Social Drugs

[Ricmel]

The recent news of the 4 Pies players self reporting is just another in a chain of incidents that are not going to go away. Whether the older generations want to admit it or not, social drugs are almost as ingrained in the under 30s world as alcohol. The problem is not going to go away.

In order to decide how to address it I think one question has to be answered. Are any of the social drugs performance enhancing?

Personally I do not know. From what I have heard of ice, it potentially could have a performance enhancing aspect.

But if the answer broadly is "no they are not performance enhancing" then I think the AFL should probably butt out and let the clubs handle it if it becomes a health issue for any one particular player.

Personally I am not that interested in the legality or otherwise of the drugs. That is just where a legislator chose to draw a line (somewhere between tobacco and cannabis for some reason).

If the answer is "yes, this drug and this drug are performance or recovery enhancing" then players should be subject to the sanctions available under performance enhancing drugs.

 

[Lance Uppercut]

it's really irrelevant, because if they're found with substances in their system on match day they fall under WADA codes I believe.

 

[Ricmel]

it's really irrelevant, because if they're found with substances in their system on match day they fall under WADA codes I believe.

Yes I am not sure about that. Possibly correct but it doesn't change my view. If the drugs are not performance enhancing then it is strictly a player health issue. If a player was found to have a blood alcohol level above 00 on match day would he be subject to sanctions under WADA?

 

[no orange peeler]

100% agree with the op, and for clubs to believe that their are players on their lists aren't using recreational drugs they are naive and need to get their head out of the sand. its not an afl issue but a society. only way afl will eliminate is with zero tolerance.

 

[The_Eagles]

It would barely worth being a star footy player in your 20s if there was zero tolerance except for 6-8 weeks a year. They would have 3 day benders every week in this period anyway

 

[The Swert]

Illegal drugs are illegal. That's not up to the AFL. And without deterrents then the prevalence will increase.

If you want to petition to your member of parliament, go ahead, but don't blame the AFL for being accountable to the law.

This issue is not about performance enhancement or even health, it's about the law. No sport can be seen to permit illegal behaviour.

Say no to drugs kids.

 

[Lance Uppercut]

100% agree with the op, and for clubs to believe that their are players on their lists aren't using recreational drugs they are naive and need to get their head out of the sand. its not an afl issue but a society. only way afl will eliminate is with zero tolerance.

and why would the players agree to that, would you think?

 

[LeverPuller]

On it, aren't ecstasy and speed considered performance-enhancing due to increased energy etc?

 

[Lance Uppercut]

On it, aren't ecstasy and speed considered performance-enhancing due to increased energy etc?

no... there's some conjecture cocaine or speed might be (in the way caffeine is, legally interestingly), but the reason they aren't considered as such is that you can't sustain performance on them. You'll have a heart attack.

Ecstasy, hell no. Although it improves performance in some disable people

 

[Silent Alarm]

Easy solution to all these players bringing the AFL into disrepute: Ban AFL footballers. No sliding knees, no piss-ups, no rape allegations, and no chicken-wing tackles or grimacing, short-tugging bald men.

 

[SBYM]

On it, aren't ecstasy and speed considered performance-enhancing due to increased energy etc?

Depends if you're shooting for BOG at the 'G or at Rainbow Serpent.

 

[Upgrayedd]

At least they were not anti-social drugs

 

[telsor]

no... there's some conjecture cocaine or speed might be (in the way caffeine is, legally interestingly), but the reason they aren't considered as such is that you can't sustain performance on them. You'll have a heart attack.

Ecstasy, hell no. Although it improves performance in some disable people

In sports terms, caffeine is only legal to a degree. Very high levels in your system is enough to get you done. I recall an Australian Fencer or pentathlete getting disqualified at the olympics many years back...

Just checked...Seoul, 1988, Pentathalon, Alex Watson, banned for life by the AOC, reduced to 2 years on the argument that got that level by drinking coffee!

 

[Lance Uppercut]

In sports terms, caffeine is only legal to a degree. Very high levels in your system is enough to get you done. I recall an Australian Fencer or pentathlete getting disqualified at the olympics many years back...

Just checked...Seoul, 1988, Pentathalon, Alex Watson, banned for life by the AOC, reduced to 2 years on the argument that got that level by drinking coffee!

must have been a lot of macciatos!!

 

[Bell Ringer]

Illegal drugs are illegal. That's not up to the AFL. And without deterrents then the prevalence will increase.

If you want to petition to your member of parliament, go ahead, but don't blame the AFL for being accountable to the law.

This issue is not about performance enhancement or even health, it's about the law. No sport can be seen to permit illegal behaviour.

Say no to drugs kids.

What about other industries?

I'd rather Chris Judd do coke than my lawyer or financial advisor, yet I don't see them being tested for drugs.

 

[telsor]

must have been a lot of macciatos!!

Yeah, my memory of the time is a bit flakey, but I seem to recall it was possible, but seriously unlikely for anyone to drink that much coffee. Just found another link...

