Warning on calls to scrap drugs policy

The AFL Players’ Association says illicit drugs problems would spiral out of control or be managed by 18 clubs in wildly inconsistent ways if the contentious policy was binned.

Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge urged the AFL to scrap the policy in the fallout from photos and videos emerging on social media of Bailey Smith taking drugs.

An independent third party is reviewing the illicit drugs policy, which is expected to be reworked before next season.

But AFLPA chief executive Paul Marsh backed the medical model program, where players are exempt from recording drug strikes if they have a diagnosed mental health issue.

Those players are subjected to target testing but positive swabs are not counted as official strikes.

The Australian reported last month that it was aware of two current players who had been exempt from recording strikes on mental health grounds.

Marsh said players only signed up to the “voluntary policy” so it could intervene, educate and assist players who were taking drugs.

“It’s always been about identifying players that might be using illicit substances, and that’s what the testing is for,” he said.

“We would never have agreed to this if it was about identifying players and sanctioning them.”

Marsh said it was “laughable” that clubs couldn’t care for their players because only the club doctor – and not the club’s hierarchy – were informed of a positive test.

“(Clubs say) we have a right to know. Well, why do you have a right to know? What will you do with that information?” Marsh said. “It doesn’t need to (go beyond the club doctor). Players can tell their club after first detection.

“Where there’s a right level of trust there, players actually will go to the club. We don’t advocate them not to do that.”

The AFLPA will “fiercely protect” the confidentiality aspect.

“That’s a policy position we’ll take,” Marsh said.

“We’re not going to put ourselves in a position where players can’t trust coming to us.”

Marsh was unsure whether Beveridge was calling for testing to be scrapped or for clubs to be empowered to manage illicit drugs.

Either way, he said that was a recipe for disaster.

“If we don’t have the testing and there’s no policy our concern would be we’re actually not helping the players, and we know we’ve helped out lots of players through this,” he said. “If we’re not testing at all and just letting it go that doesn’t seem to make any sense.

“Aren’t we just kicking the problem down the road for another set of problems to exist around the past playing group?

“There’s potentially 18 different approaches to it. One club (Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett) says zero tolerance and kick them out for two years.

“We believe the doctors are the appropriate people to be dealing with this issue.”

While testing diminished in Covid due to resources and logistical problems, “sophisticated” hair and blood testing protocols are in place. Players are hair tested after their off season, which scans usage over the previous three months.

“It can pick up levels of usage so you can get a good sense of if someone’s got an issue,” Marsh said. “Other than employees in industries where it would be considered dangerous, employees aren’t drug tested.”