Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
The National Football League sent out press releases announcing four suspensions Thursday afternoon. The suspensions came prior to the holiday weekend, which is the prime time for a news dump.
New York Jets defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson – considered one of the best players at his position in the NFL – was among those suspended. The former first-round pick received a four-game suspension for reportedly testing positive for marijuana.
As you already know, marijuana is a substance that is legal in four states and the District of Columbia. It's also slated to potentially be legalized for recreational use in seven other states this year.
We know full well that private entities and organizations, such as the NFL, have the right to ban certain substances from its employees. We also know that marijuana itself is still not legal for recreational use in a vast majority of the United States. That's not lost on those of us who believe NFL's policies are outdated and archaic.
More than that, we simply need not look any further than the Ray Rice situation before understanding full well that the NFL is enacting a double standard of epic proportions here.
Prior to the video of Rice attacking his then-fiancee inside a hotel elevator in New Jersey surfacing last summer, the NFL suspended the former Baltimore Ravens running back a total of two games. Not until we became aware of the video, and acting swiftly, did the league suspend Rice indefinitely.
There's no need to get into a debate about whether the NFL had this tape in its possession when deciding to initially suspend Rice for two games. All we need to know is that its first reaction was to bench the running back for one-eighth of the season.
Fast forward a little less than a year, and Richardson will be sitting out the first four games of the 2015 campaign without pay for allegedly smoking marijuana.
Do you see a bit of a double standard there? While Richardson should know the league rules, he shouldn't be docked twice the amount of time for smoking a little weed as Rice was initially docked for knocking his fiancee unconscious. That's utterly absurd.
Back in April, an unnamed general manger around the NFL indicated to Bleacher Report's Mike Freeman that an estimated 30-40 percent of this year's draft class smoke marijuana on a regular basis.
From the report:
"My estimate is 30 to 40 percent of players in this draft class use marijuana regularly. That's right in line with our league," the unnamed NFL general manager told Freeman. "Publicly teams act shocked, disappointed about marijuana. Privately we know a lot of guys smoke and we're far from shocked. In five years, maybe less, we'll have a league that allows smoking pot. It's best recourse. What we're doing now is stupid."
Former NFL linebacker Scott Fujita, who played in the league from 2002-2012, estimates that between 30 and 50 percent of current players smoke marijuana.
It's not that a select few smoke marijuana. Instead, it's that a select few get caught by testing positive.
Keep this in mind: Back on March 19th, the National Football League Players Association sent a public reminder to its players that the league would start testing for banned substances on April 20th. Outside of the "coincidence" that the league was starting testing on a specific calendar date associated with marijuana use, it gave the players a full 30 days to get clean – approximately (depending on use) the amount of time it takes marijuana to leave a person's system.
Those who didn't heed that call – potentially Sheldon Richardson – found themselves facing suspension. Now that's just plan silly on Richardson's part.
As it is, with marijuana use apparently mainstream in the NFL today, the only players getting suspended are those who don't have the common sense to avoid a positive test.
Is that how the NFL wants to govern its policy on banned substances?
As marijuana continues a trend towards becoming more socially acceptable in the United States, the NFL's drug policy has proven itself to be archaic. While stopping short of suggesting that players should be able to openly smoke marijuana before games and in public, what harm does the "drug" do to their ability to perform? Do the players turn into malcontents when smoking weed? Are they raging hard into the early-morning and finding themselves in trouble with the authorities? Do those players who smoke marijuana offer a bigger threat to society than those who drink?
We will once again turn to former NFL linebacker Scott Fujita to answer this question:
"A coach worries that a guy might get popped one too many times and end up missing games," Fujita said. "But I've had coaches tell me they'd rather have guys go home at night, smoke a bowl, sit your ass on the couch, play some X-Box and eat some Cheetos, rather than being out at night, drinking and getting in trouble. I've heard coaches actually say that to me."
See, it's not just those of us who are outside of the game that believe the NFL's marijuana policy is outdated. Rather, it's those who are in tune with the environment within the league's locker rooms – those who have a first-hand knowledge of what's happening around the NFL today.
We then have the little-known issue of pain in the NFL (slightly kidding). Can marijuana act as a more natural painkiller than the drugs team medical staffs are feeding players on a consistent basis?
