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World Anti-Doping Agency Comes after Caffeine
George Gregan is captain of Australia’s Rugby Union team (which is a different thing that Rugby League, and the differences are not relevant here), and as such, he is unknown in America. However, that may be about to change. Mr. Gregan has claimed that caffeine in large doses has helped his performance by 7%. Now, the World Anti-Doping Agency will consider re-instituting a ban on caffeine as a performance enhancing drug. The fight should prove amusing.
Taking drugs of any variety without medical supervision, or at least cognizance of the pharmacological effect, is stupid. The only thing dumber is prohibition. But here, reality is a reductio ad absurdum argument for legalization simply because a ban on caffeine in sports could (should?) lead to a ban in the rest of society. Trouble is there are far too many addicts to lock up.
Earlier this year, National Geographic ran the following:
Question: What do heroin addicts who receive a daily dose of methadone have in common with people who feel they cannot function without that morning cup of caffeine?
Answer: They are tending to their addiction—keeping the physical devils of drug withdrawal at bay.
As writer T.R. Reid pointed out in his January 2005 National Geographic article, "Caffeine," researchers agree that regular caffeine use triggers a physical dependence, a mild form of addiction.
Every morning, the line at Starbucks shows just how serious the addiction is. The common refrain is, “I can’t get my day started without my morning cup of coffee.” Change “cup of coffee” to “line of coke” or “syringe of smack,” and the parallel is clear. Excuse makers will say that caffeine is a naturally occurring substance that is common in many plants. The human brain makes it own opiates, though, so the “natural” argument is nonsense.
Precisely how Mr. Gregan arrived at his 7% figure is difficult to say, and it is likely to be a phony number. The WADA says the amount needed to get a positive result from caffeine was the same as drinking 12 cups of coffee, or taking little pills of the stuff – the average amount an average person might consume is not where near that. Yet, surely there should be zero-tolerance. After all, no prohibitionist is saying a little marijuana won’t hurt, a little crystal meth is OK. Fortunately, nobody in America pays any attention to rugby, so maybe the issue will just go away if one wishes hard enough.
© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
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