Ben Cousins of Richmond looks on during the AFL Round 01 match between the Richmond Tigers and the Carlton Blues at the MCG, Melbourne. Slattery Images
I wanted to let the hysteria over Ben Cousins’ hospitalisation die down before writing this article. The subject of “legal” drugs in elite sport is tricky, mainly because there is no accurate way of telling how widespread use is, and just what is being used to give players an advantage.
Cousins got into difficulties following a pre- and post-match routine which allegedly included “No Doze” caffeine pills, red wine and sleeping tablets.
Some medical professionals indicated that the combination of caffeine and sleeping tablets (stimulants followed by depressives) has the potential to be a major health concern, heightening the chances of irregular heartbeat and strokes.
A club official from Richmond Tigers maintained the use of such drugs was common in the AFL.
My first question is why?
Why does an elite fitness sportsperson playing in a team game (not necessarily just AFL players) need caffeine in doses such as those supplied by “No Doze” tablets? And if it does provide a competitive advantage, why aren’t all players taking them?
They’re legal, after all.
The answer is less simple, and I would assume that certain positions in certain team sports would benefit more than others if the drug involved was supposed to provide greater endurance and longer lasting energy (which is beginning to sound like a sports drink commercial). But big doses of caffeine can have a “peak and trough” effect which would inhibit a player’s performance if they hit the “trough” too soon.
Caffeine accelerates the heart rate and this can lead to shortness of breath and that twitchy or shaky feeling which can in turn lead to a decline in coordination.
It is also a diuretic so dehydration becomes a real issue, especially in sports where players cover large distances during a game (on ballers in AFL, midfielders in football, back rowers or scrum halves in the rugby codes).
Caffeine is addictive. Those who enjoy a daily cup of coffee realise this if they are forced to go without for a few days.
I don’t know if taking it in large doses can lead to a greater or more rapid addiction, but I shake my head in amazement when I hear that players have to take sleeping tablets to “come down”, after a game, especially if they’ve taken caffeine to “get up” for it in the first place.
This is playing with the body’s internal mechanisms to an extent that surely cannot be justified by sporting administrators.
Sleeping tablets are dangerously addictive, and while the Cousins case appears to be the result of an incorrect dose, long term use can have terrible health consequences.
One of the industries that discovered that was ironically not really a sport at all, but US pro wrestling developed an awful track record of performers becoming hopelessly addicted to “somas”, in conjunction with pain medications.
And they were used in just the same way as was reported here in the last fortnight – to “come down” after an event. Several deaths within the industry have been attributed, at least in part, to over-use of sleeping pills.
While I don’t want this to be a dissertation on Ben Cousins, the first question that hit me in his case was, why are potentially addictive drugs being prescribed to a recovering addict?
The collective responsibility in this case overrides the individual. It is perhaps unfortunate for Cousins that it was he who made the dosage mistake, as it could, by the sounds of things, have been any number of AFL players if the assertions of officials are accurate.
Is it too naive to believe that players would get more long term benefit out of NOT taking caffeine tablets and NOT having to pop a sleeping pill?
Why not let the body sort out its sleeping patterns without artificial help. Just because it’s legal, doesn’t mean it does no harm.
Let’s remember that the two biggest killers in Australian society are both legal drugs – alcohol and nicotine.
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