Is Adderall Invading professional Cornhole?
When it comes to the question of whether or not Adderall is invading the world of professional cornhole, some believe it already has. The use of Adderall (the amphetamine used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) has been whispered about in Cornhole circles over the past couple years and is rumored to be used by pro players across the country. I’m sure a few of you are reading this and wondering why the “college study drug” matters with performance….
At first glance I don’t blame you, until you learn that it’s been banned by virtually every major sports organization, from the PGA to the NCAA to the MLB to the NFL. The only way any of these athletes can use Adderall is by applying for and being granted use through a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE), basically a paperwork process that shows a real need for treating ADHD. TUE’s and the granting of them are a whole other separate issue for each sport entirely, but that’s a story for another day. These organizations DO give its’ players an opportunity to prove whether they need this drug in their system to function or if they just want to abuse the benefits for their personal gain, but it does seem to be an easy drug to get a prescription for which is where it gets messy still.
Or perhaps when you learn that it “masks fatigue, masks pain, increases arousal – like being in The Zone,” as said by Dr. Gary Wadler, a past chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s Prohibited List Committee, “It increases alertness, aggressiveness, attention and concentration. It improves reaction time, especially when fatigued. Some think it enhances hand-eye coordination. Some believe it increases the mental aspects of performance.” Dr. Wadler, who also served on the board overseeing baseballs historical PED reform prior to his death in 2017, goes on to say Adderall is “one of the quintessential performance-enhancing drugs. There’s no question it’s a performance-enhancing drug,” Wadler continues to say. Improved hand-eye coordination and mental aspects? In a game of inches, execution, hand eye and a strong mental game, I think we all know how much of a boost this can be.
So what is the ACL doing about it? As far as I can tell, at this moment…nothing. Now, look, I understand what the ACL is trying to do and the efforts it takes to advance as a legitimate organization. It’s expected that some things fall by the wayside when you have large undertakings dominating your focus.
However, if you wanted to be legitimized in the Olympics, you cannot ignore PED use by your pro players. Yes, pro players. They don’t let Russia’s players dope with PEDs and they won’t let our cornhole players either.
Or say, you want to be approved in all 50 states for gambling on DraftKings - complete hypothetical here - you may want to squash rumors of PED use that bring competitive integrity into question. If you’re getting into bed with DraftKings, you need to have your shit together.
Under the official rules on the ACL website, section v.1 states that the ACL and its officials reserve the right to deem any behavior inappropriate if it harms the integrity of the game or the reputation of the ACL. The ACL also reserves the right to make changes at any time during the season. I’m not a lawyer, but I have dealt with multiple unions and contracts for the past eight years, and they are well within their contracted rights to set up testing for anything they deem to be a PED mid-season and create rules and enforce suspensions or bans.
If you think Adderall turned you into a superhuman writing papers at 2 am in college, just imagine it in the hands (or bags) of our top pros….. Could we someday soon see the ACL hire people to drug test its players? Time will tell.
-Andrew