It is rife and always has been when I first started going out drinking in 88 as a 16 year old you could guarantee fighting in most pubs then in the next couple of years with the rave scene all the fighting stopped because virtually everyone was taking ecstasy then as that scene died off coke took over and has been here ever since ,out of a group of say ten of my core friends who I've known since school and we still go out albeit not as much I can say there is only one of us who has never taken drugs to me it's something we did and grew out of

What a sensible post



This cocaine/drugs issue is way beyond sport and is alive and kicking on our streets and on an everyday basis

IMO and in my experience only, it is simply a yes or no decision as to whether you want coke on a night out or not as it is freely available wherever you are

I'm at the back end of that age demographic and I'd say recreational drug use being rife is a fair enough description and has been for at least the last 20 years in my own experience.

Take society out of it - recreational drugs are absolutely rife in the rugby league playing community.
I play in the NCL - in my current team, with a squad of about 25 players, there are only 3 that I know do not touch drugs (I'm one of them), there's then about 5 or 6 that are older/married who aren't at it every weekend, but the rest are at it every Saturday in the clubhouse without fail. Naturally I've got mates at quite a few other amateur teams, and it's the same everywhere - it's not even hidden anymore, it's openly handed around and talked about - it's now unfortunately part of the scene.
And whilst the '6 out of 10' quote looks silly with how it's been claimed, I'd say that could even be understated from what I've seen over the years. Rugby League is a small community, the professional lads tend to still stay close to their amateur clubs/mates, the ones from West Yorkshire certainly still do - and it's rife, the attitude from the professional players is not too dissimilar to that of he amateurs - it's common knowledge and openly discussed - they all share the same dealers (most of whom are within the game). The fact that clubs have nutritionists who actively work with players to flush their systems says it all!
It should also be added that Sterioids and other performance enhancers are also rife. In our pack, including 3 subs, all but 2 of us are on steroids (some of the backs are at it too, but it's more the big lads). And then if you came in the changing rooms before kick off, you'll see all but 2 or 3 players taking effers or T5's.... again, that's rife at every amateur team... and I'm sure there will be an equivelamt happening in every super league changing room, it's just the substance will be different (weaker) and not on WADA...

I'm sure there'll be other lads on here who play amateur and/or socialise with professional players - be interesting to see what their thoughts are...

The coke as a social issue can be argued over elsewhere because flagging it up on non match day sample brings up privacy issues and such.

Testing positive on a match day sample is cheating as its a stimulant and so a performance enhancer (as are industrial quantities of caffeine BTW - far more than a few cuppas worth). That's why its on the WADA list. Chase and Walker are grade A idiots for being caught as they were and deserve everything that gets thrown at them. First weekend of the play offs and these 2 clowns are hogging the headlines and the expense of some decent performances.

Me and you are of a very similar age, and no doubt went out to the same places in our youth (Shire, Cheese, Bass House, Oasis, Henry's, LA's etc). I remember the rave scene coming on, as you say, an increased number were taking something or other.

Its not a situation of if someone has taken drugs once or even a few times. To suggest its rife suggested it was happening more often than not by 18-40 year old males.

We probably all know people who either do or have taken drugs, but I think there is an over egging of the cake on this.

Anyway, we, or even I have derailed this thread on player welfare. I do apologies, it must be time for my fix

I'm glad somebody said it. It's rife at NCL level and all levels of the game. Again I've seen it first hand at clubs I have played at and I've seen the effects it can have on players. The pre-workout is also as you say used very often, although I see this more at higher level amateur than the level I am currently playing at. Can't comment on the steroid usage as I just don't know but I remember playing away a couple of years back at a team in Lancashire area with a big rugby culture and one of their lads clearly had been on some for of steroid and ended up having roid-rage on the pitch causing a fight over nothing with our prop.

I'd say it would be more like 18-30 age group as after then I think you stop going to nightclubs or be around that scene ,by the way I never set foot in Henry's we had our own dives this side of the bridge

Totally clueless and inept post with no understanding of the issue or what I said. 0/10.
Caffeine at certain levels is a flag in drugs testing, if you don't know why go bother yourself to do some research. However it's great that you are comparing it with cocaain, as it highlights your inability to make any sense.
And even better you make a comparison regarding something clubs/RFL/UKAD have no control over and is out of their remit to control. But according to you a player having a KODI box is the same/comparable to taking cocaine/amphet or having high levels of caffiene even, just lol! Well done on making an ass of yourself!

In the past I have taken Cocaine to my shame. While it does appear to give you extra energy I couldn't imagine trying to play rugby at professional level while on it. When you take it just on a recreational level it increases your heart rate to uncomfortable levels. I can imagine taking it while playing Rugby League at the highest level would cause massive exertion on your heart. If you were to take it the night before a game it would probably be a hindrance, imagine the worst hangover you've had multiplied by ten.

I take it, you have never visited the UKAD site?

