I don’t pretend to know all the rules that govern drug use in the AFL. I find it confusing and I’m quite lazy when it comes to doing my research.
But in principle, I don’t want anyone taking an unfair advantage by secretly using performance enhancement drugs. If anyone is doing this I hope they get caught and rubbed out.
That said, ‘party drugs’ are not performance enhancing. I know some people will disagree, but they’re wrong. On the contrary, using ‘party drugs’ will interfere with and almost certainly undermine preparation, and therefore performance.
If I’m an AFL player that ‘gets on it’ from time to time, then I’d definitely be testing myself to reduce the chances of getting busted.
I might even have a conversation with the club doctor about my situation, which I’d expect to be subject to doctor/patient privilege.
If my footy club found out about my ‘party drug’ use, then I’d expect them to talk to me about the possible consequences of my actions, and offer me professional support and guidance. I wouldn’t be surprised if my club managed my availability and came up with a cover story should I take some ‘party drugs’ at a bad time i.e.: when I might get busted by doping officials.
I also shouldn’t be surprised if my club gets fed up with me stuffing them and others around if I can’t rein in my mis-adventurous tendencies, and give me the arse as a result!
Anyway, I think lumping ‘party drugs’ in with performance enhancing drugs is dumb, and creates an extremely difficult problem for the AFL and other sporting bodies.
