Ben Cousins will find it "extremely difficult" if he attempts to return to football at the top level, says AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou.

Speaking from Paris today, Demetriou said disgraced 2005 Brownlow Medallist Cousins was no longer a registered AFL player after being sacked by West Coast last night.

If he tried to return it would be a decision for the AFL Commission whether to accept his nomination for the draft.

"I think it is going to be very difficult for him, extremely difficult," Demetriou told ABC Radio.

"The West Coast Eagles have terminated his services.

"On the basis of being terminated, he is no longer a registered player in the AFL competition.

"If he sought to try and play football again, he would have to nominate for the draft, and that would be a decision for the AFL Commission as to whether we would accept his nomination or not."

Former Eagles captain Cousins was due to appear in the Perth Magistrates Court today to face a drug possession charge.

He was arrested in Perth's entertainment district of Northbridge on Tuesday, and charged with possessing an illegal drug and refusing to take a blood test.

West Coast chief executive Trevor Nisbett last night announced that Cousins' contract had been terminated and there was no chance he would play for the Eagles again.

Sports Minister George Brandis has used Cousins' downfall to repeat his call for the AFL to toughen its "three strikes" drug policy.

But Demetriou said that it would not have mattered what the AFL's drug policy was, as he considered Cousins had serious health issues.

"I don't think it is our policy that forced Ben Cousins into the situation where he has fallen through the cracks again," he said.

"He's obviously a man who's got a problem.

"He's a man who's got some health issues which he's had for a long time.

"He's endeavoured to be rehabilitated, and he's relapsed.

"I would say to you whether we had a one strike, two strike or three strike policy it's more than likely that the same thing would have occurred."

Demetriou said the AFL would look at their drugs code in December and would decide whether there was room for improvement.

"We've got policy that tries to educate people, and tries to rehabilitate them and deter them and change their behaviour from partaking in illicit drugs," Demetriou said.

"We've always said that we will do anything we can to improve our policy and we've made some changes along the way," he said.

AAP