vincec Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 I get the public image part but when you're suspending guys for 4+ games for smoking weed while suspending guys for 1-2 games for domestic violence, you've got your priorities wrong. This is true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aristocrat Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 I get the public image part but when you're suspending guys for 4+ games for smoking weed while suspending guys for 1-2 games for domestic violence, you've got your priorities wrong. It's like that in life as well...most drug offenses carry more time than rapes and murders. I think i've read the average child rape carries like an 18 month sentence whereas the average drug sentence is over 3 years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jobot Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 Dig deep to the root of this issue.... and It's all about POWER. Please tell me how much revenue is lost by any NFL player smoking weed??? The answer is $0 lost because people will still watch and ratings will not suffer an ounce. So why does the league care? Because they can. Because they have a rule in place and it is an added chip they can hold on to during collective bargaining dealings. The right thing to do would be to remove weed from the NFL's banned substance list TODAY.... The money-making thing to do is remove it from the NFL's banned substance list in exchange for something else during collective bargaining. However this won't happen because if only 10% of players in the NFL smoke weed, they're not going to agree that this is a priority to give up something else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigPappy Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 Why risk it? If the banned list had on it bananas, waffles, and milk, then don't eat bananas, waffles, and milk. These pro athletes are supposedly so self-disciplined With their training; they need to be disciplined about following the rules too. The players are risking it because of the benefits they are getting by smoking it. I watched an Inside the NFL episode that discussed the use of weed with players. There are actually studies that show that Marijuana aids in the healing of your brain after a concussion, as well as the already documented use for pain relief. There are also some initial studies that show they may lessen the severity of a concussion in someone that is already an occasional user. Probably because most of these guys aren't actually risking anything. You can be tested once per year if you're not in the substance abuse program, and after that you can smoke all you want until next training camp. The only people that are actually risking anything are those that are in the substance abuse program and can be tested like twice a week. There are always risks when you don't follow the rules, its just a mitigated risk and as far as a player is concerned the benefits of using it far out weigh the risks. personally i think It should be removed from the banned usage list. It's not a performance enhancing drug. Furthermore, its becoming legal in more and more states and its a natural way for players to reduce pain levels vs filling their bodies with sometimes toxic chemicals. But that is jmho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heitz Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 There is a legit reason to risk it, it offers an alternative to powerful and much more addictive prescription pain medications. Some (not all for sure, but some) players use it because prescription pain killers are flat out dangerous to use at the levels these people need to use them on a daily basis. On the other hand, you could smoke a little weed, not become physically addicted and cause minimal (if any) additional harm to your body. The ONLY reason it is still illegal is because giant pharma lobby big time to keep it that way so they can keep patients addicted to their artificially created medications instead of someone growing their own medication. The gov't is bought and paid for. It's that simple. Was going to say, for lots of people there are many reasons to use cannabis. Definitely not the same as bananas and waffles (though both of those DO help cure hunger, so.). Will be interesting to see what happens when big states like Cali, Nevada and others vote on full, legal adult use... Dig deep to the root of this issue.... and It's all about POWER. And this is probably the real truth... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. WEO Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 There is a legit reason to risk it, it offers an alternative to powerful and much more addictive prescription pain medications. Some (not all for sure, but some) players use it because prescription pain killers are flat out dangerous to use at the levels these people need to use them on a daily basis. On the other hand, you could smoke a little weed, not become physically addicted and cause minimal (if any) additional harm to your body. The ONLY reason it is still illegal is because giant pharma lobby big time to keep it that way so they can keep patients addicted to their artificially created medications instead of someone growing their own medication. The gov't is bought and paid for. It's that simple. The number of players who would actually be smoking weed to replace narcotics would be a tiny fraction. The idea that teams have a candy cabinet full of oxycodone that they hand out to players in the locker room is a media cliché. Regulation of prescription narcotics is tighter than ever in every state and is getting even more strict. Physician prescribing patterns are being tracked and most states have databases that monitor narcotic use for any patient prescribed them. Most players would smoke to get high. The owners are likely worried that more than one player would show up to work high. This is a risk to the player and to the owner's investment in the player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris heff Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 What if a doctor prescribed medical marijuana? