NFL vs Weed

[BigJimEd]

The NFL's marijuana policy has been discussed here and there on this board. Most recently in the Branch thread.

With the news that Bills OL Seantrel Henderson has been suspended for 10 games, I thought it was worth a new thread strictly about the policy. Henderson was already suspended 4 games this season and reportedly uses it to treat Crohn's disease.

http://blog.sfgate.com/smellthetruth/2016/11/28/nfl-tackle-seantrel-henderson-faces-suspension-for-using-marijuana-to-treat-crohns-disease/amp/

“Merciful or not, there is no medical exception that the NFL will accept. It doesn’t matter that Seantrel is battling Crohn’s disease, and has had his intestines outside his body,” his agent, Brian Fettner, told ESPN in September. “It doesn’t matter how you take it, if you digest the cannabis, that’s it. And they don’t care.”
...

“I’ve got doctors telling me this is the No. 1 medicine that would help your disease,” Henderson told the Buffalo News in October. “You try to tell that to the league, and it seems like they didn’t care too much.”

Is there a reason why the NFL should not at least allow for a medical exemption for marijuana use? What are the odds that they look into in the off season?

 

[axx]

Is there a reason why the NFL should not at least allow for a medical exemption for marijuana use? What are the odds that they look into in the off season?

Because half the league would suddenly get Crohn's disease? Doctor shopping and all.

 

[Oil Can Dan]

And then what? Why is the NFL policing something that isn't even illegal in most places anymore?

 

[BigJimEd]

Because half the league would suddenly get Crohn's disease? Doctor shopping and all.

possibly and the NFL would need to aprove each request. They currently allow exemptions for Adderall, which many consider a PED, among other drugs.

 

[CantKeepmedown]

There was a report on the news this morning talking about this. Over 50% of the players in the league live in a state where marijuana is legal. There are plenty of labs/doctors and what not that want to run tests to show/prove that marijuana is a viable treatment, but the league won't allow the players to participate in the testing. It's ridiculous.

I'm not sure what the NFL thinks it will lose here. This is not, per se, a performing enhancing drug. If it helps people heal or feel better, let them have it.

Is it more the coaches that don't want their players to sit around and have free reign to get high every night? Because I'd be willing to bet that a lot of them are already doing that anyways. It's been noted that people not on the program know when the testing is going to happen, and as long as you pass one, you're pretty much all set.

 

[sonofgodcf]

Isn't it just as simple as money? Weed was collectively bargained, if the players want it then they need to give something to the owners. They're not going to change the rule for free, regardless of any potential benefits to the players. The only thing owners care about is money.

 

[Hoodie Sleeves]

Isn't it just as simple as money? Weed was collectively bargained, if the players want it then they need to give something to the owners. They're not going to change the rule for free, regardless of any potential benefits to the players. The only thing owners care about is money.

Thats is probably the real reason.

First - Marijuana isn't legal in the states that 50% of players live in - those states have taken it off their controlled substance lists, but it's still federally illegal everywhere. Obama basically said he'd ignore it in states where it wasn't a controlled substance, but there's no guarantee the federal government will continue to do that. So as far as the NFL is concerned, it's illegal everywhere, and the NFL's stance has pretty much always been that if it's illegal, it's prohibited.

Trump's prospective nominee for Attorney General is staunchly anti-marijuana - so I doubt any of this will get any more MJ friendly in the next 4 years - and most of the negotiations for the CBA are going to happen during this term - assuming they don't end up striking (End of the 2020 season is the end of the CBA) - so I don't see anything really changing from the NFL's perspective.

 

[Ralphwiggum]

It can be illegal federally and in many states, and the NFL could still decide that it isn't going to test the players for it. I mean, they'll never do this because it is another hammer they hold over players and the people who run the league seem obsessed with the notion that the players have to conform. But the legality of it has nothing to do with that. The NFL could just not test and let the justice system deal with any player who runs afoul of any drug laws.

 

[Hoodie Sleeves]

It can be illegal federally and in many states, and the NFL could still decide that it isn't going to test the players for it. I mean, they'll never do this because it is another hammer they hold over players and the people who run the league seem obsessed with the notion that the players have to conform. But the legality of it has nothing to do with that. The NFL could just not test and let the justice system deal with any player who runs afoul of any drug laws.

Of course they could - but that would be inconsistent with the rest of their policy, so there's no reason why they would. Unless it was collectively bargained for. (Players can have an additional positive test before suspension for Marijuana - it already has a lighter treatment - but that was collectively bargained for).

 

[mauf]

Goodell has publicly said that he's open to relaxing the league's rules on marijuana -- but with the potential of an early reopening of the CBA looming, he's not going to give the players anything without receiving a concession in return. And given that a wildly disproportionate share of the players' lifetime earnings potential will be behind them by age 30, they (quite rightly) will not give up any of that for the privilege of being able to get high. The idea of a more limited, medical exception is interesting, but is likely not workable so long as marijuana remains illegal at the federal level.

 

[mauf]

It can be illegal federally and in many states, and the NFL could still decide that it isn't going to test the players for it. I mean, they'll never do this because it is another hammer they hold over players and the people who run the league seem obsessed with the notion that the players have to conform. But the legality of it has nothing to do with that. The NFL could just not test and let the justice system deal with any player who runs afoul of any drug laws.

I wonder how the players would react if Goodell proposed ending marijuana testing in exchange for a new rule requiring all players to stand with their hands over their hearts or at their sides for the national anthem.

Seems like a net win for the owners' pro-conformity impulses, and also a net benefit for the players.

 

[biff_hardbody]

Goodell has publicly said that he's open to relaxing the league's rules on marijuana -- but with the potential of an early reopening of the CBA looming, he's not going to give the players anything without receiving a concession in return. And given that a wildly disproportionate share of the players' lifetime earnings potential will be behind them by age 30, they (quite rightly) will not give up any of that for the privilege of being able to get high. The idea of a more limited, medical exception is interesting, but is likely not workable so long as marijuana remains illegal at the federal level.

Unless, you know, there was some benefit to the player (like pain relief) and it wasn't just "getting high."