A Kiama rugby union player believes he has been unfairly punished after an ill-informed internet purchase led to him being banned for two years by the Australian Rugby Union.
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Mitchell Spackman has been rubbed out of rugby until December 1, 2013, after buying growth hormone-releasing peptide (GHRP-6) via the internet.
A former Kiama junior who has been playing grade football for almost 10 years, Spackman is concerned about being wrongly labelled a drug cheat and having his reputation muddied.
The 27-year-old hairdresser insists he didn't know GHRP-6 was illegal in Australia and that his only crime was naivety.
"It's a joke, really," Spackman said. "My mate bought it and said he got it off a legitimate website in America. He thought it was legal and told me about it and I wanted to get it, too.
"I didn't know it was illegal in Australia. Obviously it wasn't legal because it got seized by Customs, so I just left it at that.
"I just tried to buy it and they banned me for two years for it. I didn't use it. They didn't test me or anything. I'm pretty disappointed about it because I haven't even taken anything."
Spackman's troubles started on March 4, 2010 when a package addressed to him was confiscated by the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service.
Customs notified the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) and the matter was referred to the ARU.
Spackman was shocked to discover Customs had taken possession of what he presumed was a legal body-building supplement.
He was aware the matter had been presented to ASADA and the ARU but was under the impression no further action would be taken because he had not consumed the banned substance.
"Once Customs told me they seized it, that was it," he said. "They sent me a letter saying, 'we've seized these goods. If anything else comes in addressed to you that's illegal, we'll be forced to take action'.
"Then ASADA contacted me and said, 'Customs has sent us this thing'. I didn't bother trying to pursue it any more after that because I wasn't charged with anything."
Spackman realises he should have thoroughly researched GHRP-6 before making his purchase. But at the time he said he had no reason to suspect it was banned in Australia.
"I just play local footy," he said. "Why would I bother looking into seeing if it's illegal or whatever when the website was obviously legitimate? It's not like I'm a professional athlete."
Spackman said he'd been hard done-by and was unlikely to resume his rugby career once the ban was lifted.
"I don't think I'll play again," he said. "I think there was a period of time when I could've appealed it, but I work full-time.
"It's only local footy and I'm not going to take time off work to try and appeal it.
"I talked to my coach about it and he thinks it's a joke as well. He said, 'you haven't taken anything or been charged with anything. All you did was try to buy something off the net'.
"I can't remember which website it was. It was so long ago. But I'm pretty sure it's legal in America.
"I'm not really sure if it should be legal in Australia or not, but I definitely feel like I've copped a pretty harsh decision.
"I take protein powder and creatine. I've never tried the stuff I ordered off the net. That's probably the biggest thing - that I've never taken anything like that and I got banned for two years. It's just stupid, really."