Melissa Writes

I’m floored.  I’m upset.  I’m shocked. I’m appalled.  I can’t not believe that Mayfield won his injunction and can be on track tomorrow at Daytona.

I’m a faithful follower of Bob Packrass on Twitter.  I also follow Jayski.  They are good about getting the info out to people and it saves me from spending hours searching for news. They tweet something, if it’s in my scope of interest then I’m out researching it.  Sometimes it becomes a blog post, other times it’s just filed in the back of my head for safe keeping.  Early in the week Bob tweeted about Mayfield getting Adderall from an Anti-Aging/Spa doctor.  It was later learned that the doctor also has an urgent care facility.  Adderall is not a medication that falls under any of that.  Let’s take a long look at Adderall before we go on.

What is Adderall used to treat?

• ADHD
• Idiopathic Central Nervous System Hypersomnia established by recognized diagnostic criteria
• Drug-induced brain dysfunction
• Epilepsy
• Narcolepsy
• Senile apathetic behavior
• Psychiatric differential diagnosis of depression

None of those things fall under anti-aging medications that I can see.  Also none of them fall under medications that urgent care facilities should be prescribing to patients.  Now let’s look at the side effects of the drug.

Side Effects of Adderall:

• fast, pounding, or uneven heartbeats
• feeling light-headed, fainting;
• increased blood pressure (severe headache, blurred vision, trouble concentrating, chest pain, numbness, seizure);
• tremor, restlessness, hallucinations, unusual behavior, or motor tics (muscle twitches).
• Adderall can cause side effects that may impair your thinking or reactions. Be careful if you drive or do anything that requires you to be awake and alert.

I’m not thrilled with the last side effect.  I’ve seen the positive side effects of Adderall in the classroom so don’t take this as a bashing of the drug.  I still can not see how Mayfield got a legit prescription for this drug from the doctor who prescribed it.  Adderall can and is abused by those without a true need for it.  Now let’s take a look at the abuse of the drug.

• Adderall is comparable to purely refined methamphetamine and is highly addictive
• when snorted or injected creating a rapid increase in brain blood levels, people experience euphoria but also anxiety, an increase in blood pressure and heart rate, insomnia, irritability, sometimes psychotic behavior, and often dependency

Ok, now we know about the first drug that he was on.  Now, let’s think about what was released today.  Mayfield tested positive, four times, for methamphetamines.  OHHHHH now look at what I posted above, Adderall can act like methamphetamines.   People use it the same way they do methamphetamines.  Mayfield gets a prescription for Adderall from a doctor that it doesn’t sound like should be prescribing it.  This is starting to sound like baseball’s steroid problem to me.

Now, let’s look at the injunction that Mayfield won today.  For some reason, I’d like to know, the judge ruled that Nascar improperly suspended Mayfield.  I can only base my opinion on what has been released to the general public.  Which is, Mayfield’s A test came back positive for a banned substance.  Nascar then tested sample B which also came back positive.  After both came back positive Nascar suspended him.  It also allowed Mayfield to race after sample A came back, they did not suspend him until the second came back positive also.  Then after the lawsuit was filed they shipped the two samples off to another lab which found the same results as the first lab.  I’ve heard Mayfield say he was taking Adderall, I have yet to see proof though that it was coming from a legit source, and Claritin.  After researching the effects of Adderall I’m still thinking Nascar made the right decision.  Now, if proof surfaces that the Adderall prescription came from a legit source for legit reasons I’ll retract my statement.  At this point I see Mayfield as a danger on the track.

If I were one of the drivers, after hearing what I have in the last week, I would refuse to go on track Thursday when Mayfield was out there.  I would not feel safe on track going to rate of speed that happens at Daytona with someone who has tested positive for meth.  I couldn’t be sure that they were clean now.  I’ll be interested to find out what the driver’s reactions are to this.

UPDATE: Just reading from Jayski’s site and found this lovely little tidbit. Mullen said in granting the injunction that the irreparable harm appeared to be greater for Mayfield than NASCAR Really?  Is this not a safety factor?  Nascar may not actually lose anything, money wise, but what happens if he’s still not clean?  What happens if he wrecks and hurts someone?  Then isn’t the irreparable harm greater for the Nascar community then for Mayfield?