NBA Set To Amend Rules Regarding Marijuana Use By NBA Players

Although not completely eliminating marijuana testing, the NFL drastically decreased the possible consequences for marijuana usage three years ago.

In an interview with David Letterman last year, Phoenix Suns player Kevin Durant said that he started using marijuana when he was 22 years old. For me, it’s like drinking a glass of wine; it clears the distraction from your head, he claimed.

Durant stated his desire to “alter the narrative” surrounding marijuana and the “mad people are in jail for 20 years for selling a pound” comment in the same interview.

NBA Set To Amend Rules Regarding Marijuana Use By NBA Players

According to Shams Charania of TheAthletic.com, marijuana was completely removed from the drug-testing protocol in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement that the NBA and National Basketball Players Association reached on Friday.

The NFL has stuck to its prohibition against marijuana for one specific reason. The NFL views the prohibition on marijuana as a component of collective bargaining. In other words, they want something from the NFL Players Association before they do the right thing and do rid of it.

The NFL hid behind the fact that marijuana is still a prohibited substance under federal law when states where it conducts business began to legalise it for recreational use. It’s getting harder to use marijuana as a hook for the league’s argument as more states legalise it.

The deal will begin this summer and is scheduled to last at least through the 2028/29 campaign. At that time, either the league or the Players Association can opt out, otherwise it will last through to the 2030 offseason.

And those who assert that the NFL has stopped conducting marijuana tests on players are just wrong. Fines still apply to players. Also, if they are placed in the treatment programme, they may be suspended for specific types of non-compliance.

The NFL and players decided during the 2021 offseason that testing would only be administered once annually and that failing a test would result in a fee rather than the prior sanction of a lengthy suspension. Also, the UFC said in 2021 that they would no longer penalise athletes for having positive marijuana tests.

 

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