Pubdate: Sun, 18 Mar 2012 Source: Bryan-College Station Eagle (TX) Copyright: 2012 The Bryan-College Station Eagle Contact: http://www.theeagle.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1132 Author: David Harris TEXAS A&M, NCAA WORK TOGETHER TO ROOT OUT DRUG USE Though performance-enhancing drug scandals have hogged sports headlines for the past decade, administrators, athletic directors and college coaches have shifted their focus to street drugs. "We've talked with coaches, and they have a new worst nightmare," said Andrea Wickerham, vice president for the National Center for Drug Free Sport. "That is their pain almost on a daily basis." On Feb. 15, four TCU football players were charged with selling marijuana. After hearing of drug use on the team from a recruit, coach Gary Patterson called for a surprise drug test of the whole team on Feb. 1. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that five players failed the test. Another 11 players had trace amounts within the margin of error, and 86 players passed the test. Marijuana was the only drug detected. Karl Kapchinski, Texas A&M's assistant athletic director for athletic training, said the number of players to test positive isn't surprising - -- especially with the popularity of marijuana among collegiate athletes. "It is the most prevalent," Kapchinski said. "And that's not going to change anytime soon." The bust gave attention to a problem that's been going on in sports over the past few decades, said Tim Lightfoot, director of the Huffines Institute for Sports Medicine and Human Performance. Marijuana has a calming effect that can help athletes avoid getting too hyped up or feeling too much pressure, which can hurt performance, Lightfoot said. He added that doing the drug doesn't diminish an athlete's level of function. "With marijuana, you can maintain a high level of performance," Lightfoot said. Wickerham referenced a survey the NCAA performed in 2009 that showed an increase in marijuana usage among student-athletes. The NCAA reported that 22.6 percent of 20,474 student-athletes participating in an anonymous survey in 2009 -- the most recent data available -- admitted to using marijuana the previous 12 months. That number was up from 21.2 percent in 2005. "That doesn't surprise me at all," Lightfoot said of the report. Among the most profitable sports -- football and men's basketball -- across all divisions, 26.7 percent of football players and 22 percent of men's basketball players admitted in 2009 to using marijuana the previous year. Both were up significantly from the 2005 numbers (21.7 percent and 18.6 percent, respectively). A&M not immune A&M president R. Bowen Loftin said that all colleges deal with the issue of illegal drugs -- whether it be athletes or non-athletes. "Universities are particularly susceptible due to the risk-taking behavior prevalent in young adults and the peer pressure that is often brought to bear on fellow students," he said in a statement. A&M doesn't release any data due to a confidentiality agreement signed by every student athlete when he or she arrives on campus. However, there have been some newsworthy issues with the football program in the past few years. In 2009, offensive lineman Yemi Babaloa was convicted on two counts of aggravated robbery and sentenced to five years in prison. The charges stemmed from an incident where he and a friend robbed two men in a College Station apartment during a drug deal in 2007. Jorrie Adams and Erik Mayes were both dismissed from the team in 2005 after an undercover officer bought marijuana from them. The two were arrested on misdemeanor drug possession charges. Those incidents occurred under coach Dennis Franchione, who was at the helm from 2003 to 2007. Former associate athletic director Tim Cassidy, who was as deep into the football program as anyone under R.C. Slocum and Mike Sherman, said that both coaches addressed the drug issues at the outset of their tenures. Slocum, the winningest coach in program history, remembers A&M being a place that hasn't struggled with drug-related issues. "The drug thing is part of our society, unfortunately," he said. "I would say we had minimal problems, and every home I went to, I made some point with the parent and the young man to make clear I had zero tolerance for drug usage." Cassidy has been in an administrative position at A&M, Nebraska and now Arizona State. He said that he hasn't seen any difference in the prevalence of illicit drugs at any of his stops. "I haven't seen it more there [at A&M] than anywhere else," he said. "When you have 120 kids on a football team, you're going to have the issues that 120 18- to 22-year-olds have." Former players Cyrus Gray and Bucky Richardson said that their teammates were too focused on being athletes and all the responsibilities involved with that to make the mistake of doing drugs. Gray said former coach Mike Sherman had a simple policy during his time from 2008 to 2011. "He would say, 'If you want to do drugs, then you can't play football.'" Richardson, who played from 1987 to 1991, had a theory as to why his teams didn't mess around with illegal drugs. "Leadership helped to stop it," he said. "If I'm on that team and football's important to me, it wouldn't make me happy to know that a group on our team is doing that." The testing policy The drug testing process for collegiate athletes is seemingly persistent and evolving. In fact, it's quite thorough, said Wickerham of the National Center for Drug Free Sport. She visits universities to critique the testing policy and visited A&M in 2001. At A&M, athletes are subjected to a number of drug tests. The NCAA and Big 12 tests all student athletes at the beginning of each season for performance-enhancing drugs. At championship events and bowl games, the NCAA also tests for street drugs. For a student to fail an NCAA-administered drug test, he or she must test for more than 15 nanograms per milliliter of THC -- the chemical present in marijuana. A failed drug test at the NCAA level results in a 365-day suspension and a loss of a year in eligibility. Wickerham said that A&M, like 90 percent of Division I schools, also administers its own tests that focuses on illegal