The WWE institutes drug policy

The following is courtesy of PW Insider. If this is legit, this is long overdue. For those who don't know, Nick Dinsmore AKA Eugene was found unconscious last week in Birmingham, England, went to hospital, was suspended indefinitely and sent home to Louisville, KY to rehab. He was apparently addicted to somas.


In a video posted on WWE.com today, they showed a clip from the the meeting that Vince had earlier today with his wrestlers, telling them about the company's new drug policy. He said he wanted them to hear it from him first, before it leaked out elsewhere. He said that the policy would be implemented over the next few weeks. He said that they will be testing for "drugs of abuse" and abuse of prescription drugs, as well as growth enhancers and steroids. He said it will be a strict policy that will be handled by a third party agency, not done in-house by WWE. He added that it will cover all individuals under full time contracts with WWE. He asked for comments from the wrestlers and no one said a word. He said that there must be a million things going through their heads and there was laughter. He then said he doesn't have all the answers yet. He said that WWE was looking into implementing the program and wanted to tell the talent before word got out and they heard about it elsewhere. He said he doesn't have the policy with him but will have it in a few weeks. He asked the wrestlers for their input in it since it will be their policy. Someone (it sounded like Ric Flair) asked about the prescription drug usage. Vince said that the doctor would be able to check what prescriptions the wrestler is taking and by testing, would be able to tell if they were being abused. He said it was easy to see when too much of a drug has been taken. He added that the first step, if someone is caught abusing prescription drugs, would be to try and get the worker help. He said if there were not prescriptions involved in a failed test, he thought that would bring on "another set of ramifications". He added that the policy will be fair and "across the board for everybody". He added there would be no exceptions to it. He was asked if the testing would be random and Vince said yes. He said it would be "relatively frequent". He talked about the last testing they had (back in the early 90s) and said that the difference this time is that he will be the second person to know. The first people will be the tester and the performer. Vince added that people won't be able to say "Yeah Vince but...." if they are caught. Everything will be spelled out in black and white in the policy as to what will happen if someone tests positive. Someone then thanked Vince for telling them personally.