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. WEO Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 What if a doctor prescribed medical marijuana? Doesn't matter. A doctor can prescribe HgH. If it's on the list, it's a banned substance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maury Ballstein Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 Lol at Weo's "media cliche"for the countless NFL players hooked on pills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. WEO Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 Lol at Weo's "media cliche"for the countless NFL players hooked on pills. Yes, the "countless" part in particular. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirby Jackson Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 (edited) The number of players who would actually be smoking weed to replace narcotics would be a tiny fraction. The idea that teams have a candy cabinet full of oxycodone that they hand out to players in the locker room is a media cliché. Regulation of prescription narcotics is tighter than ever in every state and is getting even more strict. Physician prescribing patterns are being tracked and most states have databases that monitor narcotic use for any patient prescribed them. Most players would smoke to get high. The owners are likely worried that more than one player would show up to work high. This is a risk to the player and to the owner's investment in the player. It's not as much of a myth as you'd think. I think that it is getting better but it isn't perfect. I have a handful of friends that played in the league as recently as 2014 (one who was suspended for a banned substance) for a total of 9 different franchises (3 all seemed to have a stop in Cleveland). They easily got pain pills in doses. The stories of how freely they flowed through the Saints locker room (including a pretty prominent HC) are pretty wild. Here is an article from when they were busted a few years back (in sort of the height of their arrogance): http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/report-feds-weighing-big-fine-against-saints-in-vicodin-case/ Edited August 17, 2016 by Kirby Jackson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark80 Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 The number of players who would actually be smoking weed to replace narcotics would be a tiny fraction. The idea that teams have a candy cabinet full of oxycodone that they hand out to players in the locker room is a media cliché. Regulation of prescription narcotics is tighter than ever in every state and is getting even more strict. Physician prescribing patterns are being tracked and most states have databases that monitor narcotic use for any patient prescribed them. Most players would smoke to get high. The owners are likely worried that more than one player would show up to work high. This is a risk to the player and to the owner's investment in the player. I respectfully disagree with most of this. It doesn't have to be a "candy cabinet" as you describe it. Even when you are taking these extremely powerful prescriptions as prescribed (for legit pain issues) they are highly addictive and dangerous. Again, that is when they are just used as intended. Players often subject themselves to a lifetime of addiction issues because of this. The improved regulation and monitoring of these medications has gotten slightly better, but it's still a ways off from strict. And that says nothing of legit prescriptions and dosages which are still very, very dangerous. Especially considering these guys can be taking these prescriptions for years and years (not just for recovery from, say, a surgery or something for a short period of time). And, once addicted, these are some of the hardest substances to break free from, snowballing their side effects. I do agree that, most likely, a majority of players are smoking for recreational purposes (with the added benefit of pain relief as secondary reason possibly). However, I disagree that there is not a notable portion of players out there who are consciously doing it just for pain relief to avoid the dangers of pain medication. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maury Ballstein Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 (edited) Yes, the "countless" part in particular.Reading is fundamental, nice tales though. http://www.espn.com/espn/eticket/story?page=110128/PainkillersCurrentUse ""The trainers and the doctors used to go down the aisle and say, 'Who needs what?'" Turley said. "If you had something hurting and needed a painkiller to take the edge off so you could sleep that night, they made sure you had it." A scientific study conducted by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis found that retired NFL players misuse opioid pain medications at a rate more than four times that of the general population. The study, co-funded by ESPN and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, provides new evidence to suggest the roots of that misuse can be traced to the misuse of painkillers during players' NFL careers. The research findings were published Jan. 28 in Drug and Alcohol Dependence, a peer-reviewed, scientific journal" Edited August 17, 2016 by Ryan L Billz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Best Player Available Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 The players are risking it because of the benefits they are getting by smoking it. I watched an Inside the NFL episode that discussed the use of weed with players. There are actually studies that show that Marijuana aids in the healing of your brain after a concussion, as well