Former BYU AD Hale sheds light on potential athlete drug use


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SALT LAKE CITY — The arrest of former Cougar and football star Max Hall is shedding light on athletes and their potential to abuse drugs.

Hall's situation is unknown, but according to the former BYU athletic director Val Hale, prescription drug abuse is more prevalent among athletes than many think, and he said it could lead to worse addictions.

Hale currently serves as the executive director of the Governor's Office of Economic Development. He worked at BYU for 22 years and was the school's athletic director from 1999-2004.

"I'm not surprised at all," Hale said, reacting to Hall's arrest.

Police in Arizona say Hall had a user amount of cocaine and shoplifted items on him.

Hale does not know Hall or anything about the case, but he said it sounds all too familiar.

"I've seen it happen to some really good people," Hale said. "Football is a brutal sport and there's a lot of pain involved, and too often these athletes start taking pain pills to relieve the pain and before long they're hooked."

Hale said he's seen lives ruined, and worse: "I know several of them who actually passed away and it was a really sad thing," he said.

Hale said most colleges and universities are aware of the problem and work to curb it.

He said during his time at BYU, the school had strict policies about athletes and the dispensing of prescription drugs, but that may not be enough: "If they're in enough pain and they're not getting what they need, they may go somewhere else to get it," Hale said.

That's why he said prescriptions need to be closely monitored and parents should get involved too.

Hale says, too often, they can be the gateway to illegal drugs.

His advice is to avoid any pain medication unless it's a last resort.

"It's not worth the gamble that you can become addicted to it," he said. "I personally refuse to take medication unless I absolutely have to simply because I've seen so many athletes get addicted to it over the years."

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