Long says NFL’s drug policy is “kind of silly”

Having announced his retirement last week after 11 NFL seasons, Chris Long is now even more free to speak his mind on the issues that perplex the league (though he never really was afraid of doing that during his playing days, either). So that’s what he did during an appearance Wednesday on “The Dan Patrick Show” when he said he “enjoyed my fair share” of marijuana during his playing days and became the latest player or former player to question the effectiveness of the NFL’s drug-testing policy and its policy prohibiting marijuana.

“I’m not a dry snitch, I’m not going to put a percentage on how much the league smokes, but I certainly enjoyed my fair share on a regular basis throughout my career,” Long said. “So, you know, and I was never afraid to say that and I’m able to say it more explicitly now: if not for that, I’m not as capable of coping with the stressors of day-to-day NFL life. A lot of guys get a lot of pain management out of it. [Anti-inflammatory drug] Toradol did more pain management for me.”

Long also pointed out the ineffectiveness of the league’s testing policy for recreational drugs, in which players are tested only once a year at some point between late April and early August. Joining others, he said it isn’t hard to pass the test.

“I think testing is arbitrary,” Long said. “Testing players once a year for ‘street drugs’, which is a terrible classification for marijuana, is kind of silly because, you know, players know when the test is, we can stop, and in that month or two that you stop, you’re going to reach for the sleeping pills, you’re going to reach for the pain killers, you’re going to reach for the bottle a little bit more.

“If you’re serious about players not smoking, you’d be testing more often. I hope they go the opposite direction and kind of realize how arbitrary doing that one test a year is.”

Marijuana remains on the NFL’s banned-substances list even though Colorado and nine other states have completely legalized it, and five of them are home to NFL franchises. When the Raiders move to Las Vegas next season, that number will grow to six.