How Can These Guys Fail a Drug Test?

[Doomsday101]

add to the fact the players have hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars on the line not to smoke. I smoke, know its not addictive and if someone offered me 500,000 (and up) to give it up for a year I would have no problem. Almost everyone on here probably has a no pot smoking regulation at work and has no problem meeting it. I think pot testing should be dropped but until it is if the players dont want to meet the rule they should be dropped from NFL same way I would be fired from work. I have no sympathy for Gregory, Irving, or any other player that refuses to meet the jobs requirements.

True. I would add, I can go out and have drinks with no problem, yet know people who can't have 1 or 2 drinks without falling off the wagon. if alcohol, opioids or weed can dictate your actions then chances are you got a problem. As mentioned I smoked weed for a long time, however when I was faced with a policy here at the county of drug testing the choice was easy, lose my job that provided a life for me and my family or continue to get high and risk losing my job. A job that I might add does not pay near NFL minimum but was not worth it.

 

[CowboysExchange]

yawn
They are held to a lower standards than a 7-11 clerk
In exchange they can get generational wealth
99% of humanity can make the intelligent decision.
I did

Do you play nfl football or any contact sports? Got any depression or mental health issues or coping issues or health problems? Are you in constant chronic pain or have debilitating pain issues?

Do you just got a morality issue that weed should be treated different then all the legal choices that do comply w the rules?

 

[Doomsday101]

Do you play nfl football or any contact sports? Got any depression or mental health issues or coping issues or health problems? Are you in constant chronic pain or have debilitating pain issues?

Are or you just got a morality issue that weed should be treated different then all the legal choices that do comply w the rules?

They have a choice, don't hand me this BS as if weed is a magical drug. People do become addicted even to weed that is a bald face lie to claim there is no addiction. Just as some people can drink alcohol with no problem and do not turn in to alcoholic the same holds true with weed where people can and are addicted and it has been proven. This whole deal of people who are pro weed push this BS time after time for their own agenda but it is not fact.

 

[BatteryPowered]

Weed is not a morality issue. Its a medical and coping issue. Its non addicting and harmless and has no performance enhancements. Its legal in 8 states where the NFL hosts games. All the other choices that comply with the Nfl rules are highly ADDICTIVE and Have Harmful Side Effects including withdrawels. Look at pill and alchohol addiction in the Nfl. Stories where awesome Heroes like Earl Campbell was addicted to pills and drinking alchohol w them and had to seek treatment or risk of losing his life or family. Look at the Alcohol related deaths-cowboys, car accidents, dwis, public displays of stupidity that are always making the headlines like Bar fights, getting drunk and roughing a chic up.
If the NFL wants to keep weed a morality issue to protect their image for another 100 years they should ban alchohol use, opioids, pills, injections, and other legal medically approved drugs in addition to weed. But they cant because they make billions from Alchohol etc.
How many immoral lines does weed make you cross compared to alcohol and pills?
If morality is the real issue here the NFL needs to ban EVERYTHING LEGAL!!! If weed is gonna be a banned substance then they need to at least lower the penalties to a 1 game suspension or fine and just be hopeful and pray that their Star Players arent out getting drunk and popping pills and non legal drugs and doing all those stupid, harmful to others, morality breaking activities we're accustomed to seeing.
Just ban all forms legal medications. Who gaf about the players health and their jobs and dreams of playing. Who cares about their pain and ability to cope. Who cares if they all overdose on alcohol or pills. Who cares about their choices to say no to other harmful and addictive drugs and alcohol? They should just suffer i guess like you do or make rule abiding choices that can harm their body or others. Its legal in 8 states just like alcohol and pills so it should be treated the same.

YALL SHOULD BE HAPPY THAT HE SMOKES WEED AND ISNT HARMING HIMSELF OR YOUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS OR MAKING STUPID CHOICES

All of that may be true. You know what it most definitely is? IRRELEVANT!!!!!

Currently, having weed in your system above a certain level is against the rules and can get you suspended. A player (or fan) not liking the rule or thinking it is stupid doesn't make it acceptable for them. It boils down to a simple choice; Stop smoking weed long enough to pass the easy, scheduled test or find another job that pays you hundreds of thousands of dollars (minimum)...sans college degree for most of them.

 

[paladin]

no, yes,no,no yes, no, yes
&
I gave up dope for a 30k job.
If I heard DI on the radio I'd turn it to something more educational: perhaps Bobby Picket singing "Monster Mash"

 

[paladin]

All of that may be true. You know what it most definitely is? IRRELEVANT!!!!!

