Peter Everitt reveals footy's drug problem
Tony Sheahan | April 05, 2009
PETER 'Spida' Everitt claims there is a serious drug problem in the AFL, revealing he has twice been offered cocaine by people in the game.
Everitt said he was first offered the drug by a fellow player in a taxi, then again by a retired player in a nightclub.
On the issue of drugs in football, the 34-year-old said yesterday: "There's been, definitely, through my career, quite a few instances where you see it first hand.
"I've been offered it in a taxi by the player of a club."
On his second brush with drugs, the 291-game veteran said: "I'd only been in a new club for a couple of hours and I just went out after I'd moved and got offered it by a former player.
"I explained I wasn't interested."
He said the former player tried to convince him to give it a try, but he refused.
Everitt, who said he had never taken an illegal drug, also revealed he once loaned money to a teammate who wanted to buy a substance.
"If he wanted to impact his profession, it was his choice," he said.
He refused to reveal the names of players he knew or believed used illicit substances, but said people, including AFL officials, were naive to think it was not a major problem.
Everitt has signed a statutory declaration in support of his drug claims.
The All-Australian ruckman said there was not enough testing outside the home and away season.
Everitt also called for the AFL to name players on the first occasion they were caught with drugs in their system. Under the current rules, players are referred for counselling, treatment and education after their first positive drug test, but their identities are protected until they have failed three tests.
"I reckon if you've got one strike against your name you should be named and shamed," Everitt said. "Why shouldn't they be named and shamed after one?"
But AFL spokesman Brian Walsh said the three-strikes policy was working.
He said hair testing was being brought in during the holiday season on a trial basis and that testing had increased to 1500 tests a year.
"Illicit drug use is a community-wide issue and one that impacts on all walks of life," Mr Walsh said.
"The AFL brought in the illicit drug policy in 2005 after statistical testing showed that there were a small percentage of AFL players failing tests, indicating illicit drug use.
"Rather than take up a simplistic 'name and shame' approach, the AFL consulted with experts in the area of drug prevention on the best method of changing behaviour of players who failed a test."
In a wide-ranging interview, Everitt also told how he feared for his life after receiving death threats in 2006.
Everitt revealed a man, later identified as having psychiatric problems, threatened to kill him at Carrara during the round 7 clash between Hawthorn and Brisbane in 2006.
"I was constantly looking for a red dot to come on me," Everitt said. "I was getting phone calls into the lead-up to the game, which included death threats."
Everitt, who hosts a travel show on Foxtel's How To channel, alerted club officials, but not police.
"I thought I might get popped (shot at) walking along the boundary line," he said. "I was thinking about it the whole game. I was pretty happy when I got to the end of the game and I was on the team bus back to the hotel."
He said the threats ceased when he was traded to the Swans at the end of 2006.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25289915-661,00.html
