NFL POLICY AT ODDS WITH LAWS
League stands firm as marijuana legalized in states
It was almost too juicy a story to be true.
Shane Ray, the NFL prospect cited for marijuana possession just days before the draft, gets picked by the Denver Broncos (of all teams) and heads to Colorado, home to many of America’s most liberal marijuana laws.
It was a tale that set social media ablaze with quips about Ray’s arrival in Denver being “dope” along with references to the fact that, since January 2014, Coloradans can legally purchase up to an ounce of marijuana at dispensaries across the state.
It is very likely that had Ray been pulled over for a traffic violation on Interstate 70 in Colorado — rather than some 600 miles east on the same highway in Missouri — he would have received just a traffic ticket. Then maybe he wouldn’t have dropped from the draft’s top 10 into John Elway’s waiting arms at pick No. 23.
Ray heard many of the jokes, saw his Twitter mentions explode and filtered through text messages from buddies. He couldn’t help but laugh a few days later.
“I’ve seen all the memes and the jokes and stuff, but it really doesn’t faze me,” Ray said. “It would be different if I had a serious history of issues with marijuana and stuff like that, but I don’t. And for that, I just look at it as just jokes, people just finding something to pick at me at.
“I really don’t look at all those things. But, of course, a couple of my friends sent me some of them that were pretty funny.”
There is an assumption that by arriving in Colorado, a player such as Ray, who admitted to one failed marijuana test early in his college career at Missouri but no other instances before his April 27 citation, would be tempted to legally purchase and smoke weed.
But just because it is legal for anyone over 21 to purchase, carry and smoke marijuana in Colorado, the law doesn’t align with NFL policy, which explicitly prohibits marijuana use. One positive test won’t merit a suspension, but multiple positive tests will.
That’s why Broncos coach Gary Kubiak’s instructions to his players about marijuana are the same now that he’s coaching in Denver as they were when he was coaching in Houston or Baltimore: Just don’t do it.
“My message is the same re- gardless,” Kubiak said. “I think we all understand the rules of the league and what we expect from a team standpoint.”
Indeed, in the years since Colorado voters passed the bill to legalize marijuana sales and possession, the Broncos have not found themselves riddled with player violations. Outside linebacker Von Miller served a sixgame suspension in 2013 for a second violation — he had a positive test as a rookie in 2013 — but his penalty was for trying to manipulate a sample, not another positive test.
There have been marijuana-related issues elsewhere in the league. But no players in Denver or Seattle — Washington state also legalized marijuana in 2014 — were suspended for marijuana last year.
But the attention Ray’s citation received only helps highlight a growing discrepancy between the NFL’s stance on marijuana and society’s, said Mason Tvert, a Denver-based marijuana policy reform advocate.
“The NFL has no compelling interest in players’ marijuana use off the job. They are really wasting their time. They should be focused on preventing cheating and preventing behaviors that result in harm to the players or others. Simply using marijuana responsibly doesn’t qualify as that,” Tvert said.
“What the problem right now for the NFL, other than cheating quarterbacks, is this issue with vi- olence — violence and brain damage. And marijuana does not really contribute to either, whereas alcohol, one of the biggest sponsors of the NFL, does.”
The Broncos and the Seahawks might not be the only subjects of weed jokes for long.
The District of Columbia has legalized possession of up to an ounce of marijuana as well as the ability for individuals to grow their own pot. Voters in Oregon and Alaska have approved laws similar to those in Colorado and Washington state that will take effect next year.
In 2016, several states — most notably California (home to three NFL teams) and Massachusetts (home to one) — are expected to present similar laws to voters.