Irish Jockey Adrian McCarthy Banned For Being 1,000 Times Over Cocaine Limit

ESPN Africa – Irish jockey Adrian McCarthy was suspended for six months after testing 1,000 times above the cocaine limit.

McCarthy, who said an addiction to drugs left him in a rut, was suspended on Thursday after the disciplinary panel of the British Horseracing Authority was told at a hearing that he tested positive for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, in a urine sample at Chelmsford on Oct. 15 last year.

He gave a reading of 150,300 nanograms per millilitre, with the threshold for riding set at 150 ng/ml.

The 42-year-old said he was “in a really bad place” at that time and had tried to take his own life.

One may read this headline and think Adrian McCarthy was just getting WAAAAAAAAAY too lit, but that’s hardly the case here. Sadly, this seems to be a very intentional attempted overdose on cocaine.

The most surprising thing is that there even is a cocaine limit as this drug is very much illegal in the UK & Ireland as one would suspect.

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Fortunately, McCarthy appears to have escaped the incident unscathed and seems to be in a much better place.

“I just got into a bit of a rut,” McCarthy told the hearing. “Drinking all the time, using drugs, cocaine, and trying to make things better. Obviously it doesn’t make things better.

“I’m in a lot better place now than I was before, I just want to get my head down and do what’s right. We all make mistakes. I made a mistake, I regret it. I just have to look forward and work hard.”

McCarthy is a rather successful jockey having ridden over 200 winners and he went into detail surrounding his depression, per The Sun,

“Last year and the year before I was really depressed. I’m on tablets now and am having counseling. I’ve had counselling in the past – and I also tried taking my own life. I didn’t care about myself, about anything, about being here.”

Best of luck to Adrian McCarthy on getting his career and life on the right track.

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