This week, Chris Long admitted that he smoked marijuana during his NFL career. While we have covered this topic before, Long’s admission has brought up the question “does marijuana belong in sports?” While I do not use marijuana, I believe it is an important question to ask, whose answer can help improve athletes’ lives.
Athlete Use Marijuana
Professional athletes are already using marijuana, and they have been. Former NBA player Kenyon Martin claims about 85% of the NBA used marijuana during his career. In the NFL that number is higher, with (semi) retired player Martellus Bennett believing this number to be at 89%. According to these figures, if you have watched sports the last twenty years, then your favorite player probably smoked marijuana. This also indicates that marijuana use is not a new phenomenon taking the league by storm. Players probably used it to deal with pain even before these guys joined the league. Weed has had a foothold in modern sports for generations, and it goes beyond the field.
GMs and Coaches Use It
Matt Barnes retired after the 2016-2017 NBA season, and he claimed to smoke marijuana throughout his career. In addition to this, he said “The GMs, coaches, presidents (were smoking). I mean, it goes deeper than what you think.” It’s not just the NBA, as former lineman Shaun Smith claimed, “Shoot, coaches do it. Personnel does it, people upstairs do it.” These comments show a degree of hypocrisy by the league. The same guys who do not want their players smoking, and who can push the league to make a change, are also smoking marijuana. If these guys are smoking, why are they pushing the league to only allow highly addictive opioids for pain? Speaking of opioid use…
Opioid Prescriptions in Sports
On Golic and Wingo, Mike Golic made a good point when he indicated that players don’t use marijuana just for the pain. That is true, but at the same time, who cares? People also drink beer because they enjoy it. Why can’t marijuana be used to treat pain, but also for enjoyment? In either case, it still better than opiates.
According to the CDC, opioid related deaths are on the rise, and professional athletes are not immune to this. Players such as Ryan Leaf know this all too well. Leaf took a beating as a quarterback, and became addicted to opiates. He was arrested for breaking into homes to get his next high. He’s better now, and is a counselor for drug addicts. He is one of the lucky ones. Derek Boogaard was not. A former NHL enforcer, he dealt with addiction to painkillers and died due to a combination of painkillers and alcohol. Is this better than marijuana use to deal with pain?
Should Marijuana be Allowed in Sports?
Yes. Marijuana has medicinal benefits, and countless players are dealing with pain from entertaining us. Which is worse: finding out your favorite player smoked during their career, or seeing on the news they overdosed due to an addiction caused by painkillers prescribed during their careers? If you would rather see the latter, I have one thing to say to you:
