Canadian
Registered User
I was just wondering if the "Q" was full of drug users, cuz this article makes it sounds quite disturbing. These players aren't even in the NHL, and they are using these drugs. Since when did junior hockey become a man's game?
http://www.tsn.ca/chl/news_story.asp?id=63693
Report: Drug use rampant in QMJHL
Canadian Press
12/9/2003
MONTREAL (CP) - Lighter schedules and shorter bus rides are needed to combat drug use among players in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, agent Gilles Lupien said Tuesday.
Responding to a front page story in Montreal La Presse that said drug use was rampant among junior players, Lupien said the league and team owners are to blame for placing too much strain on their 16-to-20 year old players.
He said the QMJHL teams should play only within their own division during the regular season and that each team's schedule be reduced from 72 to about 50 games.
Lupien estimated that up to 40 per cent of juniors use drugs to help them sleep during long bus rides or to get their adrenaline flowing before games.
"We can't blame the kids," said Lupien. "You see the way they travel, how far they travel and how often they travel.
"Going from Montreal to Cape Breton is like going from Montreal to Winnipeg or Florida."
League president Gilles Courteau was in a meeting Tuesday morning and did not return a call.
Neither Canada's major junior hockey leagues nor the National Hockey League has a drug testing program.
Richard Pound, head of the Montreal-based World Anti-Doping Agency, said it is up to governments to put pressure on leagues to take measures to stop players from using potentially harmful drugs.
"The government could easily do that," said Pound. "You just say: `If you don't have a drug policy, we won't fund you, you can't use public rinks, etc."'
La Presse reported that substances used by some of the league's 380 hockey players include ephedrine, creatine, amphetamines, marijuana and various relaxants.
And the problem isn't limited to just a few of the league's 16 teams.
"There isn't a doctor in this league who hasn't seen cases of ephedrine use in recent seasons," Dr. Jean-Luc Betit, president of the committee of doctors in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, told the newspaper.
"Several times this season, we have had major cases, with symptoms like shaking, abdominal pain, serious muscle spasms, insomnia and stroke," he added.
http://www.tsn.ca/chl/news_story.asp?id=63693
Report: Drug use rampant in QMJHL
Canadian Press
12/9/2003
MONTREAL (CP) - Lighter schedules and shorter bus rides are needed to combat drug use among players in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, agent Gilles Lupien said Tuesday.
Responding to a front page story in Montreal La Presse that said drug use was rampant among junior players, Lupien said the league and team owners are to blame for placing too much strain on their 16-to-20 year old players.
He said the QMJHL teams should play only within their own division during the regular season and that each team's schedule be reduced from 72 to about 50 games.
Lupien estimated that up to 40 per cent of juniors use drugs to help them sleep during long bus rides or to get their adrenaline flowing before games.
"We can't blame the kids," said Lupien. "You see the way they travel, how far they travel and how often they travel.
"Going from Montreal to Cape Breton is like going from Montreal to Winnipeg or Florida."
League president Gilles Courteau was in a meeting Tuesday morning and did not return a call.
Neither Canada's major junior hockey leagues nor the National Hockey League has a drug testing program.
Richard Pound, head of the Montreal-based World Anti-Doping Agency, said it is up to governments to put pressure on leagues to take measures to stop players from using potentially harmful drugs.
"The government could easily do that," said Pound. "You just say: `If you don't have a drug policy, we won't fund you, you can't use public rinks, etc."'
La Presse reported that substances used by some of the league's 380 hockey players include ephedrine, creatine, amphetamines, marijuana and various relaxants.
And the problem isn't limited to just a few of the league's 16 teams.
"There isn't a doctor in this league who hasn't seen cases of ephedrine use in recent seasons," Dr. Jean-Luc Betit, president of the committee of doctors in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, told the newspaper.
"Several times this season, we have had major cases, with symptoms like shaking, abdominal pain, serious muscle spasms, insomnia and stroke," he added.