Recreational drug use in sport is a big problem, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better.
While many sports only test for performance enhancing drugs during periods of competition, the AFL are testing players right throughout the year for any type of drug, even during the off-season.
Just last week the AFL released its figures on the number of detections of illicit drugs for 2012 with 26 positive tests conducted, the most commonly used drug was cocaine however methamphetamine and ecstasy were also detected, this number has increased from just 6 the previous year.
The AFL insist that this isn’t a concern as the amount of tests conducted was greatly increased and it simply gives a greater awareness of the amount of players who need assistance through drug programs, does this mean the AFL knew there was plenty more players with an issue with drugs who just hadn’t tested positive yet?
Many of you would be familiar with the name Ben Cousins whose incredible football career has unfortunately been overshadowed by his issues with drugs. Cousins went through his whole career without testing positive to a single drug test. During his playing days drug testers only tested players in the few days before a match or with a few days notice at most other times which allowed him to dodge the system time after time and it was a result of this that then allowed testers to begin testing at anytime, anywhere and without notice.
Travis Tuck became the first player to be suspended from the game after receiving his third strike under the AFL’s 3 strike policy that was introduced in 2005 and the figures that were released last week revealed that there are currently three players currently on two strikes.
For more information on the AFL’s drug policy and what is being done about it see this link: http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-05-16/iliicit-drug-detection-spikes
The AFL is not the only sport with issues of recreational drugs, there is likely many others and one of those is surfing.
In this article by Greg Stolz on March 4 2013, http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/surfing-champ-says-recreational-drug-use-is-rampant-in-the-sport/story-e6freoof-1226589479863
surfing champion Kelly Slater is asked whether there was a recreational drug problem in surfing. His response “There clearly is – absolutely. There’s no denying that, it’s rampant, it’s full-on.”
Some of you may have heard of surfing great Andy Irons who died on November 2 2010 from a cardiac arrest, metabolites of cocaine and traces of methamphetamine were found in his body during the autopsy with “mixed drug ingestion” listed as his second cause of death. It’s tragedies like this that should make athletes aware of the dangers associated with drugs.
Recreational drug use is a problem in most sports if not every sport and a continual increase in testing and rehabilitation programs needs to be implemented to assist athletes with the issues they have and the reasons why drugs are a part of their life.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Irons
