[B]Drugs, Drugs, Drugs.[/B]

[aristeas]

I've just been listening to that egregious s**t Brandis talking about the AFL's 'problem' with illicit drugs. Brandis was banging on about 'zero tolerance', and the AFL's 3-strikes policy being 'unacceptable'. What he's doing is demanding that the AFL act as Police, Judge and Jury on social drug-taking.

The bastard knows that if he tried this bullshit out in the courts, demanding that Judges work under the same system of 'zero-tolerance' mandatory sentences he'd have the whole of the legal profession jumping all over him.

The AFL have to fight this at all costs. If the Government forces this bullshit htrough, how long before some young player who makes one small mistake gets dumped and then sues the AFL for restraint of trade? The AFL is there to run football, not act as a nanny to the clubs or the players. Demetriou has to show some balls on this and tell the Government to get back in their box.

Opportunist scum like Brandis are jumping on the AFL because it's high profile, NOT BECAUSE THEY CARE ABOUT DRUGS RUINING LIVES, BUT BECAUSE HIGH PROFILE MEANS THEY GET SHITLOADS OF FREE MEDIA TIME IN AN ELECTION YEAR, while they pander to the great Australian streak of envy over AFL players salaries.

Politicians make me bloody furious. The smug bastard was going on about how he'd be fine with politicians being tested for drugs. How many fat middle-aged men are doing the odd tab compared to young fit teenagers experimenting with everything new in life?

A fairer comparison would be instituting a zero-tolerance policy for politicians who break the law, any law. They make the laws and I reckon it's reasonable to demand they abide by them 100%. They should be sacked and banned for life from public office if they get even so much as a parking ticket.

!@#$^%&* bastards!

 

[pjcrows]

A struggling Government deflecting attention? GROUNDBREAKING STUFF!

 

[Tizza]

memo: to govt...fix iraq instead of spending 2 million a day of our money on a war no one is going to ever win instead of commenting on a sports drug policy

 

[ringleader]

If the AFL just copied the NRL's policy there would be no problem.

 

[Sportman1987]

The whole drugs issue is *ed, and the government should not even be involved. If a player is found positive for recreational drugs, which are in no way performance enhancing it is a club issue, not a government or AFL one. The club and ONLY the club should simply be able to address the issue however they consider to be appropriate, and leave it at that.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

Because ... as we know, we have a player currently undergoing re-hab for a serious drug problem, and yet that very same player was able to escape the net time and again with AFL's "extensive" drug testing.

In light of that, the AFL still thinks we don't have a problem. Pull the other one AFL, it plays jingle bells.

 

[finrod]

I am traditionally a Liberal voter, and I have to say the recent outcry by the Federal Government and all this "Zero tolerance" bullshit smacks of nothing but a cheap vote-getting scheme. The government has said nothing about drug tolerance in other sporting codes - it is just attempting to ride the wave of public outrage over the Ben Cousins saga. Tough times in the opinion polls call for desperate measures.