Not to piggyback on Mike Freeman too much here, but he seems to be attempting to delve further into the issue than other journalists out there. The Bleacher Report scribe ran a well-timed piece on marijuana and how it can be used as a painkiller just recently. In that article, Freeman decided to seek out current and former NFL players for their opinions.
From the report:
"Interviews over the course of the past month with 16 current players revealed an NFL world where players who have not failed an NFL drug test, and therefore aren't subjected to multiple tests, smoke weed weekly after games and occasionally after tough regular-season practices."
Former NFL running back Jamal Anderson – one of the most physical running backs of his time – estimated that between 40 to 50 percent of those who suited up when he was playing back in the 1990′s smoked marijuana. Anderson went on to estimate that number to be "at least 60 percent now."
Freeman's article is a must read. Not just because it gives us some telling statistics regarding marijuana use in the NFL, but due to the fact that it underscores how the "drug" can be used as a safer painkiller around the league.
Unfortunately, the NFL will not heed the calls of former and current players. Instead, it is content with relying on information from the league's "medical experts" in determining that medical marijuana wouldn't be a good alternative to what most of us understand are more harmful drugs.
"I'm not a medical expert," Goodell said back in January of 2014, via USA Today. "We will obviously follow signs. We will follow medicine and if they determine this could be a proper usage in any context, we will consider that. Our medical experts are not saying that right now."
I openly wonder whether these are the same experts who gave the NFL information regarding traumatic brain injury and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) years back. But that's a completely different story for another time.
If the NFL isn't going to simply stop testing for marijuana, what harm would it do to give players the option to utilize that outlet instead of more dangerous alternatives when dealing with pain?
Like we have seen with pretty much every societal and off-field issue over the past couple years, the NFL refuses to get with the times. It continues to be in a state of constant departure from the realities of the real world.
How else can we explain a four-game suspension for a positive marijuana test less than a year after the NFL suspended a violent offender just two games?
Don't expect an answer to this question anytime soon. The NFL is too busy hiring an investigator to sift through player cell phone records.
Contributor here at Forbes, editor-in-chief at Sportsnaut and head editor at eDraft.com. "You were born with wings, why prefer to crawl through life?"
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Recent Suspension Shows Just How Out Of Touch NFL's Marijuana Policy Is
Author: Vincent Frank
Contact: Contact Information
Photo Credit: Andres Stapff - Reuters
Website: Forbes
New York Jets defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson – considered one of the best players at his position in the NFL – was among those suspended. The former first-round pick received a four-game suspension for reportedly testing positive for marijuana.
As you already know, marijuana is a substance that is legal in four states and the District of Columbia. It's also slated to potentially be legalized for recreational use in seven other states this year.
We know full well that private entities and organizations, such as the NFL, have the right to ban certain substances from its employees. We also know that marijuana itself is still not legal for recreational use in a vast majority of the United States. That's not lost on those of us who believe NFL's policies are outdated and archaic.
More than that, we simply need not look any further than the Ray Rice situation before understanding full well that the NFL is enacting a double standard of epic proportions here.
Prior to the video of Rice attacking his then-fiancee inside a hotel elevator in New Jersey surfacing last summer, the NFL suspended the former Baltimore Ravens running back a total of two games. Not until we became aware of the video, and acting swiftly, did the league suspend Rice indefinitely.
There's no need to get into a debate about whether the NFL had this tape in its possession when deciding to initially suspend Rice for two games. All we need to know is that its first reaction was to bench the running back for one-eighth of the season.
Fast forward a little less than a year, and Richardson will be sitting out the first four games of the 2015 campaign without pay for allegedly smoking marijuana.
Do you see a bit of a double standard there? While Richardson should know the league rules, he shouldn't be docked twice the amount of time for smoking a little weed as Rice was initially docked for knocking his fiancee unconscious. That's utterly absurd.
Back in April, an unnamed general manger around the NFL indicated to Bleacher Report's Mike Freeman that an estimated 30-40 percent of this year's draft class smoke marijuana on a regular basis.
From the report:
"My estimate is 30 to 40 percent of players in this draft class use marijuana regularly. That's right in line with our league," the unnamed NFL general manager told Freeman. "Publicly teams act shocked, disappointed about marijuana. Privately we know a lot of guys smoke and we're far from shocked. In five years, maybe less, we'll have a league that allows smoking pot. It's best recourse. What we're doing now is stupid."
Former NFL linebacker Scott Fujita, who played in the league from 2002-2012, estimates that between 30 and 50 percent of current players smoke marijuana.
