OUTGOING Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett has taken a swipe at the AFL's illicit drugs policy, suggesting it could have led to the death of a Hawks player.

Midfielder Travis Tuck, since delisted by the club, was the first player to record three strikes under the policy after he was found unconscious under the influence of drugs in his car in August last year.

Tuck was diagnosed with clinical depression following the incident. 

However, Kennett said the policy, which is aimed to promote rehabilitation and education, was failing, despite the number of positive tests decreasing every year for the past six years.

"We could have lost Travis Tuck that night," Kennett told the Herald Sun.

"We could have been DOA (dead on arrival) when they found him in that car park. I still get goose bumps when people speak to me about Travis, with how close that call was to being a different call.

"To think the AFL plays Russian roulette with people's lives, to me, is wrong."

Kennett argued that more people at the club should have been made aware earlier, with the player, club doctor, and an AFL medical officer being the three informed after both the first and second strike.

"The club gathered around [Tuck] and helped him through it," he said. "He has turned his life around and will turn out to be a fine man, but it's a very fine line. There is no point arguing after someone has died."

The League is one of only three sports in the country that has an illicit drug policy where players are tested for illicit drugs out of competitions, and the only one that publishes its results each year.

Since the policy was begun in 2005, the rate of failed tests has reduced ten-fold and has been widely backed by medical professionals.