h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The question says it all really. I’m currently doing some research for a group of students, and the two of us based in the library can’t think of, or find anyone.

Apparently for the purposes of this exercise neither tobacco or alcohol are counted as drugs – so there went my suggestion of George Best.

Can anyone help please?

Well there was that American Pro-Wrestler who shot his entire family before turning it on himself last year. All fuelled by steroid abuse.

I'd count that even if others may not.

I've always been rather suspicious of the early death of Florence Griffiths-Joyner (Flo-Jo). She had a rather Marion Jones/Ben Johnson-esque style sudden rise to fame and glory did she not...

Steve Davies died of an overdose of beta-blockers when he was aged 14. However his zombie carried on playing and eventually became the world No. 1 snooker player.

RF

This should help, though it's going to take a while

Two posts, at the very least!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_drug-related_deaths

Blimey, Mr and Mrs Adkisson had a very sad time of it in the 80s

Marco Pantani died of a cocaine overdose but it was after the end of his cycling career.

Thank you everyone. That certainly gives us something to work on.

There's a British cyclist who died during the Tour de France about 40 years ago... Tom Simpson I think his name was.

The British/American Wrestler, Davy *boy* Smith.

He died of a heart attack brought about by the use of bodybuilding steroids.

Kurt Jensen, Danish cyclist at the 1960 Rome Olympic games. Died having consumed a cocktail of stimulants.

Looking at that list linked to above, it seems professional wrestling is not the safest of sports on this front

Probably the most famous sports star to die from drug abuse was Tommy Simpson, the British cyclist, who collapsed on Mount Ventoux during the 1967 Tour de France. He never regained consciousness and the post-mortem showed he had amphetimines in his blood, as well as in his hotel room and his jersey.

It was his death that led to drug-testing and bans in the sport as it wasvery prevalent at that time. Subsequently many teams and riders have been banned from cycling, Team Festina being a case in point in 1998. A plaque of tribute was placed on the mountainside where he collapsed and each time the Tour de France passes the spot, all the cyclists and cavalcade stop to pay their respects.

Another possible case was Marco Pantini, the Pirate, who died on 14th February 2004. He had been implicated in having haematocrit in his blood after a blood test in the Giro d'Italia in 1999 which is a substance taken to hide drug use. In 2001 he was also found to have a syringe of insulin in his hotel. He was banned for six months. He booked into an Italian clinic in 2003 for depression and drug addiction. He died, aged 34, from 'acute cocaine intoxication!', and was deemed 'accidental.

Many other cyclists have been implicated, although not actually died... Virenque, Beloki, Simoni and even Lance Armstrong. The latter was never proven... But his fantastic improvement in fitness following treatment for testicular cancer was deemed by some to be impossible without assistance.

Hope that helps you.

MMF

clearly I don't know why you are doing the research, but it would be interesting to know if an athlete going flat out who has taken illegal drugs would be more at risk of dieing than a non athlete not doing exercise who had taken the same illegal drugs. In other words would a person's body doing vigorous exercise be more likely to clear the body of the harmful efects of drug or would the vigorous execise somehow make the drug more harmfull to the body? Clearly there would be many factors and as I know nothing about the subject would be baffled by deep science, but it would be interesting to know.

In Tommy Simpson's case, the amphetimines increased his heart rate, dehydrated him, and caused his natural cooling mechanism to fail. Added to this was the fact that Mon Ventoux is a Hors category climb, so steep. He initially hallucinated, wobbled across the road, and then collapsed.

It was the physical activity that caused the heart failure and, probably if at rest, no major effects would have been experienced...



MMF

Everyone. The list has been a huge help.

STRANGELY, the research is being done to help a 16yo with an assignment that is due in by Monday, and is one of those - you must pass this assignment first time or you fail the course - bits of work.

The lad has been struggling, and only came to ask for help this morning. Typical student! But as he's quite a polite chap, and we don't really want him to fail the course, we've dropped everything to give him a bit of a shove in the right direction.

I can go back to deer parasites now, knowing he's got enough info to get him going.

what, finding out if any sports stars have died of deer parasites?

Maybe some golfers have caught Lyme disease?

and you know what his friends said when they heard...

No...