It's not that a select few smoke marijuana. Instead, it's that a select few get caught by testing positive.
Keep this in mind: Back on March 19th, the National Football League Players Association sent a public reminder to its players that the league would start testing for banned substances on April 20th. Outside of the "coincidence" that the league was starting testing on a specific calendar date associated with marijuana use, it gave the players a full 30 days to get clean – approximately (depending on use) the amount of time it takes marijuana to leave a person's system.
Those who didn't heed that call – potentially Sheldon Richardson – found themselves facing suspension. Now that's just plan silly on Richardson's part.
As it is, with marijuana use apparently mainstream in the NFL today, the only players getting suspended are those who don't have the common sense to avoid a positive test.
Is that how the NFL wants to govern its policy on banned substances?
As marijuana continues a trend towards becoming more socially acceptable in the United States, the NFL's drug policy has proven itself to be archaic. While stopping short of suggesting that players should be able to openly smoke marijuana before games and in public, what harm does the "drug" do to their ability to perform? Do the players turn into malcontents when smoking weed? Are they raging hard into the early-morning and finding themselves in trouble with the authorities? Do those players who smoke marijuana offer a bigger threat to society than those who drink?
We will once again turn to former NFL linebacker Scott Fujita to answer this question:
"A coach worries that a guy might get popped one too many times and end up missing games," Fujita said. "But I've had coaches tell me they'd rather have guys go home at night, smoke a bowl, sit your ass on the couch, play some X-Box and eat some Cheetos, rather than being out at night, drinking and getting in trouble. I've heard coaches actually say that to me."
See, it's not just those of us who are outside of the game that believe the NFL's marijuana policy is outdated. Rather, it's those who are in tune with the environment within the league's locker rooms – those who have a first-hand knowledge of what's happening around the NFL today.
We then have the little-known issue of pain in the NFL (slightly kidding). Can marijuana act as a more natural painkiller than the drugs team medical staffs are feeding players on a consistent basis?
Not to piggyback on Mike Freeman too much here, but he seems to be attempting to delve further into the issue than other journalists out there. The Bleacher Report scribe ran a well-timed piece on marijuana and how it can be used as a painkiller just recently. In that article, Freeman decided to seek out current and former NFL players for their opinions.
From the report:
"Interviews over the course of the past month with 16 current players revealed an NFL world where players who have not failed an NFL drug test, and therefore aren't subjected to multiple tests, smoke weed weekly after games and occasionally after tough regular-season practices."
Former NFL running back Jamal Anderson – one of the most physical running backs of his time – estimated that between 40 to 50 percent of those who suited up when he was playing back in the 1990′s smoked marijuana. Anderson went on to estimate that number to be "at least 60 percent now."
Freeman's article is a must read. Not just because it gives us some telling statistics regarding marijuana use in the NFL, but due to the fact that it underscores how the "drug" can be used as a safer painkiller around the league.
Unfortunately, the NFL will not heed the calls of former and current players. Instead, it is content with relying on information from the league's "medical experts" in determining that medical marijuana wouldn't be a good alternative to what most of us understand are more harmful drugs.
"I'm not a medical expert," Goodell said back in January of 2014, via USA Today. "We will obviously follow signs. We will follow medicine and if they determine this could be a proper usage in any context, we will consider that. Our medical experts are not saying that right now."
I openly wonder whether these are the same experts who gave the NFL information regarding traumatic brain injury and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) years back. But that's a completely different story for another time.
If the NFL isn't going to simply stop testing for marijuana, what harm would it do to give players the option to utilize that outlet instead of more dangerous alternatives when dealing with pain?
Like we have seen with pretty much every societal and off-field issue over the past couple years, the NFL refuses to get with the times. It continues to be in a state of constant departure from the realities of the real world.
How else can we explain a four-game suspension for a positive marijuana test less than a year after the NFL suspended a violent offender just two games?
Don't expect an answer to this question anytime soon. The NFL is too busy hiring an investigator to sift through player cell phone records.
Contributor here at Forbes, editor-in-chief at Sportsnaut and head editor at eDraft.com. "You were born with wings, why prefer to crawl through life?"
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Recent Suspension Shows Just How Out Of Touch NFL's Marijuana Policy Is
Author: Vincent Frank
Contact: Contact Information
Photo Credit: Andres Stapff - Reuters
Website: Forbes
