tests. In a deal with the Rugby League Professionals Association, NRL clubs agreed that testing would only take place when players were together in a club activity.

"The players will be tested through the off-season when they are together for any type of club activity, be that training or a social occasion," the NRL's spokesman, John Brady, said.

"We have agreed that the players will not be tracked down on holidays. This policy has only come into being because the players agreed to it and we are not about to chase them down at caravan parks across the country."

The NRL drugs policy has been hailed by the Federal Government as a model for other professional sports. Introduced on August 1, it requires a minimum of 70 tests at every club each season and has informally requested 25 tests by the end of October.

It is understood two clubs, the Brisbane Broncos and South Sydney, have imposed additional drug-testing clauses in their players' contracts, allowing testing at all times, including during the six-week break if so required.

The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority, which conducted a testing blitz at the weekend, has the legal right to test any players at any time. But under the code, they do not test for illicit substances in the off-season or midweek. The authority tests for illicit drugs such as cocaine and ecstasy only on match days.

But this could change if the Federal Government strengthens the powers of the authority to test national- and international-level athletes at any time of the year.

The Minister for Sport, George Brandis, has asked the authority to prepare a strategic paper with a view to developing a regime of out-of-competition testing. The drug policies of the NRL and the AFL will be looked at.

"We are not about to chase them down at caravan parks across the country."

[JediKnight]

well that's ok then.......not

[Flamethrower]

I thought it was very well timed. The NRL may have cocked up, big time.
However the report did come from the SMH.