NFLPA Exec Dir DeMaurice Smith said the union "intended to present a proposal" to the NFL regarding the league's drug policy that has "more of a therapeutic approach to those who test positive for marijuana." Appearing on ESPN's "OTL" yesterday, Smith said, "The idea is simply to make sure that we understand whether a player is suffering from something other than just a desire to smoke marijuana. I think all of us would want to have a process where if there was truly a problem, we're treating a problem instead of just treating a symptom" ("OTL," ESPN, 5/2). PRO FOOTBALL TALK's Mike Florio wrote the NFLPA's position on marijuana is "smart and reasonable." This is "one of those occasions (rare as they may be) where the NFL needs to step away from back-and-forth, tit-for-tat of collective bargaining and agree that it’s in everyone’s interests to allow players who need marijuana for therapeutic reasons to use it instead of drugs far more unhealthy and far more addictive than marijuana" (PROFOOTBALLTALK.com, 5/2).
PLAYER PERSPECTIVE: In DC, Rick Maese in a front-page piece writes no professional sport has "so many outspoken proponents of marijuana’s medicinal qualities" than the NFL, but then again, no sport is "as closely associated with pain and injury." Former NFLer Ebenezer Ekuban said the NFL is "going to realize" that cannabidiol (CBD) is not a PED "in due time." Ekuban: "If anything, it helps with anxiety, helps with concentration, it helps with pain" (WASHINGTON POST, 5/3). NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell last week addressed the league's take on marijuana, saying, "You’re ingesting smoke, so that’s not usually a positive thing. It does have an addictive nature." Former NFLer Doug Brown in a special to the WINNIPEG FREE PRESS sarcastically wrote, "Just when you thought the world of professional football players had missed the memo the league is looking out for them and their best interests, Goodell pulls through in the clutch." Goodell is "losing sleep at night concerned about whether some of the drugs surrounding the game could be negative to your health and he is doing whatever he can to protect you" (WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, 5/2).
