First off, I do not advocate the use of crystal meth.

Now that that’s out of the way, aren’t people reacting a little harshly to Andre Agassi’s admission that he was a meth user? And by people, I really mean Marat Safin.

Safin said in an interview with French newspaper L’Equipe he believes Agassi needs to return a few things to the Association of Tennis Professionals — namely, eight grand slam titles, his 17 other titles and $31 million in career earnings.

And before I go on, here’s the background information for anyone who doesn’t know. Agassi, one of tennis’ greatest players of the past 50 years or so, released his autobiography, “Open,” Monday. I haven’t had a chance to read the book, so I’m just going off of what I can gather from the news and the TV interviews Agassi has done in the past couple days. I’m willing to bet Safin hasn’t read it either.

In the book, he admits to wearing a wig in the early ’90s and using crystal meth in 1997. When he failed a drug test that year, he lied about it and the result was simply thrown out by the ATP. Reactions from his peers have been mixed at best.

Most have been judgmental; Roger Federer said, “But for sure it’s a dark cloud over the ATP. But we will survive it.” Rafael Nadal’s take was, “I believe our sport is clean and I am the first one that wants that. Cheaters must be punished and if Agassi was a cheater during his career he should have been punished.”

He does have his support though: Andy Roddick tweeted that Agassi “is and always will be my idol.”

But Safin has been the harshest; he all but accused Agassi of being all kinds of Paris Hilton-y and attention-seeking in promoting the autobiography. And calling for Agassi to essentially give back the entirety of his career? Let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Or make me ever use that expression again.

I’m not going to defend Agassi for being a liar or for taking meth. It was clearly a desperate and ratty thing for him to write a letter to the ATP saying that he accidentally drank from a friend’s spiked drink. And the ATP has to be chastised some for accepting Agassi’s bold-faced lie and ignoring the positive test result. However, calling for his head now isn’t going to do anything.

There are two big things to consider here before forming an angry, torch-bearing mob and marching on Agassi’s house. First, he took meth. Not steroids, not HGH, but meth. If there’s any competitive advantage to be gained through methamphetamines, Agassi certainly didn’t see it.

Which brings me to my next point: The whole time he used meth, he sucked out loud at tennis. Partly due to injury, Agassi only played 24 matches in ‘97. He didn’t win any major titles and after being ranked No. 1 as recently as April 1995, sank to No. 141 in the world by the end of 1997.

The way I see Safin’s argument, Agassi cheated by taking drugs and doesn’t deserve anything he accomplished, even during the large majority of his career where he wasn’t trying to ruin his life. I can’t buy that. In this case, one year of infraction shouldn’t be reason to completely destroy a legacy.

So let’s say I agree that Agassi compromised the integrity of the game with drug use. Rationally though, I have to limit the punishment to the time period of usage. Even if we wipe away everything he did while using, it doesn’t matter since he didn’t win anything. If we go a year back and a year after his admitted time on meth, he loses a few titles and an Olympic gold medal, but he didn’t make it to any Grand Slam finals in ‘96 or ‘98.

But meth didn’t make Agassi any better (as is typically the case with meth use). It just aided in a downward spiral for a man who admitted he didn’t want anything to do with tennis at the time. Former women’s tennis star Martina Navratilova compared Agassi to Roger Clemens, which is almost as laughable as Safin’s opinion. There’s really no real comparison in this situation.

Clemens has been repeatedly linked to the use of performance-enhancing drugs. He’s denied it every time. There hasn’t been absolute definitive proof of Clemens’ use, but is there anyone who really thinks he didn’t use steroids? Clemens probably cheated by using PEDs; the only way Agassi’s drug use made him a cheater was if he was involved in any “who can stay awake for three days” contests.

Barry Bonds isn’t going to give any MVP awards back for being a cheater and a liar. Agassi was a liar, but the only person he cheated was himself. The tennis community has every right to be disappointed in him and the ATP for allowing it to happen. But villainizing the man and calling for him to return titles he earned while clean is a step too far. Give the man a little credit for admitting he screwed up.

And remember, I do not advocate the use of crystal meth.

Adam is a junior majoring in journalism. Should Agassi be punished for his admissions or is this becoming a bigger deal than it needs to be? E-mail Adam at [email protected]