Andre Agassi has admitted in his new book that he took crystal meth during a portion of his tennis career. He also said that he was caught with a positive drug test, and it was swept under the rug as an “accident” by those that tested him. These are serious offenses that certainly warrant study. There are some within the sporting world that have said that Agassi should have to give back the money, trophies and championships that he won over this.

To me, this is a ludicrous suggestion. The reason? Quite simply because the drugs were recreational drugs, rather than performance enhancing drugs. That is not to excuse what Agassi did by any means. Taking drugs period is a bad thing, and sets a horrible example for the youth of today. Agassi was wrong to do what he did.

The truth is, however, that crystal meth if anything would have caused Agassi’s performance to be worse and not better. Crystal meth will ravage your body no matter how good of an athlete you are. Agassi likely would have won even more tournaments if he had stayed away from crystal meth, though there is no way to be sure. Most people that take crystal meth find themselves completely overtaken. Their health falls apart rather quickly. Agassi was apparently very lucky to get out.

If we strip Agassi of all of his wins, then how in the world do we justify the millions of other athletes over the years that have used and gotten away with it. There are many drugs out there, folks, and not all of them are obvious. Regardless, we would have to reach much farther than Agassi’s admission.

I personally applaud Agassi for coming out with the truth, even if it was only to sell some books. I doubt Agassi needs the money, so I do not believe that is what this was about. I think that Agassi needed to cleanse his soul, so to speak. He needed to get that monkey off his back and get it over and done with. He came clean. Better late than never in my opinion. Agassi stepped up and revealed information that most would hide forever. He now is facing the consequences. What more can he do?

Many people see just another spoiled athlete that had too much too soon. There may be a whole lot of truth in that, but Agassi’s story seems to go deeper than that.

Tennis is not the typical game that one would expect drug abuse, but it is certainly not immune. The constant training and back and forth abuse that the knees and back experience alone can cause one to turn to drugs. Agassi had been doing that for his entire life. It had to take a toll on him both physically and mentally. He has said that at the time he hated the game. Agassi was a huge role model during his day, and that was a lot to live up to as well. The benefits of stardom shine brightly, and the pitfalls are sneaky. Agassi fell victim to them like many before him.

What makes Agassi’s story different is that he is now accepting responsibility when he did not even have to. Nobody was talking about it. Nobody was pressuring him. He simply put his story out there, unabashed and with conviction.

I say bravo to Andre Agassi, and wish more would follow his lead to get the truth out there. It might save some young lives in the end.