as the already documented use for pain relief. There are also some initial studies that show they may lessen the severity of a concussion in someone that is already an occasional user. There are always risks when you don't follow the rules, its just a mitigated risk and as far as a player is concerned the benefits of using it far out weigh the risks. personally i think It should be removed from the banned usage list. It's not a performance enhancing drug. Furthermore, its becoming legal in more and more states and its a natural way for players to reduce pain levels vs filling their bodies with sometimes toxic chemicals. But that is jmho. While the medical advantages may be becoming more apparent. And more states are legalizing it for at least medical reasons. The Laws are far from similar state to state. In states where " charlottes web " or CBD's are legal and contains 0%- negligable amounts of thc. These are not the type of pain relief i would guess many if any Athletes are looking for. All states could legailize weed. But until the FEDERAL govt. does none of this proposed policy change would work. Let's face it the image conscience multi billion dollar NFL will not be the corporation that will lead the charge and challenge federal law. Just a couple of weeks ago the feds refused to reclassify weed from schedule 1 ( heroin among others is on that list). What that does is still makes it very illegal to do controlled study's on weeds medicinal value. A huge defeat in the medical weed Business,especially in In fields like cancer research. Unless one goes through many years of administrative BS. To then Be denied. The feds will put up roadblocks, even though one would safely guess at least the past three POTUS'es have smoked weed. This will not change for a long time. So yea these govt. people are still in the "reefer madness" mindset. Don't expect any of the above to change anytime soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wiz Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 (edited) Drug laws need changed, and plenty of people are in jail far too long for drug offenses. However, I believe whatever you read used some extreme hyperbole to make their point. It's not quite that simple. With that being said, I love how the NFL suspends for Marijuana while Peyton Manning salutes Bud Light after the Super Bowl.Because nothing says football like beer. If there is ever a point where the NFL can get a corporate weed sponsor they will. Edited August 17, 2016 by The Wiz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Webster Guy Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 I wasn't aware that you could fail several tests before suspension. This makes Big 99's suspension even more frustrating. These big contracts need to have language included that mandates screenings done IN HOUSE prior to the league tests so the teams can handle any problems before the league gets involved. Its not that complicated, you can get thc out of your system in a few weeks. The reality is, some players need their hands held. So let's do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddaryl Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 Just a couple of weeks ago the feds refused to reclassify weed from schedule 1 ( heroin among others is on that list). What that does is still makes it very illegal to do controlled study's on weeds medicinal value. A huge defeat in the medical weed Business,especially in In fields like cancer research. Unless one goes through many years of administrative BS. To then Be denied. The feds will put up roadblocks, even though one would safely guess at least the past three POTUS'es have smoked weed. This will not change for a long time. So yea these govt. people are still in the "reefer madness" mindset. Don't expect any of the above to change anytime soon. The DEA is in the pocket of big pharma although there is issue with state to state legalization the NFL can simply stop testing for it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coastie Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 The part I have the most issue with is the NFL has zero issue with team doctors prescribing opiates for injuries and pain but refuse to accept weed for pain management. Less damaging in the long run for certain and as someone who had an ex who was on morphine for a back issue, opiates are bad news across the board. Sadly I think the league believes if weed is used for pain management then players will smoke it recreationally as well. And I say so what, my ex took that morphine recreationally, trust me and I am sure there are players who keep taking opiates long after the need it for pain management. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wiz Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 The part I have the most issue with is the NFL has zero issue with team doctors prescribing opiates for injuries and pain but refuse to accept weed for pain management. Less damaging in the long run for certain and as someone who had an ex who was on morphine for a back issue, opiates are bad news across the board. Sadly I think the league believes if weed is used for pain management then players will smoke it recreationally as well. And I say so what, my ex took that morphine recreationally, trust me and I am sure there are players who keep taking opiates long after the need it for pain management. The sad part is that players are likely already using pain management drugs recreationally but the nfl doesn't care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireChan Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 The sad part is that players are likely already using pain management drugs recreationally but the nfl doesn't care. Hold the phone, aren't players responsible for themselves? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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