It's never a good thing if an athlete tests positive for a banned substance.
But it rises up to a level of craziness when a guy who drives stock cars for a living is busted for crystal meth.
Jeremy Mayfield spent the last 30 months trying to challenge a suspension by NASCAR after he tested �positive for methamphetamines. He now has greater worries.
Mayfield now faces charges of possessing 1.5 grams of meth, according to records from the Catawba County Sheriff's Office. Mayfield, 42, posted $ 3,000 bond and was scheduled to appear in district court Wednesday.
While the legal system will have to decide whether Mayfield is guilty or not, it's hard to believe that Mayfield is some sort of innocent bystander who has been burned twice by mistake. Pardon me while I roll my eyes.
Consider the history, documented by Bob Pockrass of scenedaily.com:
"Mayfield failed a May 1, 2009 drug test administered at Richmond International Raceway. NASCAR suspended him eight days later.
"He has challenged those results, saying they were a mix of a combination of the prescription drug Adderall, which is used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and over-the-counter Claritin-D allergy medicine.
"Mayfield won a temporary injunction to return to NASCAR but never raced before the suspension was reinstated by the courts. Once Mayfield got the injunction in July 2009 and before the courts reinstated it, NASCAR tested Mayfield again and has said in court documents that Mayfield again was positive for methamphetamines. Mayfield has said in court documents those results are inaccurate and produced the negative results of a test taken that same day that he said proves he was clean.
"In May 2010, a federal judge ruled in favor of NASCAR in the Mayfield case, and Mayfield currently is appealing in the U.S. Court of Appeals, with a hearing possible in January."
So, to review, Mayfield has jumped through all sorts of legal hoops to clear his name and got nowhere.
And now he's busted again, this time by watchdogs with greater authority.
Good thing NASCAR got rid of Mayfield before he had another chance to step into a car, and put a bunch of other people in harm's way while driving a car close to 200 m.p.h. That's beyond crazy _ and dangerous.
NASCAR's random drug testing policy worked. I can think of no other sport where that type of testing is more vital.
"Either one of two things has happened," Carl Edwards said after Mayfield's suspension. "Either he was into meth or he wasn't. If he was, then he's got a bigger problem than they think and we should try to help him out. If he didn't use any meth, we sure the hell should not be talking about it. It's certainly destructive to somebody's life and public image."
Sadly, it appears the first thing that Edwards mentioned is true. My sympathies go out to Mayfield because he obviously appears to be a troubled soul.
But just like NASCAR and the courts and now the North Carolina police, I'm not buying any of his hard luck stories of innocence.
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