Drugs In Sport 2

Following various comments on My Drugs In Sport post I have decided to continue the chain of thought this morning.

Given the death and the speculation around the death of Michael Jackson this week I want to talk about addiction. We often think of drug addicts as ‘Crack Heads’ or Heroin Users, the guy who smokes a joint of weed ever night, but it goes beyond this.

The speculation is MJ became addicted to prescription pain killers following the Pepsi hair incident, something that he stated to use as a crutch and it is this small piece of the world of addiction and drugs dependence I want to discuss.

Am I an addict? Am I addicted to adrenalin....I need to get a good buzz every week, be that through training, Windsurfing, a judo competition or performing on stage. I am dependant on tea – I can’t function in the morning without a good strong cuppa, and I don’t drink Alcohol but anyone who has seen me study knows the amount of diet coke I drink.

I am an aware of these things – I know I have an addictive personality but I manage it – I don’t find myself needing to feed these beyond what might be deemed ‘normal’ or high usage. Everybody in my opinion has an addiction something you can’t do without, it might be a daily routine that just makes you feel right........think what’s yours.

How many players do you see strapping a joint to support it during rehabilitation who then 10 weeks latter are still strapping it or putting on a knee brace – just in case. If it is needed this long it needs medical and rehabilitation work.

I know a former international who now takes an anti-inflammatory over the counter medication before competitions – just in case! I know a number of young players who at 16 are taking creatine supplements – way beyond the capacity of their bodies to process – because they have been told to by coaches. When they change coaches they DONT change the supplement programme.

All these actions could be explained as ‘athlete routines’ all of them could become additions and dependence. As coaches we need to manage them, my son has eczema and a number of allergies – it was recommend by a doctor to try a cod liver oil and vit supplement for 3 months. Now to ensure he took it we have given it to him at breakfast – as part of a routine, after the first month we ran out we got a replacement but it was a different brand and didn’t taste right for him so we went back to the original – as we enter month 3 he will only take the pills at the same tie otherwise its not right.

We are on the verge of it becoming a behaviour and a habit – it may be good it may be bad, we know because we miss days ‘ by accident’ and he doesn’t complain, but this could so easily go the other way if he was not being monitored.

So in Sport in general there is lots of drugs misuse, and dependence – and it’s not all steroids and high performance stuff. Te scary thing is many people don’t know they are doing. Take supplements many surveys have shown up to 20% of off the self products are contaminated with ‘banned’ substances.

In the past we have had high level cases or drugs tests failed due to Green Tea, high caffeine levels etc, but next time you with your team look around – who always straps up, who is taking medicine – just in case or I don’t want to get A or B........think about who is dependent on artificial stimulants to enhance performance. It might not be illegal but as coaches and players what should we do, what are the ethics of you as a coach, as a player. When does enhancing training become an athlete’s dependency issue?

I don’t have the answers, an those I find often lead to more questions but I welcome you comments on these few badly articulated thoughts.