Posts Tagged ‘amphetamines’

According to a study by the Nova Southeastern University that was recently presented at a national conference, 80 percent of poker players in the world reported using drugs and other products for improving their performance in poker.

These drugs help the players to stay awake for long and concentrate better offering them a competitive advantage, as per Kevin Clauson, Pharm.D., an associate professor at NSU’s College of Pharmacy, who was the principle investigator in the study.

From Newswise.com:

Poker players are using drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines, Valium, and other prescription medications, as well as substances including caffeine, energy drinks and guarana to get an edge over their opponents.

“The use these substances could allow poker players to stay awake longer, as well as focus and concentrate better, which would be a competitive advantage,” said Kevin Clauson, Pharm.D., an associate professor at NSU’s College of Pharmacy, who was the principle investigator in the study. “Stamina is important for any poker player because tournament poker and cash games can go on for many hours.”

Using these substances can be harmful for poker players, Clauson said. Depending on the type of substance, he pointed out; there will likely be short-term and long-term side effects.

The Nova Southeastern University researchers initially interviewed players in Las Vegas during the World Series of Poker and then surveyed online players from across the globe.

Bernardino Jimenez grew up as a young body with big dreams about baseball in his eyes in San Pedro de Macoris. After some years, he became victim to a mischievous agent who injected mixture of Boldenone to Bernardino by saying that the injectable substance was legal vitamin. Everything was going fine and Bernardino got a contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks’ training squad in 2008 but destiny had something stored in him. He was found positive for Boldenone, anabolic steroid used in horses, which leaded to a suspension of fifty games.

From TimesUnion.com:

Jimenez’s case is just one example of a disturbing trend in this hotbed of baseball talent.

Of the 69 minor leaguers suspended for using banned substances in 2008, nearly two thirds — 42 — came from the Dominican Summer League, a developmental program for Latin American players housed in secluded palm tree-lined campuses owned by big-league teams. This year, 31 of the 71 minor leaguers suspended for using banned substances came from the DSL.

In the major leagues, where performance-enhancing substances have been a divisive issue for more than a decade, players with Dominican roots have also been at the center of several high-profile drug cases.

Sammy Sosa and Manny Ramirez have been accused in stories by The New York Times of being on a list of more than 100 players alleged to have tested positive during an initial drug survey of MLB players six years ago. David Ortiz has acknowledged the union told him he was on the list, and slugger Alex Rodriguez, following a February report in Sports Illustrated, said he used steroids while with Seattle from 2001-03. Rodriguez said a cousin obtained a substance he knew as “boli” in the Dominican Republic.

This incident once again highlighted the fact that steroids and sports share a relationship and some sportsmen often find it “interesting and beneficial” to use steroids, amphetamines, or performance enhancing drugs to get success. The lure of fast and easy money leads most of the players coming from Dominican Republic to take on steroids.