Agree wholeheartedly IM but like I said earlier, it's mainly what they do to acquire and what they do after taking them that's the problem. I work and talk with them everyday and some of the conversions are horrendous.

Bit confusing that BLM, are you talking about drug users in general or the players ??

Prison.

What they going to do to the rest of the team for taking sleeping tablets Friday night

In reality although a fairly serious criminal offence unlawful possession of Class A Drugs hardly ever leads to 7 years imprisonment.

I believe the courts are weak when it comes to sentencing for drugs offences and society is infested with drug misuse issues with cocaine on the night club/pub scene readily available....As for your other comment according to some research the average sentence in the UK for rape is 8 years although I believe the maximimum sentence dependant on aggravating factors is 15 years.

Walker is a professional sportsman and a role model to some....he has almost breached a position of trust. Others outside of sport would lose their jobs in these circumstances and so should he. A 2 year ban will give him time to understand what it's like in the real world trying to earn a living and pay the bills (whilst hopefully getting drugs misuse support.)

He may then at 28/29 have the chance to resurrect his career returning to rugby if he can clean up his act and appreciate the talent & opportunity he has got (and that many others would love to have!).

There needs to be a grown up conversation about decriminalising some drugs - because the so-called war on drugs has patently been lost; and the illegality of it simply means that the whole trade is done by crims and gangsters, and the money involved goes on to fund all manner of nasty things.

Whilst there's undoubtedly societal problems from some people's use - there are significantly more from alcohol - over-use of which is part of our culture and is not only tolerated, but celebrated. That seems wrong to me - particularly given that plenty of people use recreational drugs of a weekend, without robbing pensioners or causing mayhem.

With regard to Walker and Chase - this is an employment issue and a simple one; they've been found to have drugs in their system and, like any employer, if its prohibited by the club, they can be sacked; they are bloody idiots for not understanding how to flush it from your system - plenty of exercise and lots of water, and it's gone in 48 hours - or the byproduct is, since cocaine itself is not testable.

This

There is no large scale gang warfare regarding alocohol. There are shootings just about every week in Sheffield which are undoubtedly drug related. shootings about the supply of alcohol are surely extremely rare.
Can't agree with your last paragraph - you seem to be excusing them ! IMO they are bloody idiots for taking them. End of.

Yes there are many that use recreational drugs without any problems Bren, but there are far far more that use them 24/7 365 days a year which I'm Afraid are the ones who don't give a crap about you, me or anyone. You can legalise it do whatever, but that won't stop how they get the funds to finance it or the destruction and heartache they cause when on them. Only the suppliers might be slowed down slightly but will never be stopped. Stiffer sentences for all crimes and back to the old school in the penal system so they don't come back will go a long way.

This.

The grown up conversation about drugs won't happen as to make it work it needs to be a government issue and it could not be further away from being a vote winner.
No one will touch it.

That's because alcohol is legal - you don't need to go meet a dodgy guy in a back alley for a 8 pack of Fosters that's been smuggled over the Columbian border. If drugs were legalized (don't agree that all drugs should be legalized by the way) and sold from proper licensed places you wouldn't get all this gang related crime over drugs, as they wouldn't be the suppliers anymore. People are going to do it either way, may aswell do it safely

I take your point jizzer, I was just trying to illustrate what kind of people are peddling the drugs.
Legalisation of drugs is a whole different ball game, needing much cleverer people than me to decide the implications.
Even if all drugs were legalised I would doubt the mentality of anyone taking them.

2 points from here
1) Players are role models and we need to set an example - we have done a similar thing (albeit alcohol) with Tim smith etc. so he is gone for me.

2) i arrange for random drug tests at work (i work in construction) we have tested over 200 people in Yorks/lancs and have a failure rate of around 10%. interestingly we have not had one failure for alcohol.