It seems that the best strategies are those that address the process of addiction proactively, in the form of education, and reactively, in the form of treatment and consequences. As with any endeavor, the program has to be clear on exactly what the poli cy hopes to accomplish and it has to continue to improve on how it goes about meeting those goals. In some ways it can be a mechanism for the governing bodies to say they are doing something but not really want to find anything . Mostly, the common, affordable drug tests will typically only identify marijuana users, the reason being that it filters out of the body through the fat system whereas most other drugs dissolve in water. Marijuana and some steroids can be detected for days and even weeks but other drugs and alcohol are gone in hours.
Some policies are too heavy on the consequences and others are too light.
If steering athletes away from addiction were only a matter of having hard consequences, jail sentences would have eradicated this seductive scourge from our presence long ago. We are also too caring a society to make it easy for people to destroy their lives and hurt the lives of those around them. Treatment takes time because it is the process of learning how to engage in life without the aid of a good and previously trusted friend. So it isn't surprising that athletes will occasionally want to visit with an old friend. The stronger the bond, the longer it takes.