The peer reviewed medical science tells us otherwise. Cocaine is a stimulant and enhances performance in a range of metrics.

Ultimately though, if you don’t like the fact that your chosen sport will test and ban for certain substances you have two choices: Don’t use said substance and keep playing the sport, or give up the sport. It’s really that simple.

You’ve just had Graeme Steel the Chief Executive of Drug Free Sport NZ clearly state that cocain IS A PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUG.

But obviously you are far more qualified to comment so we’ll just believe you shall we? YOU TWAT!

I have some comprehension of urban life – and sporting life – and can categorically state that coke very much acts as a stimulant – thus an enhancement to sporting performance!

Your above statement “Anybody with any comprehension of urban life – however slight – will be absolutely aware that coacine is not a performance enhancing drug” comes across with incredible arrogance – do you seriously believe your statement? Open your eyes!

Again I’ll state – YOU TWAT!

The people who chew coca leaves in South America while working longs days at high altitude don’t do so because they wish to talk crap to each other all day and night.

I apologize that I extrapolated the view of Drug Free Sport NZ a bit too far. As I remember you definitely said marijuana, and I’m pretty sure you also said that testing for cannabis was not a good use of resources (when I checked the WADA website yesterday, I noticed that it groups both these two together on the banned list). I cannot remember if some media also threw in cocaine with their reports (in 2007), or if I did this extrapolation myself. Whatever, I was wrong, and I apologize.

I should also stress that my article is merely my own opinion. I apologize for the implication that my opinion is supported by your own. As you have clarified, it is not when it comes to cocaine, although it is when it comes to some lesser substances.

I do concede in my article that cocaine can technically be performance enhancing (as you write). But I wonder what you say to my point that in all cases of cocaine use of which I am aware (see listed names plus more), the use has purely been for recreational purposes.

You do write that the cocaine use has to be “prior to an event” to have ” the potential to enhance performance”. I realise that testing cannot distinguish whether people like Wendell Sailor and Martina Hingis used cocaine immediately prior to taking the field of play, but I think it is stretching common sense even to think that they did. (If I remember correctly, Wendell said he used cocaine on the Wednesday before a Saturday game.)

I was interested in your “health” defence for the position on cocaine: “of greater concern, is arguably the most dangerous thing an athlete can take if circumstances such as dehydration and heat are added to the mix.” If WADA is going to position itself in such terrain, then I wonder what you say to the point that various readers have made about “needling up”, i.e., using painkillers to mask the pain of an injury so that they can take the field. I would have thought that this (widespread) practice would be far more potentially dangerous to an athlete’s health than cocaine use, so why does WADA not ban it?

Am I correct in assuming from your comment that if Boonen had tested positive in-competition, then he too would be facing a mandatory two-year ban?

Finally, your coment is useful for those readers who refuse to accept that WADA bans cocaine for performance rather than moral reasons – thankyou.

cocaine IS illegal. So is speeding.

Sports clubs often become as if defacto parents/guardians of players often plucked from family in late teens – so what is the responsibility of a code/club to support the players involved.

btw – further to the AFL findings, a high proportion of those testing positive under their illicit drugs policy where found to have mental illness (whether undiagnosed or not). This policy is assisting greatly in developing appropriate support mechanisms for people with such issues to function in such an environment.

If WADA had their way – - it’s zero tolerance all the way and total exclusion. That’s not always the right outcome. After all – our whole justice system is built around case by case processes. Why not WADA.

Sports should ban it – but maybe not ban it under the facade of being performance enhancing.

Your statement “I was appalled and embarrassed by the treatment meted out to Wendell Sailor by the Australian rugby community, most of whom behaved like sniggering schoolboys with their class-fuelled glee over a rugby league convert being banned for nothing more than many of them were doing every weekend”, do you have proof that “many of them” were doing this over a weekend? Besides Sailors problem was the excuse that he gave that he didn’t take drugs, but then once the B sample came back admitted that yes he did.

Actually Cocaine makes you so focused on what you are doing, so it can be defined as performance enhancing, esp if your playing a game that envolves high concentration and high energy levels. Why else do clubbers take it?

“it’s benefit would be no greater than that of, say, performing the haka or being the recipient of one of Alan Jones’s legendary pep talks”

Other than that, a sound and understanding article. Thanks.

And this is where you perhaps need to compartmentalise – which WADA kind of struggles with (because, it’s a blunt stick and WADA tries to apply zero tolerance).

I still look back to the Australian context and all the (lack of) debate when the Howard govt made a political issue around the AFL illicit drugs policy. Howard et al were desperately trying to get into bed with the IOC (and the result?? being that we have an Australian head of WADA). However, this completely confused the issues of WADA testing for performance enhancing and a separate and additional illicit drugs policy.

The facts were spartan. However, popular opinion in some quarters liked to portray that Ben Cousins for example was ‘on the juice’ as he helped the Eagles to win the 2006 GF. Reality is, that the WADA testing – which missed A.Johns and B.Cousins – within the AFL at least target tests the top performers, and B.Cousins was the reigning club B&F winner for the Eagles and they would target test the top 3 club B&F winners. Conclusion – either – A. that Cousins was NOT on the juice if the WADA (ASADA) testing was doing it’s job), or B. WADA(ASADA) is only effective as a political instrument!!!

The findings of the AFL policy thus far have been interesting. A policy aimed at putting the health and well being of the players first. They’ve found mostly cannaboids as the drug of infringement. Mostly associated with consumption of alcohol first and mostly in the ‘off season’ and the most likely time to test positive was upon returning to training from the 4 week inter season break.

Which illustrates there’s a big disconnect between WADA in season or match day performance enhancing testing in the past compared to a decent and separate illicit drugs program. Thankfully in Australia, the new Rudd govt via Kate Ellis have taken a more productive approach to this issue. Which makes sense, given in Australia the NRL, Cricket and AFL were the sports most in question from Howard Govt ‘pressure’, and none are Olympic sports!?!?!? Wierd.

How the press reacts to it rather depends on the sport the person played. In the UK the rugby union media make great play on how much more spiffing their players are than any other sport so when one of them is caught misbehaving they either bury the story as much as they can or try to gloss over it – in todays Independent, for example, it is Matt Stevens “drugs illness” and at the time there were many articles written about what a great chap he is and how his drug addiction (an addiction can be turned into an illness, occasional drug usage can’t so the “addiction” angle was quickly highlighted) was because of the pressures he was under – the fact he also runs a coffee shop in Bath got a lot of publicity too for some reason.

The Sunday Mirror today contains an article about allegations that Bath rugby union players went on a cocaine and booze bender at the end of their season. We’ll see how that plays out.