NBA players want marijuana removed from banned list

Players in the NBA want the league to remove marijuana from its list of banned substances if the player has a prescription.

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Marijuana is probably more controversial than ever with more states legalizing it for medical purposes and some states outright legalizing it for recreational purposes as well.

The subject of marijuana comes up frequently in sports leagues, especially in the NBA and NFL. The NFL has strict rules against using it and getting caught with it puts players in a program that could eventually end up in total suspension.

Use of marijuana has been common in the NBA as well for decades, though there’s nothing to prove that it’s any more or less common than the regular public, according to a story from TMZ.

Like the NFL, the NBA has maintained its position on marijuana, that it is a banned substance and multiple infractions result in suspension. However obvious it might be, a lot of NBA players don’t agree with this.

TMZ talked to at least 10 of those players and they said they want the league to remove it from the banned category as long as the player has a prescription. Remember that quite a few states allow the sale of marijuana for medical conditions.

TMZ said they spoke to active NBA players who naturally wanted to remain anonymous. They essentially said they didn’t understand how the league could keep guys with prescriptions from using their medicine. They called for the NBA to get with the times and remove it from the banned substance list.

The NBA would be a good start for such a policy, as it is generally more progressive than the MLB and NFL. The fact is, marijuana is not what you think of when talking about performance enhancing drugs and it is used quite effectively for pain, something that NBA players and especially NFL players deal with by the truckloads. After all, what’s better here, a natural substance or high dosage pain killers that have already been linked to heart issues at least on the football side of things and addiction?

The important thing to look at here is players that have prescriptions, presumably for pain. It shouldn’t necessarily be approved for just recreational use. They should continue to have a no-tolerance policy for those who abuse marijuana, just as they do for alcohol. But it doesn’t make sense for the leagues to be fine with players drinking on their days off and then suspending them for using marijuana.

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