Drug Screen of Surfers Could Wipe Out Sport's Rebellious Image The mystique of surfing, since its music-fueled rise on the American West Coast during the 1960s, has always had a lot to do with rebellion, with alternatives, with a counter cultural image. With the "bushy bushy blond hair" and the rest of the accouterments, of course, came marijuana and LSD, drugs of choice for the surfing culture which, unlike traditional narcotics and stimulants, didn't noticeably reduce the physical abilities of those participating in the sport. The mystic search to catch the perfect wave became the obsession of many a stoner -- but the perfection of the art of surfing was a double-edged sword. It brought with it the inevitable commercialization of the sport, and big-purse surf competitions, along with their attendant product endorsements, became the tail that started wagging the dog. Surfing may now undergo a radical image change, thanks to their professional association going all aggro on drugs. A comprehensive new drug testing program announced by the Association of Surfing Professionals, which is rolling out a policy for screening competitors and officials for performance-enhancing and recreational drugs, reports Robert Booth at the UK Guardian. In a familiar pattern to anyone who smokes weed, the inevitable crackdown came, not as a result of harmless cannabis nor even of its frisky big brother, LSD -- but due to the same, tired old death drugs that have been killing people and destroying lives for generations. The move comes after the tragic death of triple world champion surfer Andy Irons in November 2010. A postmortem examination found Irons died from a heart attack and "acute mixed drug ingestion." Traces of methadone, methamphetamine, and cocaine were found in his bloodstream. Another pro surfer, Anthony Russo, 47 -- who helped pioneer the Santa Cruz scene in the 1980s -- is looking at some time behind bars for methamphetamine after allegedly being caught selling an ounce of the stuff. "We believe this is a natural evolution in enhancing the professionalism of our sport," said Dave Prodan, a spokesman for the ASP. "This motion has the full support of the surfers on tour as they want to be taken more professionally, and believe this is a step in the right direction." "We have been discussing and drafting a policy with the guidance of the World Anti Doping Agency [Editor's Note: There's a 'World Anti Doping Agency'? Far out] for over two years and the budget, approved at the November board of directors meeting, has just allowed us the possibility of implementing it as soon as next year." Pro surfers compete for prizes of up to $100,000, and testing is already carried out at some European events and in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Brazilian surfer Neco Padaratz was suspended in 2005 after he tested positive for performance-enhancing anabolic steroids at an event on the French Atlantic coast. And Peter Davi, a pioneering big wave surfer, was founded to have high levels of meth in his blood after he died in December 2007 riding a 20-meter wave off California. Davi died of head and chest injuries, probably after being dashed against jagged rocks. Most surfers oppose the idea of taking drugs before riding the waves, claimed Gerry Fitzgerald, a pro in Ireland. "I have seen guys who are stoners and they drop off the scene because it is not sustainable," Fitzgerald claimed. "Athletes are training hard. The way the contests are now, it will catch up with you." "I think the surf culture has always been pretty festive," granted Pancho Sullivan, a pro surfer from Hawaii who claimed he supported the new testing regime. "That being said I think the sport has evolved and surfers are now becoming athletes," Sullivan said. "They are eating right and cross training which leads me to believe that there is very little drug use amongst the elite level surfers on tour." "Part of its appeal is that it is counter cultural, marginal and in some way subversive and that's where the association with drugs comes in, whether real or mythic," said Andy Martin, author of Stealing The Wave. But the commercial imperatives require [surfers] to be straight." "How can mainstream surfing be losing its soul?" Martin asked. According to Martin, marijuana was always a key part of community life when he lived among surfers in Hawaii more than a decade ago. "There was a view in Hawaii that marijuana smoking in particular was actually good for surfing because you increase your lung capacity with all that drawing in of the smoke," Martin said. "So it was good when there was a big hold down under the waters and you could stay down for longer. "The more marijuana, the better the surfer."
This is ridiculous. They might be able to get SOME pro surfers to quit smoking weed, but the surfing community as a whole is always goin to be lighting up This is a long shot, but who says another company cant host surfing events and throw competitions other then this one thats going to be implementing drug tests? Smoking is a big part of a lot of those peoples lives, and more importantly a big part of the lives of the future pro surfers. The current pro suffers may not resist because they have already had a bight of the endorsements and prize money and wont want to give it up. But someone just getting into the scene may chose to go the rout of lesser money to stay true to their surfing heritage. I know that company may seem to big to be destroyed by this but hey, cannabis caused the peace movement in the 60s that reshaped the country, why cant it bring down a surfing association and reshape the sport back into a more pot friendly environment?
I think if they actually do this there won't be many pro surfers left imho. Or some Other company will take over because this one messed up and required drug testing .
there is no way any surfer would take this seriously.. im big into the skateboard community and i know if any type of "agency" would try to irradicate marijuana from the sport is out of their fuggin mind.. its our nature to love mj! this is seriously just laughable.. i love how their main purpose is to rid of mj but all of the example points are just surfers overdosing of meth and other dumb narcotics.
If no one watches or cares about the sport any longer (in the pro ranks, that is) then maybe they'll realize the stupidity of this choice. Take this mindset to ANY sport whose policies you don't support. You don't need to watch it. I think society as a whole would do well to "tune out, drop out." Sports are not the end-all-be-all they are made out to be. I'd say the introduction of ever more MONEY into sport is where the problem lies. You battle it out for the Fed funny money, you have to play by their Wall Street's rules. The money sets the stage for people to cheat to get it, much like prohibition and the drug war. No one fights over the product, just the MONEY it can bring. Ignore their events. Go surf and have fun as YOU see fit. We'll go on without their events. They will not go on without YOU.