Having served his four-game suspension for failing a drug test for Adderall, Giants safety Will Hill thinks the league needs to re-examine its policies on the drug, which falls under the performance-enhancing drug policy.
Hill, who was prescribed Adderall before he signed with the Giants this spring for ADHD, said denying the drug from players who need it could have unintended consequences.
“It is a medical condition and people do take it for medical (purposes),” Hill said, via Newsday’s Tom Rock. “I know there are other people who do take it for like, to be up, to have fun, things like that, but some people really need to take it because if they don’t take it, then what?
“There’s going to be problems. People are going to be agitated and things are going to go on. There’ll be people like me, I can’t take it no more.”
Hill’s been looking for ways to treat his ADHD as long as he can remember.
“As a kid, my grandmother tried to give me Ritalin to slow me down because I was all over the place,” he said. “When I was in college they had different things. I had multiple tutors. I had like three tutors in one class with me so I could get things down. There was always a different way to go around my disability.”
The league allows a medical exemption for the drug, provided a player files the proper paperwork and goes through the proper channels. Giants teammate Andre Brown is among those who did.
Until he can, Hill said he’s going to have to manage without the medication.
“I have to find a different solution,” Hill said.
While players can claim the “Adderall defense,” and not be called on it (since the league maintains confidentiality of failed drug tests), there are doubtless plenty of players who legitimately need it.
For those who do, there needs to be a streamlined process for approval, so a legitimate medical condition doesn’t go untreated.