drugs. It is issued at the beginning of the fall semester to every student-athlete. From that point on, A&M administers random tests. Kapchinski said a minimum of 10 percent of team members are examined during a random test. "Every sport is randomly tested at least twice a semester," Kapchinski said. "Some of that is random selection and some sports get three or four times." A&M calls in Aegis Analytical Laboratories from its Nashville headquarters to perform the testing. Kapchinski will tell the selected players to come to him immediately after they get off the practice field, meaning the players have less than two hours notice. "They don't give you much time," Babaloa confirmed. Once they get there, Aegis takes over. "They come in and actually monitor the student athlete as they come in, verify ID, check their stuff and witness them literally providing the sample in the cup," Kapchinski said. Once the samples are in hand, the labs test them, looking for any illegal substances. A&M's policy is that an athlete tests positive for marijuana if the sample provides more than 5 nanograms per milliliter of THC, which is the lowest amount in which the lab can confirm a positive test, Kapchinski said. The policy is "zero tolerance," he said. At A&M, all student-athletes are required to sign the Substance Abuse and Education Form, which outlines the policy, testing and consequences. One positive test means the head coach, along with Kapchinski, decides the punishment. A player can be suspended depending on the coach and the team's specific rules. A player who tests positive gets red-flagged and is put on each random list whenever his or her team is tested for the rest of their eligibility, Kapchinski said. "I tell them that it gives you the opportunity to prove to others that you're doing the right thing," he said. Following a second positive test, the athlete may be subject to probation, individual discipline and suspension. The athlete must also sign a second offense contract for the head coach. If the athlete tests positive a third time, he or she is suspended from participation. The athletic department can also assist the athlete in looking for outside help. Athletic director Bill Byrne said each coach on campus outlines a set of team rules, which can be more restrictive than the department's policy, but not less. The system can be beat "There is a way to beat the system," Kapchinski said. "It requires some effort and energy, and if we do the testing right, it makes it far more difficult. You can tamper, dilute your system. There are products you can take that may or may not work." Much like steroids, drugs have a way of evolving, and the cat-and-mouse game now involves synthetic marijuana -- like brand names "K2" and "Spice." Wickerham said that synthetic marijuana involves blends of exotic herbs and plants that are coated with synthetic cannabinoids like cannabicyclohexanol, JWH-018, JWH-073 or HU-210, which give the user a marijuana-like high. A news release issued by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in April 2011 said synthetic cannabinoids are "designer drugs" that are "manufactured and distributed in an attempt to circumvent the Controlled Substances Act." "K2s were sold across the street [at the gas station] before they were outlawed," Kapchinski said. "It's the same effects but it's far more dangerous because it has far more negative consequences." A study conducted by the University of Florida in 2011 found that one in 10 college students had used synthetic marijuana and that it was most prevalent among males. The DEA banned the selling of synthetic marijuana in March 2011 while the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services further studied its effects. The NCAA added synthetic marijuana to its list of banned substances in August. However, it is not yet able to test for the drugs. Wickerham expects the NCAA will be able to test for it in the fall of 2012. So what's the difference between marijuana and synthetic marijuana? Wickerham said there are similar properties between them, but the high is different and the side effects vastly differ. "The side effects are horrendous from what we've seen and heard," she said. Because the drugs are produced in a lab, they can be more potent than natural marijuana. According to the American Psychiatric Association, synthetic marijuana use can cause lengthy bouts of psychosis. Wickerham said that doctors have associated synthetic marijuana with heart problems. Anderson University basketball player Lamar Jack died of multiple organ failure in October after ingesting a chemical used in synthetic marijuana. Three LSU football players -- defensive backs Tyrann Mathieu and Tharold Simon and running back Spencer Ware -- were suspended for one game in October after testing positive for synthetic marijuana. Wickerham said they tested positive in a drug test initiated by the school. Though the NCAA doesn't test for synthetics, there are some laboratories that can test for the chemicals present in synthetic marijuana. Kapchinski said that Aegis Laboratories tests for the drug, so all A&M athletes are tested for synthetics. But it's something that can evolve with certain chemical changes, he said. "There are constant ways to change the chemical to change the detection," Kapchinski said. "It's far more difficult to detect than marijuana." Is testing a deterrent? When Byrne took over as athletic director in 2003, the current system was already in place. The reason it hasn't changed, he says, is because it is working. "Student athletes will tell you so," he said. "I always say, anecdotally, I've had reports from student-athletes that say there's no doubt the drug testing policies we've had in place have helped them stay away from using drugs in social situations, because they're going to be tested." Wickerham said that over the past 12 years, players have told her that testing, along with education, is a sound deterrent to drug usage. She said that the A&M athletic department had a sound policy that can't be circumvented. But the onus remains on the athlete. "At the end of the day, if you want to use," Babaloa said, "you're going to use." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.