Football: 2 players avoid a public shaming

This manages to be bothersome no matter where you stand on soft drugs.

The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport announced two CIS football players tested positive for cannabis during post-game drug testing this fall, but each received a "sanction of reprimand and no period of ineligibility." Their names, we'll never know.

If this is a banned substance with consequences, then where are the deterrents? Being outed might effect a change in behaviour. The other is wondering why marijuana is even classified as a banned substance, although it's important not to get too hung up on the fact is was weed in this case, since CCES also doesn't name names on cocaine.

There is also an argument for why the players remain anonymous. It holds that they were doing something which is fairly common among the general student population and a public shaming doesn't necessarily work.

Ultimately, everyone gets a little tarred when CCES reports a minor violation and people are left wondering who got pinched from among hundreds of football players. But, hey, they have to show they're catching people.

Related:
Two CIS Football Athletes Reprimanded for Cannabis Violations (press release)
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3 comments:

  1. Players were told before the season that Marijuana violations would no longer come with a slap on the wrist. This obviously doesn't confirm that.

    The other MAJOR issue if you ask me is the date of the press release. Did it really take 5 and 3 months respectively? This is the kind of thing that makes the CCES a joke.
    Any play in their 5th year, know damn well that no test results are going to prevent them from finishing the season.

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  2. How does the CCES carry any credibility when CJFL players get named in the press but CIS players don't for the same offence?

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  3. Maybe I don't know enough about this, but the "three-part test" sounds very forgiving. Basically, you can escape all significant penalties if you:

    1) tell them how you took it;
    2) prove it wasn't to enhance your performance or mask other drugs;
    3) have someone else back you up.

    ATHLETE: "Yeah, uh, this here is Steve, he was there with me when we passed it around."

    STEVE: "We were just like hanging out that day, you know."

    CCES REPRESENTATIVE: "Oh, okay, never mind, then. Good luck on Saturday!"

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