THG the 'clear'

[Dylan]

yes, I agree. the health consequences for some drugs are terrible. And part of the whole ethos of sport is one of engaging in an activity that is healthy and encourages active lifestyle. Only the culture of most sport now, is one of being (and I am the worst hypocrite here) sat in an armchair, beer can open,beer belly bulging out from curry stained vest, shouting at a professional athelete because he is no good.

Unfortunately this culture of winner takes all is really one of the biggest problems. the media and the fans don't help. The money goes relentlessly in that direction also. Taking part graciously doesn't matter a damn. sstyle or sportsmanship. Its who won, how many medals did we get, how many trophies? Nor, does it encourage others to lead active lifestyles, take up sport, learn to develop comradeship, teamwork, a sense of fair play etc.

none of those things are rewarded. Of course fans are a part of this culture and I said myself, I just care who is the fastest. That's the problem in most athletics. Its one against one, hard to encourage anything other than a winner takes all mentality.

amphetamines are regularly given to fighter pilots, with similarly negative consequences - psychosis being a fairly regular side effect of the drug, not a mental state you want in someone so lavishly equipped to realise destruction.

Prove that.

A SEAL platoon recently (last 2 years) got in trouble for taking drugs to improve reactions in combat situations. Guess what, DRUGS ARE NOT TOLERATED IN ANY SHAPE OR FORM in the US Military. People under the influence kill people. The Navy operates a ZERO tolerance program, and being part of that program I know the stats.

Pilots are tested just as much as the liberty risk seaman is.

Oh, and the aforementioned SEALs, not in the Navy anymore, dishonorable discharges for them.

 

[neonleon]

I cannot prove it anymore than you can disprove it.

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1425252002

and

from the La Times;

As two pilots face a possible court-martial, the air force says "go pills" kept tired pilots alive in Afghanistan. Lianne Hart reports from New Orleans.

As a hearing investigating two American fliers who bombed Canadian forces in Afghanistan entered a third day on Thursday, the air force summoned reporters to hear a pilot-surgeon extol the virtues of the practice of prescribing amphetamines for tired pilots.

"It is the gold standard for anti-fatigue," Colonel Peter Demitry, chief of the US Air Force surgeon-general's science and technology division, said outside the military warehouse where the hearing is being held. "We know that fatigue in aviation kills . . . This is a life-and-death insurance policy that saves lives."

Lawyers for Major Harry Schmidt and Major William Umbach have said the pilots' judgment was impaired by amphetamines routinely prescribed by air force doctors. The two men, formerly full-time air force pilots who now are Illinois National Guardsmen, may be court-martialled for dropping a bomb that killed four Canadian soldiers and injured eight near Kandahar, Afghanistan, in April.

The pilots say they believed they were under fire. But the air force says they failed to wait for clearance to fire. Seconds after the bomb was dropped, clearance was denied.

Colonel Patrick Rosenow, who is in charge of the hearing, will recommend whether the men should be court-martialled. It is the first such proceeding in wartime on charges arising from a "friendly fire" incident.

Colonel Demitry insisted that the drug Dexedrine - called "go pills" by pilots - "has never been associated with a proven adverse outcome in a military operation. This is a common, legal, ethical, moral and correct application."

The stimulants, first dispensed to pilots during World War II, were taken voluntarily, he said. "At 30,000 feet in the middle of the dark sky, as a fighter pilot, no one is going to make me swallow a pill." The air force practice should not be compared to commercial airline policies that ban pilot use of amphetamines, he said. "In combat operations when you're strapped to an ejection seat, you don't have the luxury to pull over. There are no other options."

Colonel Demitry said the drugs are dispensed in small doses to avoid abuse. He said it was a minuscule dose that had a "very mild stimulant effect".

Pilots unable to sleep before a mission are prescribed sedatives such as Ambien, he said. Charles Gittins, Major Schmidt's lawyer, hinted that he would argue that Ambien also may have affected the major's mental state when he dropped the explosive.

On the night the Canadians were killed, Colonel Lawrence Stutzrien was overseeing air patrols from a control centre in Saudi Arabia. In his testimony, the colonel said he was aware that pilots were taking amphetamines. "I understood clearly that the missions were tough on pilots - these missions were known to be long; they would tire the guys," he said.

Even so, any pilot flying over Kandahar should have known that the area was "friendly", he said, with standing orders warning that coalition forces might hold exercises in the area.

But Colonel Stutzrien conceded that "there weren't lines drawn as to where the good guys and bad guys are."

The extent of the confusion was clear in a videotape of the bombing shot from Major Schmidt's F-16 fighter. After he dropped the bomb, the major asked the controller to confirm that it had not landed in a zone flagged for coalition forces. The controller concurred that firing in the area was not restricted.

certainly an apocryphal case can be built. Seems to be enough pilots coming out and saying it is happening.

Not saying that this is the definitive explanation for friendly fire incidents.

 

[Dylan]

I feel sick. [Poor language removed] Chair force. Gambling with peoples lives like that. I am disgusted.

I can proudly say the Navy does NOT share this policy with the Air Force.

 

[chicoazul]

Its a good excuse to have a line. Become a fighter pilot.

 

[TX Bill]

I feel sick. [Poor language removed] Chair force. Gambling with peoples lives like that. I am disgusted.

I can proudly say the Navy does NOT share this policy with the Air Force.

Guy in the office next to me used to fly in the Navy and is a Navy grad. Smart cat.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I hope those fly boys don't ever get captured after taking that stuff, they'll be blabbering away all night long

 

[chicoazul]

Charlie do you copy, out of Mozam"

 

[Rob]

I didn't at any moment suggest that only America was doing it, but this THG does come from an American clinic.

My point was that in almost any sport you look at you can see an American at the top now I can say thats down to the amount of money pumped into high schools or its down to clever drug use improving their performance.

Drugs should not be tolerated in any sport, get caught, get banned. end of.

They need to make a stand in all sport and hand out life bans to anyone caught, take drugs, lose your career.