| Toke of the Town 2014. |
According to sources within the NFL Players Union, the NFL is discussing the possibility of lowering the threshold for a positive THC test to 150 nanograms of metabolites per one milliliter of blood.
If approved, that would mean that players could use cannabis pretty much up until the day before a game and still be able to pass the tests – essentially loosening the league’s anti-pot stance.
In a January interview with The New Yorker magazine, President Obama now famously stated, “As has been well documented, I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person up through a big chunk of my adult life. I don’t think it is more dangerous than alcohol.”
Since that interview, ESPN sent a reporter into NFL locker rooms across the league asking 100 professional football players whether or not they agree with President Obama’s comments. The players’ replies are not very surprising, but unfortunately, neither is the NFL’s reaction to just blow it off.
| Big photos below. |
Hypocrites who take millions in revenue from alcohol sponsors but still prohibit the use of cannabis among their players, which is much safer substance, run the National Football League.
That’s the message pushed by five billboards sponsored by the Marijuana Policy Project that have been erected in New Jersey near the site of the Super Bowl set for this Sunday.
What do the Seattle Seahawks, Arizona Cardinals, Oakland Raiders, San Francisco 49ers, San Diego Chargers, Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears, New England Patriots, Washington Redskins and, of course, the Denver Broncos all have in common? They are NFL teams based in states (and a district) where medical marijuana is legal. Currently, NFL policy doesn’t allow players on those teams to use the herb to help their ailments, though.
But could that be changing? When asked about medical pot use for athletes this week, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodel told ESPN that he isn’t going to write off cannabis as a therapy but shied away from outright approving of the plant.
| Wikimedia commons/Robert W. Gordon. |
Former NFL wide receiver Sam Hurd was sentenced yesterday to 15 years in federal prison, accused by the feds of being the kingpin behind a start up cocaine smuggling operation. The sentence is much lower than most expected.
Federal sentencing guidelines stipulated somewhere between 27 and 34 years. But U.S. District Judge Jorge Solis says Hurd was charged more with talking about being a cocaine dealer than ever actually being one.
| Wikipedia commons. |
Last Friday, Seattle Seahawks defensive end Bruce Irvin was suspended by the NFL for a violation of their substance abuse policy, the sixth member of the squad to receive such punishment since 2010.
Since the NFL can’t disclose why, Irvin did as teammate Richard Sherman did before him: hint that the violation was for taking Adderall without disclosing it. While heavily prescribed, Adderall isn’t without risks, but it certainly can have it’s performance-enhancing advantages — same as any number of drugs that areallowed in sports. If the league is going are going to be hypocrites, then why not allow one of the best natural performance enhancers out there: marijuana?
| Wikipedia commons. |
| Meadow Lane stadium. |
The oldest soccer club in the world apparently has some problems growing grass (the legal kind) on their field during the winter.
League One Notts County F.C. was founded in 1862 and has been playing at the Meadow Lane stadium since 1910. Apparently, the technology at the stadium isn’t very new either and keeping the pitch green has been a challenge for some time.