"Andy was prescribed Xanax and Zolpidem (Ambien) to treat anxiety and occasional insomnia - a result of a bipolar disorder diagnosed by his family doctor at age 18," a statement said. "This is when Andy first began experiencing episodes of manic highs and depressive lows. The family believes Andy was in some denial about the severity of his chemical imbalance and tended to blame his mood swings on himself and his own weaknesses, choosing to self-medicate with recreational drugs."

Found Alprazolam (Xanax) and methadone in the system Irons, as well as benzoylecgonine, the Ph.D Gary H. Wimbish, forensic toxicologist consulted by the family, described as a bi-product of cocaine. Wimbish notes that the level of benzoylecgonine found in Irons system "is consistent with cocaine use in about 30 hours before his death."

Andy Irons was also diagnosed with a bipolar disorder, contracted typhoid fever, which may have damaged his heart. Di Maio reveals that levels of drugs found in Irons system were high enough to kill him.

"As we are not doctors, we have no choice but to accept that two respected pathologists reached different conclusions on a secondary cause that contributed to the death," reported the Irons family in a statement sent to the press.

The question here is: how long big brands, surfing media, organizations and whatevers will keep making idols out of people who won't be a good example for the sport and to the future generations? It is not only about who you are in the water, but who you are outside the water too.

Once you become famous, you have a huge responsibility over your fans attitude. Ronaldo (Brazilian soccer player) once got a haircut in a funny way during the world cup and next day on the street you could see a lot of people with the same funny looking haircut. How does pro surfers attitudes impact on our kids?

Some people say: "The kids wanting to follow Andy's example, they know the consequences. There's enough information out there about what drugs do . . . Andy Irons was sweet. He had a whole lot of demons and he did a lot of rotten things, but his life was sweet."

Isn't it time to to talk about the sport's drug-testing policy (it doesn't have one)?

I am a surfer since i was 8 years old and i am tired of all my life have been discriminated by the rest of the society as a beach bum who just want to surf all day and use drugs?

I am not trying to judge anyone but as Ben Harper once said on another one of his amazing songs:

"So excuse me Mr, but I'm a Mr too
And you're giving Mr a bad name, Mr like you
So im taking the Mr from out infront of your name
Coz it's the Mr like you that puts the rest of us to shame"

So please, i beg for those who can make it happen that we make idols out of those who really deserve to be our idols. Let's make a change on our so beloved sport for those who deserve to be on the spotlights by their surfing, their life style, and attitutdes in and out of the water.

Anyways, thank you Andy Irons for teaching us with your power fluid surfing and rest in peace!

Keep surfing, keep healthy, keep it clean!

Sun, 12 Jun 2011 23:39:00 +0800 /blog/2011/06/13/98-andy-irons-acute-mixed-drug-ingestion.html http://www.shotspot.com.au/blog.html?task=feed&type=rss2&id=98 /blog/2011/06/11/97-surfing-with-friends-2011.html /blog/2011/06/11/97-surfing-with-friends-2011.html#comment Marcio Ferreira   It happened this past weekend (4-5 June 2011) a surfing championship held by invitation only by Bac