Alex drank 12 cups of brewed coffee in a day to keep him alert in his fencing tournaments. As a result, his urine-caffeine levels exceeded the IOC limit. "Their advice," recalls Watson, "was that you could only exceed it if you drank something in the order of 30 to 40 cups of coffee in a day; in other words so much they believed you'd be physically ill before you could actually put that much coffee into your body."

What the test didn't take into account was how different people metabolise caffeine at quite different speeds. Watson's still bitter. "If you're a very slow metaboliser of caffeine, which I obviously am, you can reach that level doing something quite innocent."

 

[Hard_to_Beat]

100% agree with the op, and for clubs to believe that their are players on their lists aren't using recreational drugs they are naive and need to get their head out of the sand. its not an afl issue but a society. only way afl will eliminate is with zero tolerance.

This would come to a point where it became a human rights issue.

 

[gbatman]

It all comes back to a number of things as to why party drugs should be banned and it isn't largely performance enhancing. It's players welfare for one. If a player has a psychotic reaction to party drugs and it ruins their career/life then this comes back to the AFL, the sport in general and their club. Or if a player at some stage down the track finds their life ruined by drugs post career then it comes back to the club or league as well. There are possible legal ramifications for the club or the league if a player has a drug mishap and it is seen that the Club or league did nothing.

Then there are the behavior factors. Clubs don't want their players misbehaving and getting into trouble in the public. Obviously taking drugs increases the chances of this happening. These things are banned by the laws of this country. The AFL and the clubs do not want their players involved in illegal behavior.

Their is also an image for the AFL, the sport itself and the clubs to maintain. The Helen Lovejoy mothers out there are less likely to have their kids play a sport that has an association with party drugs etc.

 

[Ricmel]

Illegal drugs are illegal. That's not up to the AFL. And without deterrents then the prevalence will increase.

If you want to petition to your member of parliament, go ahead, but don't blame the AFL for being accountable to the law.

This issue is not about performance enhancement or even health, it's about the law. No sport can be seen to permit illegal behaviour.

Say no to drugs kids.

If that is your argument then how would you feel if they drug tested in your workplace. Why do AFL players get tested for illegal drugs and you don't?

 

[pantskyle]

Worse things out there then players smoking a J.

I don't know how this works exactly but they shouldn't have performance enhancing drugs in the same boat as social drugs like marijuana, speed, cocaine etc.

Saying that players should not be using during the time they are involved with club stuff whether that's the season proper or pre-season.

 

[The Swert]

Why do AFL players get tested for illegal drugs and you don't?

Because they have media making a living off them. So they come under a lot more scrutiny.

You could then argue about film and music celebrities, but they for the most part act independently and cannot be governed unlike a sporting league. The AFI and ARIA have no power.

 

[Membling]

I think there are other issues aside from is it performance enhansing...

The way I look at it is if I owned a company. Would you want your employees, of any capacity to be taking illegal substances especially when you're trying to cultivate a brand that is essentially orientated towards a family market?

 

[MaddAdam]

ITT - kids believe they invented everything.

Whether the older generations want to admit it or not, social drugs are almost as ingrained in the under 30s world as alcohol. The problem is not going to go away.

Not sure who you are referring to as the older generations, but "social drugs" have been around, and a part of the culture, and a part of AFL culture, for decades. I'd venture to say since before you were born.

Jeez, it would have to be getting onto ten years since Karl Norman and Laurence Angwin turned up to training pilled up.

The Eagles party drug scene was at its peak about 8 years ago.

Gary Ablett Snr was involved in a very unseemly incident a decade ago.

All through the 90s you knew which players were going out and into the gear.

Same in the 80s.

The "problem" isn't new and it isn't really a problem. FFS, Sheeds accused Allan Jeans, a policeman, of giving his players coke at 3qtr time in the 80s.

You admit you don't know much about the substances in question. From what SWIM has told me, no "social drug" would provide an onfield benefit anyway.

Having some methamphetamine prior to a kick of the footy at the mark would advantange yiu or perhaps even in a local league game.

AFL footy is about observing strategies and playing to patterns and defined roles so closely that any small advantage in speed/strength you'd get would probably be outweighed by the lack of focus on what you really should be concentrating on - team stuff.

 

[MF]

So basically the AFL are willing to jump in for the sake of a players welfare and health, provided that it's only illegal substances that are threatening their health?

 

[LouisCK]

Illegal drugs are illegal. That's not up to the AFL. And without deterrents then the prevalence will increase.

If you want to petition to your member of parliament, go ahead, but don't blame the AFL for being accountable to the law.

This issue is not about performance enhancement or even health, it's about the law. No sport can be seen to permit illegal behaviour.

Say no to drugs kids.

Wait. Its only up to companies to enforce the law under a fascist state.

If their are heaps of AFL players out taking recreational drugs, let the bloody cops handle it. Oh wait, our cops are probably selling them the drugs in the first place. Well in any case, its not up to an employer to ensure their players aren't using drugs.