I've updated the thread title and added the Adam Walker story to the original post as he's now been found to have tested positive for cocaine as well

I'm telling you now this stuff is rife in the game,,
Iv seen guys at NCL clubs taking it when they even have there kids with them.
It's society these days that just seem to think it's the norm to do a bit of coke..
It can put serious strain on the heart and I think the rise in young men having heart problems when playing could be due to this

Faux-indignation is not a substitute for cogency. You have fooled no-one.

Won't somebody please think of the children?

When they announce the dream team at the end of the season , there will be users in that 13. It needs to stop.

Well said but how do you stop it

It's time we eradicated this filth out of country and we can start by having blood tests for 3rd party liability insurance for drivers, machinery users and anyone in a "danger to other people" type of job, then politicians, lords, judges and stock brokers. If your not clean you shouldn't be in any of those jobs. If you get caught selling the stuff you go up 3 tax bands for life and bailiffs check the contents of your home every month to see income vs outgoings... after that we might have a chance.

Its legal to smoke and drink in this country and smoking and drinking to excess are not what you want professional sportsmen on your team doing - but it happens. Recreational cocaine use outside the match day window is something else you don't want your players doing but the moral police can sort that out. As much as taking coke is a mugs game, let the clubs and society in general deal with that. All the RL needs to do is get rid of those stupid or reckless enough to have it in their system on match days.

It's been getting to these epidemic levels for years..
I have seen the situation with my own eyes,,and Iv been in situations where I have thought this has got out of control..
Ten years ago it was all passed under the table now you will see a guy just pass it over the table...
All I know is if I had the talent gifted to me to play pro rugby I wouldn't be risking getting banned or damaging my health with that rubbish..
Also look at the amount of blokes queuing up to use the toilets at magic weekend,,Wembley etc,,loads of space at urinals your not telling me all them fellas need a crap...

lol, typical response from someone out of their depth. You imply that coke use is okay, that one should not be offended by professional sports people taking it, even less so iven that the sport/players are very much a part of the local community. Myself, I abhor banned/illegal drug use, tobacco use is barely tolerable.
But well done on exposing yourself as someone with a ridiculous and frankly dangerous attitude to drug taking!

You can choose to abhor whatever you want to abhor. Im not going to stop you.

We get it, you are a good person because you think someone who takes Cocaine, the processed version of a naturally occurring plant substance used as a stimulant for thousands of years by indigenous peoples is a terrible person and you are offended by my dangerous comparison to Caffeine a processed version of a naturally occurring plant substance used as a stimulant for thousands of years by indigenous peoples.

You are a good person because you are offended by the actions of people you have no relationship with, you are a fine upstanding gentleman because you are prepared to hold people to a higher moral standard simply because they are good at sport, you are a good moral person because you are fully prepared to castigate, to denigrate, to malign, those who dont abhor the same arbitrary substances you do. I am a bad and dangerous person because i dont think its my place to judge.

I don't know anybody who has died from drinking coffee , I do know someone who died as a direct consequence of taking cocaine

I haven't seen people become aggressive to the point of violence from drinking coffee ' I have seen people become aggressive to the point of violence from taking cocaine

Other opinions might well differ

its not really hard to find examples www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 37926.html as for violence about 10k people die per year from alcohol related diseases in the uk, there are about 600k alcohol dependent persons in the uk, there are about three quarters of a million alcohol related criminal offences per year, 64% of all stranger violence are alcohol related, 70% of all violent crime at weekends is alcohol related. Hypocrisy over what substances people choose to abuse does nothing to help anyone.

its not really hard to find examples www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 37926.html as for violence about 10k people die per year from alcohol related diseases in the uk, there are about 600k alcohol dependent persons in the uk, there are about three quarters of a million alcohol related criminal offences per year, 64% of all stranger violence are alcohol related, 70% of all violent crime at weekends is alcohol related. Hypocrisy over what substances people choose to abuse does nothing to help anyone.

I don't see anybody defending coke, or saying its not bad - some are more accepting of its use, some are happy to just leave folk to their own devices, and some are dead against it. The bigger point is that unfortunately it's now common place within the rugby league community, and particularly amongst players of both amateur and professional clubs. It's almost as much a part of the social scene as a beer nowadays - for most it goes hand in hand. It's sad, but true...

Someone mentioned a potential link with the apparent increase in heart issues amongst younger blokes in our sport and coke use - whilst I wouldn't necessarily tie it to coke, I have absolutely no doubt that a cocktail of various supplements (illegal and non-illegal), painkillers and recreational drugs are playing havoc with peoples long term health (both physical and mental) in our sport. I've seen first hand different super league players (current and ex) who's lives are an absolute mess because of a mixture of the above - often tied in with gambling problems too.

Coke is relatively cheap, leaves less of a hangover the next day and is becoming 'the norm' - it's easy to understand why it's the go to substance amongst the rugby league player demographic. What's even more ridiculous (and this is a sign of me starting to get old) is me and the couple of non-users at our club are actually ridiculed for being 'do-gooders' by the lads - it's all light hearted, but we're the ones who are seen as 'not being normal', because we're in the minority.

The discussion was coffee versus cocaine , other stimulant substances are available