The NFL has tried to crack down on drug use since implementing its latest policy in 2010. The problem is many players, both current and inactive, believe is to be largely ineffective as well as hypocritical. The discussion of allowing medical marijuana to be used by players has advocates and critics alike. The current lawsuit by some 600 former players alleges that the league has had a sordid past with drugs, playing doctor and dealer simultaneously. Also, there is growing concern that there is an unfair double standard concerning players vs. owners and coaches.
Jim Irsay, owner of the Colts, is facing several drug charges and a DWI. Some people, like an anonymous retired football player who talked to NBC Sports, say that not only is the league unfairly excluding front office personnel from their expansive policy, they in reality should be held to an even higher standard than players (via NBC Sports):
"'When that discipline comes, he ought to be tested daily,' the unnamed former player told King. 'If they can test a player 10 times a month, an owner should be tested more.'
"'[If] it's good for the goose, it's good for the gander,' NFLPA president Eric Winston recently told PFT Live. While that comment related not to drug testing but to punishment, the sentiment applies to any and all issues related to procedures that could result in player discipline."
So while there are legitimate drug issues both narcotic and "performance enhancing" that need to be monitored a growing number of participants are saying that medical marijuana should be taken off the table (via Bleacher Report):
"NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said that he would consider allowing athletes to use medical marijuana if experts deem it a 'legitimate solution' to treating head injuries.
"How do athletes feel about the potential for medical marijuana use in sports? Would they be open to treating concussions and other head injuries with marijuana?"
Click the link above to watch a video of former professional athletes commenting on the use of medical marijuana in pro sports.
Speaking of drugs in the NFL, there is still a lawsuit pending that alleges that back in the day players were institutionally fed painkillers and other drugs like candy to prolong and enhance their performances. Here is a great opinion piece by ex-NFL player Ryan Riddle (via Bleacher Report):
"As the pot-smoking epidemic continues to deteriorate the family-like image of football's royalty, the real cesspool of life-ruining drug addiction carries on under the guise of institutionalized medicine."
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