Media II

The NFL, the media, and GHB

by Jason Gay

Last week, newly drafted Oakland Raiders place-kicker Sebastian Janikowski found himself in trouble when he and a pair of friends were arrested outside a Florida nightclub for possession of the illegal synthetic drug GHB.

If the allegations are true, it was a knuckleheaded move on Janikowski's part, especially considering that the Poland native had recently been acquitted of attempting to bribe a police officer in connection with another Florida nightclub incident. (Police alleged that Janikowski asked a cop how much it would cost to get one of his buddies out of handcuffs; Janikowski's lawyer argued that he was just trying to pay a fine.) Such run-ins have tainted the talented kicker's reputation before he's played in a single professional game.

But the media's reaction to Janikowski's GHB bust was grossly ill-informed. In their accounts of the kicker's arrest, numerous media outlets referred to GHB as a "date rape" drug -- creating at least the suggestion that by possessing the drug, Janikowski and his colleagues could have had other, more sinister things in mind. "After successfully ducking bribery charges, rookie Oakland Raiders kicker Sebastian Janikowski must defend himself against new charges of possession of a date-rape drug," stated a June 22 Associated Press report. In its account of the arrest, UPI wrote that GHB is "commonly known as the `date-rape drug.' "

This is simply another case of ridiculous hyperbole and outright distortion in the media's treatment of illicit drugs. There's no question that GHB -- which stands for gamma hydroxybutyrate -- is a potentially dangerous substance. When mixed with alcohol, it can severely impair judgment and even cause a user to abruptly pass out. There have, no doubt, been rapes and sexual assaults related to the knowing or unknowing consumption of GHB.

But making a causal connection in an arrest story between someone's GHB possession and a serious crime like date rape is spurious, if not potentially slanderous. Yes, GHB is an illegal substance, but the main reason people use GHB is for its euphoria-inducing properties; the vast majority of people who use GHB do not commit date rapes. To date, no evidence has suggested that Janikowski and his colleagues intended to do so. You can also take it to the bank that far, far more people have been sexually assaulted after drinking too much beer than after taking GHB. But if athlete so-and-so got caught drinking and driving, you'd never hear beer referred to as a date-rape drug.

If Janikowski is guilty, then he deserves to be punished. But let's throw a penalty flag at the media for fumbling yet again on the issue of drugs.