Comish cracks whip

Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) commissioner Noli Eala is out to quash speculation that the league is drug-infested. He’s ordered regular random testing for players–something not even the National Basketball Association (NBA) does. That means at any time, without warning, a player may be called to produce a urine sample before a game. If he tests positive, the league will impose sanctions immediately–regardless of the result of a retest.

Eala’s three-strike approach to penalize drug users drives home the point that he means business. No pussy-footing, no slapping of the wrist. At least a two-game suspension is automatically ordered for the first offense.

A second violation will result in a 45-day suspension and mandatory rehabilitation. A third carries the ultimate sanction of a lifetime ban, with no provision for reinstatement.

Eala told The Star yesterday the two-game suspension for the first offense is a minimum. The minimum penalty was slapped on Asi Taulava and Dorian Peña because they tested negative for marijuana use in a retest. A suspension for the first violation could extend beyond two games, depending on the results of a retest.

Eala explained that under the law, a first offender is obliged to undergo rehabilitation only if he is determined to be drug-dependent as proved in court and defined in Republic Act No. 9165, known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. "Drug dependency is a cognitive behavioral problem that requires a scientific solution," said Eala.

Neither Taulava nor Peña was proved to be drug-dependent in court. That’s why they’re not being required to undergo rehabilitation. Besides, they tested negative in their retests.

It’s unfair to pounce on Taulava and Peña as if they’re criminals or habitual users or addicts. Obviously, they’re not drug dependent. Eala said because they tested positive in their first samples and negative in their second, they were likely accidental or incidental users. That appears to be a logical conclusion, considering the retest results. So the two-game suspension is just right. Taulava and Peña suffered the embarrassment of being publicized as users–no matter if accidental or incidental–and dealt their teams a severe blow on the court by sitting out two contests. That was painful enough under the circumstances. The suspension was a stern warning of a harsher penalty on a second offense.

Remember that drug users are victims. They should be treated carefully both with a soft heart and an iron fist. Pushers are society’s worst enemies, not users. Perhaps, police authorities could question Taulava and Peña to uncover the source of the marijuana they took. Both players should be willing to cooperate with authorities if they’re sincere in backing up Eala’s campaign against drugs.

Eala said the PBA is closely coordinating with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in policing its ranks.

Curiously, the NBA’s anti-drug policy isn’t as harsh as the PBA’s. In the NBA, there are three categories of illegal drugs with varying penalties for a player determined to be a user. Amphetamines, cocaine, LSD, opiates, and crack are in the first category. Steroids are in the second and marijuana is in the third. A player may be banned only for use of drugs in the first and second categories. A player may never be banned for marijuana use–the harshest penalty is a succession of five-game suspensions. In the PBA, marijuana use carries the same set of penalties as any hard drug.

An NBA player found positive for hard drugs in the first category is automatically expelled from the league. A player testing positive for steroids will be suspended five games and required to enter a rehabilitation program on the first offense. A second offense will result in a 10-game suspension and more rehabilitation. A third offense will mean a 25-game suspension and further treatment. He will be banned only if convicted of a crime involving the use or possession of steroids.

For marijuana use, an NBA player is not suspended on the first offense but is required to enroll in a rehabilitation program. A second violation will mean a $15,000 fine and more rehabilitation. A third offense will result in a five-game suspension and further rehabilitation. A subsequent violation will mean another five-game suspension. No suspension is meted out on the first and second offenses unlike in the PBA which lowers the boom right on the initial violation.

In the NBA, there is no absolute random testing. A player is tested once during training camp or if he reports during the season or with less than 15 days left in training camp, once during the first 15 days after reporting to his team. A rookie may be tested thrice during the season or if he signs with a team after March 1, thrice the rest of the season and the next.

If the NBA receives information that provides reasonable cause of a player’s drug use during the season, it will request a hearing with the player and an independent expert to determine if testing should be done.

A player notified of a positive result has two business days to request for a retest from the NBA. The retest will be performed at a laboratory different from the laboratory used for the first test. A negative retest will get the player off the hook.

In the NBA, a banned and rehabilitated player may apply for reinstatement after two years. Since the implementation of the NBA’s anti-drug policy in 1984, six players have been banned–including former PBA imports Mitchell Wiggins and Lewis Lloyd. There is no provision of reinstatement for a player banned for drug use in the PBA.

Anti-drug watchdogs insist Taulava and Peña got off lightly with "only" a two-game suspension and want them to at least undergo a six-month rehabilitation. Some are calling for their lifetime ban from the PBA. But let’s not forget. Taulava and Peña, as Filipinos (they were confirmed as citizens by the Department of Justice on recommendation of the Bureau of Immigration, like it or not), are entitled to their human rights, too, under the Constitution. A mandatory rehabilitation is only for drug dependents, as determined in court. It appears neither Taulava nor Peña is drug dependent. And an outright ban is too harsh a penalty for a player who isn’t drug dependent.

The PBA’s anti-drug policy is no-nonsense and straight-forward. Unlike the NBA, the PBA makes no distinction between hard and soft drug users in meting out sanctions, requires absolute random testing and does not provide for reinstatement of banned players. That’s what you call cracking the whip.