A voice in the wind

Marcus Amos worries about college football players becoming addicted to prescription painkillers, and worse.

"It's rampant," the Augusta, Ga.-based counselor said.

Amos admits that he feels like "a voice crying in the wilderness." There are 155 people or organizations that have received funds from the NCAA's Health and Safety Speakers Grant. There are experts on topics including steroid abuse, anger management, hazing and date rape.

But Amos is the only one of those warning against the dangers of painkillers. Which is frustrating enough. The real problem is finding an audience.

"My focus is not to point the blame at individuals who would or do prescribe medication, but I kind of run into a brick wall," said Amos, 39.

"People who initially invite me to speak would call back and ask, 'Are you going to come in and say trainers and doctors are responsible for providing players with more medication than they need?' At first it was very difficult to get before any group of college athletes, and it still is at times."

To be clear, Amos is not fundamentally concerned about painkillers such as Toradol and Marcaine routinely being injected into college football players before, during and after games, though he thinks overuse might lead to a dependency on stronger painkillers.

Amos does think that the abuse of prescription painkillers ranging from Vicodin and Percocet to the much more powerful OxyContin is expanding and is out of official control.

The National Survey of Alcohol and Drug Use by College Athletes said 75 percent of college athletes used some kind of painkiller medicine for sports-related injuries. And that was in 1991, before illicit online acquisition of drugs was a major problem.

"There are a lot of athletic departments that have this thing on lockdown and really keep good track of their prescriptions," Amos said. "But it's so easy for guys to get the kind of medication they want from other places."

He said he knows of a "top player who gave a pharmacist a jersey and gets whatever he needs."

"I can almost promise you at any major university, you have guys who have access to stuff that would make you flip," Amos said. "These guys are just so crafty. And the craftiest individuals are addicts."

On-site oversight

Winston McIver, the athletic medical director at Coastal Carolina University, said he understands the concern.

"There are unfortunately ways to get these drugs," he said. "Even at our student health center, I've tried to create safeguards for people trying to get too much of something like Ritalin-type drugs."

But, McIver said, "It's not that hard to get whatever you're after if you're persistent."

Officials at Clemson and South Carolina said they carefully control the dispensation of even the most common painkillers through team doctors.

"We make sure our athletes follow the dosages on the package," South Carolina Director of Sports Medicine John Kasik said. "We don't want players taking eight Advil or eight Tylenol."

Kasik said any refill order "is rare."

A Clemson player was given a tablet of Lortab, an opiate-type narcotic painkiller known by another brand name as Vicodin, following the Tigers' loss at Wake Forest last season, according to Clemson officials.

But Clemson Director of Sports Medicine Danny Poole said Clemson is similarly vigilant.

"Our doctors and our records are right there," Poole said. "If somebody started showing signs of any kind of addiction, I'm sure we would address it immediately. But I don't recall that happening as long as I've been here."

Clemson senior guard Thomas Austin confirmed Poole's tight-ship label.

"The last thing anyone around here wants is for us to build a dependence on any drug," Austin said.

Addiction, however, happens.

"It's not a stretch to say painkiller addiction can lead to heroin addiction," Amos said, "in a situation in which the addict just wants stronger and stronger medication."

Favre and worse

Football fans know of superstar NFL quarterback Brett Favre's well-documented rehab battle against an addiction to Vicodin during his younger days with the Green Bay Packers.

Jason Peter, a former Carolina Panthers and University of Nebraska defensive lineman, publicly has confirmed a drug addiction that he said began with a few pain pills used for a sore back while he was in college.

Eventually, Peter was swallowing 80 Vicodin a day before turning to crack cocaine and heroin.

Amos sees the potential for a slippery slope any time a football player takes pain medication without counsel, concerned about the quick-fix relief and the learned comfort of needle-based therapy.

Garrett Anderson, a South Carolina senior guard, has been on the front line -- in more ways than one.

"I guess you know, going through football, that you know that painkillers work," Anderson said. "You've seen the positive and negative effects of taking painkillers. So I guess it doesn't scare you as much as it might scare most people.

"You almost have to do it at this level if you want to compete in the sport you love, so you have to get past that fear of taking certain kind of pain medications."

Clemson's Austin can relate almost precisely to Anderson's experience.

"I think when football is over, you just have to realize, 'OK, a painkiller is just kind of a means to an end and I use this so I can play.' But you have to restrict it."

That's where Amos comes in.

Or wants to.

Awareness advocacy

Amos has worked as an academic mentor for the Louisiana State University men's basketball team and as a private counselor specializing in substance abuse. He said he became aware of pain-pill addiction among high school and college athletes, and he started researching.

"I noticed this was an untapped area," Amos said. "A lot of the coaches I talked to were kind of oblivious to it, or just didn't think it was a problem. My thing was, I wanted to get into it before it became a problem."

Amos has been an NCAA Health and Safety grant speaker since 2005 but has not spoken at a college since an engagement at Clark Atlanta in February.

You might think Amos enjoys his status as an expert in an area apparently desperately in need of experts. He does not.

"I have purposely set out to try and find somebody else to have as a partner in this," Amos said. "It's been hard to find someone."

Mostly, Amos wants college officials to address the need for prevention and awareness programs.

"It's beyond the ability of any college to control this," Amos said. "My fear is, since the athletic department supplies players with some medications, they are afraid someone who comes in to warn about addiction will point a finger.

"But I'm trying to get these administrations to recognize when a player is getting into trouble, and the signs are not hard to tell. My point is, they need to get people in there to talk about this."