"I've seen a number of players at national tournaments who came in "baked" (that's stoned for the uninformed)"

That's a, uh, powerful clarification there.

Oh, please. Marijuana is NOT going to "enhance" your gaming performance, it might just make it a bit more fun.

The guys who "play better when they're stoned" are probably just so used to playing that way that their performance suffers when they're NOT high rather than it actually being enhanced when they ARE high.

Amphetamines, that's another story. Dumbasses are gonna get themselves some serious problems just for the illusion of "enhanced" performance in a fricken video game tournament, of all things. The only positive thing it'll probably do for them is keep them awake longer.

Idiots...

Doping is rampant... among pro gamers ... Go ADDICT MODE... ;P

These retards can't figure Marijuana out - WHICH IS IT, DAMN IT !!!

Heh. I can't play worth two turds when I'm under the influence of anything. Keep in mind that everyone reacts differently to every drug, though.

drinking makes you look good and drugs make you feel good. i dont see the problem at all.

Heh, also forgot to say something important i learned over many many parties,...if you cant drink it, then smoke it! Or is it the other way around?

Despite all the maysayers I believe that there are people who perform better when high due to conditioning or what's known as 'altered states learning.' It's not that the drug itself makes them better per se, and you couldn't take a non-stoner, give them a joint, and expect them to play as well but it makes sense for those who always play one way or another.

Where are the alcohol and nicotine testing? How about prescription pill testing? What bs.

I am surprised there's not more in the way of Provigil abuse.

Hahahahahhaha!! After "having a bong or two." Did Dave Chappelle do this interview as his white guy character?

I've never done drugs, but I know how it feels to play CS drunk enough to confuse my screen with the other one next to me....

And it feels good....

There have been numerous scientific studies on driving that specifically focused on people who claim they drive better when drunk. Results? No, they don't. No one does. Some people may be affected less by the same quantity of alcohol, depending on their physical level of tolerance and what they ate first, but no one got better at driving after drinking.

A drug that makes you want to eat mashed potatoes out of a big green bowl is not going to make you a better gamer. It might make you feel mellow, alter your perception of time, but it's not going to improve your reaction speeds or your ability to move within the game environment. As for metamphetamines, they might speed your reactions, but they'll also make you twitchy and over-excited. Great, I suppose, if you're spraying with a minigun, but probably bad for anything requiring an ounce of skill.

Oh, and saying things like: "My BFF Jill plays games high, and they're really good" is meaningless. Someone may, indeed, be a good gamer while high, just as some people are still capable of driving safely while intoxicated. That doesn't mean they aren't a *better* drive sober, and it certainly doesn't mean that abusing drugs or alcohol improves performance.

Last weekend I re-played Bioshock day and night (for the good ending sake)
I tried not to stop but in the end my body can't take it (starving, darn sleepy).
IMHO, our body has limitation.
If you push it too hard, you'll get what you pay for.

Drug might help for a short term
but it's not ADAM or EVE.
Heheh

I think we now have a new definition of "sport". A sport is an activity in which smoking pot is *NOT* performance-enhancing.

Greetings!

The first sentence makes no sense.

"Drug testing has become mandatory for many athletic competitions, and it has led many athletes' careers to ruin as a result."

It was not drug testing that ruined atheletes carreers, were the doped athletes that ruined their own carreers.
Cheaters...

(anti-)ADD medication is pretty common, I've heard.

Yea, you gotta have some crank or blow to keep you going during those 32 hour Star Craft sessions. We play HUGE maps...

LOL, jk I've never done any drugs. This news story is part sad, part f'ing hilarious. When I play CS:S all these little pale dweebs talk about how high they are right in the middle of a Long A rush on Dust 2! Then they team flash us after we already rushed in and we get AWPed. I hate that so damn much...

vote for ross perot!

Ahem, this is hardy news.

Hell, some energy drinks are borderline.

Now go to a CSS tournament and find the guy hyped on 3 Monsters and 2 Spikes.

That alone is crazy.

Am I the only one who finds the idea of cyber-athletes to be downright dumb?

anyone who's been to lan parties has certainly noticed this is not out of the norm.

gaming and substance abuse seem to go hand in hand.

They should stick to marijuana based foods to delay and extend the duration of the high. Then they needn't be concerned with the smell and complexity of taking bong hits during competition.

Pot brownies maybe?

/Not that I've ever been to one or anything.

Back when I was playing WoW, it wasn't an uncommon situation when *multiple* group members--I never joined a guild, always was in pub groups--would take a break in a dungeon instance to smoke weed.

WoW is RIFE with weed smoking. Not that there's anything inherently wrong with smoking marijuana as it is by itself. Rather, that WoW, perhaps along with other titles, seems to carry those thing hand in hand as a part of the culture.

Maybe addicts just like mixing their poisions.

A friend of mine, who's a drug addict, always plays FPS games together with a few lines of speed. He's a damn skilled player.

How hard is it to buy those home drug tests and make them piss on a strip?

I must say, a few bongs have always helped my Diablo II endurance!

Heh. Awesome. :D

Cyber-athlete >=< Olympic trampoline jumper? *snicker