Players weigh in on pot remarks
The NFL union wants the issue to be part of collective bargaining.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer may have warned that “greater enforcement” of federal drug laws is coming in states that have legalized the recreational sale and consumption of cannabis, but the NFL Players’ Association said it still is pushing for a “less punitive” marijuana policy, calling it a collective bargaining issue, not a law enforcement issue.
“We are talking about how players get treatment under our jointly agreed upon drug policies, not any advocacy for federal vs. state statutes,” George Atallah, the NFLPA’s assistant executive director for external affairs, told The Denver Post.
The NFLPA announced earlier this year that it hoped to propose a drugpolicy change to reflect the new legal landscape and to provide NFL players safer alternatives when treating pain.
The NFL drug policy was last updated in 2014.
On Thursday, Spicer set off alarm bells when he said: “There’s a big difference between (medical marijuana) and recreational marijuana, and I think when you see something like the opioid addiction crisis blossoming in so many states around this country, the last thing we should be doing is encouraging people. There is still a federal law that we need to abide by in terms of recreational marijuana and other drugs of that nature.”
Medical marijuana is legal in 28 states, Puerto Rico, Guam and Washington, D.C. Recreational marijuana is legal in eight states, including Colorado.
But cannabis remains illegal at the federal level, classified as a Schedule I drug by the Drug Enforcement Administration “with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.”
Under the current NFL drug policy, players are tested once in the offseason. If they are found to have more than 35 nanograms of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, per milliliter of urine, they are entered into an intervention program and can be fined or suspended for future violations. THC is the psychoactive substance found in pot.
With only a 16game schedule and nonguaranteed contracts, the NFL has one of the most stringent policies for marijuana use among pro sports organizations. The NHL, for example, doesn’t test for marijuana.
Over the last year, many former and current NFL players have pushed for league acceptance of marijuana as well as cannabidiol, or CBD, a compound in cannabis that has trace levels of THC but is believed to reduce pain and inflammation.
Although the NFLPA did not specify what “less punitive” means it plans to review the topic at its annual meeting in March. If approved by the executive committee, the new proposal would be presented to the league and collectively bargained by the players and owners.
The NFLPA recently developed a pain management committee to assess player injuries and general wellness and to determine if there are safer but effective treatment options. Marijuana is one item on its list.