The Drug Of Prescription Drugs - 1782 Words

As the NFL grows in infamy from their many concussion scandals, the misusing of prescription drugs is overshadowed, but still remains as a major issue in the NFL. A huge problem facing the NFL today is the ill advised use of painkillers as it affects former players and current players alike. If nothing is done to stop this dilemma, players will continue to be affected by the accoutrements of painkillers. Only through DEA investigations, increased restrictions on prescription drugs, and increased monitoring of player’s mental health, will we end the epidemic of the misuse of painkillers in the NFL. Background of the Problem As NFL players continue their careers, they become household names that people start to look up to as role models.†¦show more content†¦With injuries plaguing the NFL, team doctors are able to use drugs such as prescription painkillers to allow players to play through pain. NFL team doctors are able to to receive and distribute illegal painkillers with ease. In a Vice Sports article about the suppliers of the NFL’s painkiller addiction, Aaron Gordon states, â€Å"SportPharm,...from at least June of 2009 to June of 2010, illegally provided prescription drugs to 81 team doctors across American college and professional sports† (Gordon, 2014, para. 2). Many NFL team doctors claim that they did not know about the illegal drugs and that they only use these companies for their systems of business. Gordon expresses that in a U-T San Diego report written by Michael Lipman, NFL teams are not only using SportPharm, an unlicensed California Pharmacy, for their convenient t racking system, but for the buying of massive quantities of painkillers. These painkillers end up in the hands of the players who have the potential of misusing them from their intended use which can destroy their lives. One cause of professional football player’s painkiller addictions is that Doctors feel pushed to have the players continue playing. Some doctors believe that if they do not load up their players with heavy drugs to be able to play, they will be let go from their