The Tar Heel Thursday, July 3, 198615
miF-vey "reveals that 25 percent of athletes 'use drags
From Associated Press reports
COLUMBUS, Ohio The chair
man of the NCAA committee on
drug education says every college in
the country has a drug problem, and
that an effective testing program
deters abuse by athletes.
Dr. Robert J. Murphy, an asso
ciate clinical professor of preventive
medicine and the head physician at
Ohio State University, says data
shows that in the last five years 20
percent to 25 percent of college
athletes have used marijuana or
cocaine some use both on an
average of once a week.
Murphy, also the chairman of the
NCAA's committee on drug educa
tion, provided information presented
to the Big Ten Conference Awareness
Committee on Alcohol and Drug
Abuse th'at found 36 percent of 2,039
athletes in a 1984 NCAA survey had
used marijuana within the previous
12 months, 17 percent cocaine, 8
percent amphetamines and 6.5 per
cent anabolic steroids.
A 1984 multi-college survey com
piled by Heitzinger & Associates of
Madison, Wis., found that of 2,100
athletes at 12 colleges, 27 percent
used marijuana and 14 percent used
Polo club
finds pool
place to be
By BONNIE BISHOP
Staff Writer
Since the 1984 Olympics, more
people have become interested in the
sport of water polo, and those at
UNC are no exception. Interest in
the UNC Water Polo Club has
increased a great deal over the past
two years. .
The club, like most athletic clubs
at the University, is open to everyone, '
men and women alike. During the
school year, they play tournament?
against varsity teams such as Univer
sity of North Carolina at Wilmington
and Virginia Tech and also other club
teams, such as Duke and N.C. State.
They play in the Southern Water
Polo League Tournament in Virginia
in the fall; if they do well, then they
play in other invitational tourna
ments in the spring. The club usually
participates in about twenty matches
a year.
This summer, they invite anyone
interested in the sport to come out
Monday and Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
These practices are very informal,
with their main objective being to
familiarize people with the sport.
Water polo is a strenuous game.
Quarters are seven minutes long and
a player must tread water the whole
time. "The game takes a lot of finesse
and a lot of strength, not just the
speed of swimming," said club
president Jonathan Fassberg.
Fassberg stressed the point that
clubs were for fun. "It is nice to win
but we just want to have a good
game," he said.
Because UNC has such good
varsity athletic teams, it sometimes
takes away from the interest of club
sports. Fassberg said that club sports
are getting bigger at the University
and are now trying to gain notoriety
and respect from students and
faculty.
"It would be nice if students would
support clubs more by coming out
and being spectators,' Fassberg said.
cocaine.
"Every college in America has a
drug problem because it's a reflection
of our society and of the student
body," Murphy said during an
interview. "Drug use among athletes
is approximately 50 percent that of
the general student population."
Cocaine was cited as the cause of
deaths this month of Maryland
basketball player Len Bias and
Cleveland Browns football player
Don Rogers. Bias died June 19 and
Rogers died eight days later.
Murphy said that seldom does
anyone use just one substance,
instead mixing marijuana with alco
hol or cocaine with alcohol.
. Murphy said that when an Ohio
State athlete is detected using drugs,
"We feel they should not play . . .
If they have drugs in their system,
they run the risk of injuring them
selves as well as causing other players
to be at risk because of their lack
of performance."
The solution, Murphy said, is drug
testing as a deterrent, not as a way
of punishment.
"The Olympic program of testing
is based upon identifying (people
who test positive for drugs) and of
punishing them. Our program (at
Ohio State) and the one I advocate
is based upon, first, to deter use, and
second, to identify the kids with
problems and try to get them clean.
"We work with 'some for two or
three years, Murphy said. "If they are
in treatment for two or three years
and we eventually get then clean,
well, that's our goal."
Murphy said that every athlete,
coach, trainer, team physician,
manager and other staff member
affiliated with the program at Ohio
State is tested. In the 1984-1985
school year, Murphy said Ohio State
tested three men's teams and two
women's teams and 5 percent of the
urine samples showed use of illegal
substances.
He added that in tests of four men's
teams and two women's teams during
1985-1986, 1.5 percent came up
positive.
"We consider that (random,
weekly) drug testing has proven to
be a major deterrent to drug abuse
during the season," Murphy said.
He said that when an athlete tests
positive the first time, they are
rechecked by a second test. So-called
"false-positives" occur in less than 1
percent of the tests, Murphy said.
On the determination of a positive
on the first test, the athlete is placed
on probation but is not disciplined
by the coach by a loss of playing time.
For the remainder of his or her
college career, the athlete must
submit to weekly tests. Positives are
cumulative, so that if an athlete fails
a test as a freshman and then again
as a senior, it is still a second positive.
A second drug test failure brings
intra-squad discipline. Starters do
not start, those on the traveling squad
are left at home, and those who are
on the non-travel squad are taken off
the training table.
The athlete is suspended on a third
positive test. They may be reinstated
after they have been declared clean
for a period of four to six weeks,
Murphy said.
"Every player who has been sus
pended over the last two years (at
Ohio State) has been reinstated," said
Murphy, who said that six of seven
athletes at the university had failed
a third test over that period.
Murphy said that Ohio State sets
up counseling for those who have
failed tests and also arranges frequent
visits by speakers such aS National
Football League drug enforcement
officials.
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