The "Drugs in football" argument is frequently misrepresented.
I am aware of no study which suggests that marijuana or cocaine, the two leading recreational drugs, have any performance enhancing effect on footballers.I believe that both drugs are used by some footballers, but with no positive performance effect.
The largely disappointing "Dispatches" highlighted the area of performance enhancing drugs both in terms of individual use, but more worryingly, the complicity of clubs in their use.
The Rio Ferdinand ban (for missing a drugs test, not for drugs use) flagged up concern in this area some years ago.How Rio forgot AND his club could not find him has never been satisfactorally explained.Although I wholly accept that the Authorities were satisfied that there was no wrong doing on the part of Rio or Man u - it did raise the hypothetical scnario of how clubs and players might collude to thwart drugs tests.