Speech by Adil Lalani on Drug Abuse (5th April 2007)

I am going to talk about the effects of drugs in sports and how it can ruin a person’s life or career. But firstly we need to know what kind of drugs I am talking about?? We all know that drugs are not necessarily a good thing, some can be harmful. DIFFERENT DRUGS HAVE DIFFERENT EFFECTS Stimulants : Drugs which act on the central nervous system and increase brain activity. Examples include Cocaine; Crack; Ecstasy; Poppers; Speed and Tobacco. Depressants : Drugs which act on the central nervous system and slow down brain activity. Examples include Alcohol; Gases; Glues and Aerosols; GHB; Tranquillisers. Hallucinogens : Drugs which act on the mind, distorting the way users see and hear things. Examples include Cannabis; Ketamine; LSD; Magic Mushrooms. Analgesics: Drugs which have a painkilling effect. Examples include Heroin. Anabolic Steroids: These drugs promote the growth of skeletal muscle and increase lean body mass DRUGS: What do you think of the following drugs? Should they all be banned? Alcohol causes domestic and street violence. It kills thousands on the roads every year. It should be made illegal. Nicotine is one of the world’s biggest killers. Smokers put a huge strain on health services. Cigarettes and other tobacco products should be banned. Cocaine and heroin are lethal killers. Anyone caught dealing in or using them should go to prison for 25 years. A few examples of famous sport stars whose careers were spoilt by taking drugs are: One of the famous cases, Diego Armando Maradona, an Argentinean soccer player, whose career included plenty of controversy: he was suspended for 15 months in 1991 after testing positive for cocaine, suspended again in 1994 after failing another drug test, and ran up an unpaid income tax bill in Italy that eventually exceeded 30 million Euros. Photos of Maradona looking blown up and decidedly unathletic were commonplace in the 1990s, and he survived a heart attack in 2004, but he never quite lost the public's affection. Apart from all this, in 2005 he began hosting his own television show in Argentina titled La Noche del Diez, or "The Night of the Number Ten." Australia's leading wicket-taker Shane Warne was suspended from cricket for 12 months after the player tested positive for a banned diuretic/ causing increased urine output How do drugs affect Athletes Specifically? -Their performance falls. -It affects their timing, movements and coordination. -They can become fat or obese and loose stamina. Stamina is one of the most important things in sports. Hence, drugs + sports = your disadvantage. Let us get back to a more general concept, Do Drugs Affect School, Sports, or Other Activities? Obviously, as we have heard over and over again, drugs do affect ones memory, judgment and sensitivity. How many people in this room have tried drinking? How many in here have taken drugs before? We never realize it in the midst of relaxation and feeling high that it all has its drawbacks. Drugs can make you mess up in school, in sports, or with your friends. If you’re high on Drugs, you are more likely to make mistakes that could not only embarrass or even hurt you but also affect those around you. If drugs are used excessively, you could start losing interest in school, work and at times sports mainly because you are too high to care. Since, drugs can affect judgment and decision making; its use can lead to risky sexual behavior, resulting in careless sex which also causes the increase of pregnancy and an unhealthy child as a product or the increase in the number of abortions. It can also lead to sexually transmitted diseases like HIV (AIDS). Each year drug abuse results in around 40 million serious illnesses or injuries (I repeat 40million serious illnesses or injuries) among people in the United States, forget the rest of the world, its 40 million injuries, lives, losses of family members just in the United States. Think about it. We are all subjected to peer pressure, drugs, alcohol and crack, but its our choice, Do you want to be one of those people that add up to the 40 million people that get injured and die? Do you want to be one of those, who get what they want out of their lives such as success in sports or even any other career and give it all up for 5, 10 minutes say 1 hour of pleasure? It is up to you!