KEY POINTS:
Where do you start with the Andrew "Joey" Johns story? Every now and then, sport has to deal with real life even if - like the rest of us - it doesn't always deal with it well.
In case you haven't heard, the great Australian league player was
caught by British police in possession of an Ecstasy tablet. This led him to "confess" to a history of alcohol and drug abuse which had escaped the attention of league's drug testing regime. The story has exploded.
I don't want to put words into Johns' mouth, so I will not declare outright that he is an alcoholic/addict. That is for him to decide, even though it is clear that those around him suspect this to be so.
The reports of his substance and alcohol intake indicate a severe problem, and his behavioural patterns of highs and depressions are often associated with addiction. It seems, from this distance, that Johns wants his life to change course.
So ... here we go. Joey Johns has a massive problem, and suddenly league decides it also has a massive problem.
If Johns can look up from his despair he might observe, wryly, that like him, the sport he graced is also failing to control something largely beyond its control.
Some observers see it as a battle between good and evil. However, I fail to see any villains, although we might have expected more enlightened responses from politicians, such as Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who have looked down on Johns in a holier-than-thou "tut-tut" manner.
The strong evidence is that Johns has the same problem that millions around the world suffer from, something that is regarded as a primary disease. Studies suggest between five and 10 per cent of society suffers from addiction. The experts say that addiction is in the addict, not the substance, and that it is neither a moral problem nor one about lack of personal willpower.
The disease of addiction is rooted in denial. It may actually be harder for famous and so-called successful people to pinpoint it because this is something easier to spot from under a park bench than atop a pedestal.
I certainly wouldn't bag league over the Johns issue. Its attempts to deal with "recreational" drug and alcohol issues over the years are imperfect because there is no perfect way to deal with them. What is sport supposed to do - engage in a pointless witch hunt for an elusive prey? Why is sport singled out here, and just how many other employers are expected to do the same?
As an employer, league is not alone in struggling to cope with this complex issue. Confronting an alcoholic or addict may even encourage them to be more secretive with the abuse. No one should envy the Newcastle Knights in having had to deal with the Johns situation. The other key players to emerge in recent days have all seemed to act with good intentions.
Gorden Tallis, who reported drug problems in the 2000 Australian team to officials, did his best for a game he loves although as we know, he achieved zilch.
Parents, fans and others who fear Johns is setting a bad and even tragic example have savaged him, perhaps hindered by ignorance about addiction and the possibility that Johns has a disease. Yet they are acting as best they know how, often out of love and concern for their children.
Johns' brother Matthew, Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett and all the rest who have acted and commented - they all have good intentions. After all, the world isn't only full of addicts - it is also full of friends and family who have reached despair themselves trying to figure out what to do about the addicts.
The media, whose headlines about Johns are almost overshadowing the NRL finals, is doing its best to highlight what society sees as a dreadful problem. They would be remiss not to deal with it, but can't solve it. I am simply trying to shed any light that I can, as inept as that effort may be.
Here is a thought though, that the abusers of alcohol and drugs are fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, friends and lovers rather than evil creatures with horns on their heads. Who knows - it may even include someone you know and admire.
And a further thought. The experts say addiction is a progressive illness. Because league and other top level sports are the domain of young men and women, stars who are painted as outlaws and bad examples now may later on turn out to be people with an inherent problem not of their making.
Furthermore, if the problem of legality had actually persuaded Johns to avoid taking drugs in the past, he would have just as certainly relied on alcohol instead. In other words, legal issues avoided but problem not solved.
"People knew about Johns and they should have stopped it," has been a cry. Read up people, and discover that recovery is a long and sometimes painful business with no guarantee of success.
There is every possibility that Johns' words of remorse last week have already been replaced with a craving for more substances. The pressure on him may even exacerbate that. That is the nature of this beast. He is not alone. It was instructive to follow the case of former Australian league star Steve Rogers, who died on a mixture of drugs and alcohol last year.
Friends and family described Rogers as a "party animal" who was often the last to leave. Yet the party was actually over. Mixed in the eulogies were reports of his heavy gambling and depression along with an inability to talk about the latter because of his fame.
What is the real root of addiction? There is massive evidence that addiction in its many forms is hereditary - the family disease. A recent Time magazine investigation about the influences of nature and nurture on addiction is among the reputable sources promoting this theory.
For many recovering addicts, the tough times really begin when they put the drugs and the booze down. For anyone in a heavily scrutinised position, such as Johns or any other sports star, it must be dreadfully tough to contemplate life and their fears without this escape. Paul Gascoigne, Maradona, George Best, Paul McGrath and so on ... the list is famous, long, not very sober and some who are in it died well short of old age.
So what should sport do when these cases come to life? Tricky, tricky, tricky. But sport itself should be the role model here, and surely the last thing it should do is cast people with such problems aside.
I would contend that the really distressing part of the Johns case is not that we have found out about yet another person with a drug and alcohol problem - you can discover all about that with a 30-second wander around Kings Cross. The sad part is the naive and aggressive response to a man who almost certainly has a disease, the brutal accusations that he has let people down, without much of an effort to understand what the real problem might be. Many of the responses I have read, from the public to politicians, have been staggeringly simplistic.
Ultimately, recovery is a journey which begins with self-realisation. Those in the addiction/recovery field say that healing usually begins after someone feels they have hit a point of total despair. These depths may be found while living under a bridge, or parking a Rolls-Royce in a mansion. It's different for everyone.
My message to Johns would be this. You are a good fella, go easy on yourself and search hard for the best advice.
Ironically, supportive words like these could actually be damaging because Johns is probably best served by experiencing the remorse which carries a man to his rock bottom. That is one of the many contradictions about addiction and recovery.
Like everyone else in this contentious matter though, I'm simply doing my best in a minefield. And I wish Joey Johns the very best.