Following on from the eminent Gary Player, and his comment last year that drugs are being used in our game.

Article from The Daily Mail (7th July 2009), states that after 1000 tests done in America and 100 in Europe there has been no evidence to back up the comments of Mr Player and others (whom joined the bandwagon).

Mr Finchem did infer however that some were known to use recreational substances and that they would be fined, counselled or suspended and almost certainly be in that order.

Nice to see we're honest people.

Does that Wacky Baccy I smoke count?

Oh yes, And the pain killers I'm on also count!! Looks like we're in for some counselling David

I'd like to know what Drugs Santo's on??? He's got to be on something to be the way he is

I also like how since Player's comments last year he's now come out and said Players on Tour need to get themselves in better physical shape to ensure they can cope with the rigors of tour golf.

So would Mr Player please pick on side of the fence and stay on it. First he wants Drug Testing to stop the players using artificial means to get themselves into better physical condition and now he says the opposite.

God help the counselor that tries to sort me out. He/She would end up barking, just like me

"Diclofenic" Paul

Don't know what Santo's on but I sometimes feel like I've had some LSD when I see his outfits.  

Isn't that the stuff for period pains?

is this pick on me time????? when I'm fragile!!

You've come out with some corkers in your time, Waynetta.

But,

you

fragile

PMSL

 The only 'user' I've ever heard of was Jon Daly (a brilliant man to come back from alcohlism) say no to a drink everytime, and the rest, smoking, snorting...whatever

Wayne, You doctor looks after you me old son, If you are having trouble sleeping and need a decent pain relief also ask for amitripline, works a treat

I take Aspirin to keep the blood thin and as an aid to concentration.

I take Allopurinol for my gout which allows me to play this game.

I take Losartan for my heart which gives me the strength to get over the first ditch (Sometimes anyway)

I take Amioderone, another heart tablet that gives me grief and makes me feel sick but also gives me the strength to fight it and get out on the course.

I take Avostatatin which is a wonder pill and has many benefits, one being that it aids control of my wedge play.

I take furusomide which is a diuretic and those who have played with me will kow that I am always having to pee every five minutes.

I take Lanzaprozole to counter the side effects of the aspirin and as an aid to ensuring I take the putter back in a nice straight line.

When I am in pain with either my knee or my elbow I take a drug that I have been banned from taking, because of my heart problems, but does the trick in relaxing the muscles and relieving the pain.

No wonder you rattle when you play golf

Bloody hell John, do you have a cabinet in the bathroom or a branch of Boots?!?!

I asked the cardiologist if I could come off the Amiodarone as it makes me feel awful at times, but he said that if I did, then he would have to stop me driving for a month, so I am still taking it. It is a pill that is very good for the heart but is supposed to be taken for a maximum of 7 months, I have now been taking it for ten years. So it looks as though I am stuck with it.

Know how you feel John about the driving issue, I'm in a similar situation medication wise, only it took me 3 years to get my license approved whilst taking medication.

He never backed up those claims with any names but surely he did'nt just make it up.

He must have seen or heard something that pi&&ed him off enough to go public with it.

Didn't Gary Player have his own drug issue's when younger?? Perhaps he was spurred on by the ruling bodies to put something back into the game, By saying Drugs have no place in golf.

There is not a drug on the market or black market that will ensure one arrives at the ball in the correct position.

here,here John.

Maybe not John but you sure as hell won't worry about it

There's a couple that I'd like to give a couple of players I know to speed up their slow play........

I reckon I would have failed a drugs test or two in the past, particularly if the cold remedy pseudoephedrine or painkilling opiates are on the banned list.

As for recreational use, without wishing to upset anyone or be controvesial, I do wonder what business it is of the tour.  I can see why 'image' is all-important, but we wouldn't know of the drug use but for their testing.

I would agree that it is quite different if players actually play under the influence (presumably badly).

depends if the test prove they are using the drug whilst playing!! or if it just shows that they have used it in the last 3 mths???

It's been reported this week that Sheffield United's 'keeper, Paddy Kenny, has tested positive for a drug that is in a cold medicine that is available over the counter.  How the hell are pro's supposed to stay clean when banned substances are available in every day products?  I can understand it if it's steroid abuse or other performance enhancing stimulants but come on.  What's next, no coffee within 6 hours of playing as caffine is a stimulant?  I can see it now on the front page of Golfshake: -

Disaster at West Mids Open qualifying as both organisers are disqualified for sharing a packet of Lockets.  Tim Hawkins prevented from playing after a bag search unearthed some Strepsils.  Dave Ley under investigation after taking a swig of John Pettitt's lucozade, John to be prosecuted for supplying. 

Another prime example of "The do good/P.C. brigade" making life and sport damn near impossible.

I'm more likely to fail under more severe conditions than those Mr Perry

Since when have you shared anything ya tight arsed Yorkshire bu##er

S'funny you should say that Chris, but does anyone else remember the story of the policeman who tested positive for traces of Opiates, turns out he had a penchant for bread covered in poppy seeds.  Apparently as little as 1 bread roll covered in poppy seeds is enough to flag a postive drug test for 48 hours.

Well that was the defence I used.... 

I didn't say they were my lockets Paul.........

There is one Cough Medication on the market that advises you not to drive after taking it. What it doesn't say is they advise it because it would show you 3x's over the limit in a Breathaliser Test.

Also a Club Pro driving to the Open having got through Qualifying and gets a headache so stops in Castle Douglas for some Painkillers. Asks the Chemist "I'm playing The Open so what Painkiller contains any banned substances?" Is that Chemist going to know?

TheLyth

Shouldn't common sense apply here and the R&A,U.S.G.A look into this further, so only performance enhancing substances are deemed as banned??

I heard one commentator at a recent event mention something along the same lines..... "So these guys can't even take headache tablets as it will give the player an unfair advantage?" the other commentator replied "Well, what if another competitor had an headache and didn't take the medicine? The other guy would have the advantage?, Besides there tour pro's so should be able to cope!"?????????

Are these guy's sadists or something?

To be fair, how many cold medicines advertise that they can get you through the symptoms and keep you going through the day?  To do that takes stimulants.  These stimulants help to focus the mind and this is why they are banned. 

In football failure of a drugs test is met with a statutory two year ban, but there is usually an element of common sense applied and if a player can prove that they took it accidently as part of an over the counter cure they are normally let off or fined.  There is a list of 'approved' medicines that do not contain any banned substances, but this list is getting shorter and shorter by the year. 

Performance enhancing drugs; Means To enhance ones state. Cough/cold medicines etc don't enhance ones state but help get you back onto a level par, Hence get you through the day as if you weren't ill in the first place.

Steroids enhance your state and therefore should be banned but for prescriptions and over the counter medicines surely COMMON SENSE should prevail IMHO!

I am pretty sure a qualified pharmacist should know what is and isn't a [sports] banned drug, but whether he would also be able to recognise Joe the Club Pro and warn him not to take it on Open Thursday is a matter of chance.

I am very much against performance enhancing drugs, and also mostly against anybody using recreational drugs whilst at work (although I am aware of my potential hypocrisy here as an occasional lunchtime drinker). 

Those who take drugs to combat non-sport related disease are innocent of wrongdoing and surely must be considered outwith punitive regulation.