Currently, having weed in your system above a certain level is against the rules and can get you suspended. A player (or fan) not liking the rule or thinking it is stupid doesn't make it acceptable for them. It boils down to a simple choice; Stop smoking weed long enough to pass the easy, scheduled test or find another job that pays you hundreds of thousands of dollars (minimum)...sans college degree for most of them.

Yeah but....,...
lol

 

[glimmerman]

They have a choice, don't hand me this BS as if weed is a magical drug. People do become addicted even to weed that is a bald face lie to claim there is no addiction. Just as some people can drink alcohol with no problem and do not turn in to alcoholic the same holds true with weed where people can and are addicted and it has been proven. This whole deal of people who are pro weed push this BS time after time for their own agenda but it is not fact.

I have talked to a lot of long time smokers that stopped and they said there was at least a week where they could hardly sleep and eating habits were messed up.

 

[CowboysExchange]

They have a choice, don't hand me this BS as if weed is a magical drug. People do become addicted even to weed that is a bald face lie to claim there is no addiction. Just as some people can drink alcohol with no problem and do not turn in to alcoholic the same holds true with weed where people can and are addicted and it has been proven. This whole deal of people who are pro weed push this BS time after time for their own agenda but it is not fact.

Weed = Legal
alcohol = Legal
Pills = Legal

Why should the rules be any different?

 

[Doomsday101]

Weed = Legal
alcohol = Legal
Pills = Legal

Why should the rules be any different?

You are not allowed to abuse any of those. Fact is weed does stay in the system longer but there is a cutoff point on these test, if you are under that it is not a problem. 2nd you must fail multiple test before they have any disciplinary action, meaning if you are in the program and are continuing to fail chances are you got a problem. Players taking pain medication is one thing staying on it is different and they can be suspended for it. These players are not being asked to pass actual random test they know when the test are coming and if there is no issue of addiction then there should be no issue passing it. You sure as hell would not go into the testing room drunk

 

[CouchCoach]

The emotional and psychological addiction to any substance that can alter one's emotional and mental state is real, including pot, alcohol, tranqs, pain killers, sleep medication and certain behaviors involving gambling or sex. Addiction is only partly physical.

The only reason the NFL keeps marijuana on the list is because it is federally illegal, even though 8 states where they have teams it is allowed recreationally and in some others, medically and is prescribed for just what ails players during the season. They included it originally so it would raw attention to remove it. Congress give them a pass so they don't want to ruffle feathers and get the light on them like this last episode brought.

Personally, I think it should all be legal, dispensed and taxed and those funds used to help people wanting to stop using. Stop creating criminals and supporting the cartels but one thing is apparent and they didn't learn from Prohibition. Morality cannot be legislated, all that does is make the immoral stronger. And it is not a question of morality but how one chooses to live their life and I say no one harmed but the self, no foul.

 

[paladin]

I have talked to a lot of long time smokers that stopped and they said there was at least a week where they could hardly sleep and eating habits were messed up.

Nods
Three days of insomnia then I began to have these overwhelmingly vivid dreams.

 

[Doomsday101]

The emotional and psychological addiction to any substance that can alter one's emotional and mental state is real, including pot, alcohol, tranqs, pain killers, sleep medication and certain behaviors involving gambling or sex. Addiction is only partly physical.

The only reason the NFL keeps marijuana on the list is because it is federally illegal, even though 8 states where they have teams it is allowed recreationally and in some others, medically and is prescribed for just what ails players during the season. They included it originally so it would raw attention to remove it. Congress give them a pass so they don't want to ruffle feathers and get the light on them like this last episode brought.

Personally, I think it should all be legal, dispensed and taxed and those funds used to help people wanting to stop using. Stop creating criminals and supporting the cartels but one thing is apparent and they didn't learn from Prohibition. Morality cannot be legislated, all that does is make the immoral stronger. And it is not a question of morality but how one chooses to live their life and I say no one harmed but the self, no foul.

You would think making weed legal would lessen the criminal element as we saw with alcohol but fact is the black market it strong in places like Colorado, the tax is so high that the black market can undercut the price and still make a good profit from it. Why would I spend twice as much for legal weed as I could for illegal weed? We don't see excessive price on Jack Daniels

 

[CouchCoach]

The fact is thousands of NFL players have been smoking pot for 50 years and only a small % have been caught so it is not difficult to circumvent the system. Hell, think Nate Newton just started smoking when he retired? Hell, the man was stupid enough to get pulled over on the same highway in the same van, loaded with garbage bags of ganja, twice before his first case had come up yet he was never nailed while playing.

Don't blame the NFL, they make it easy for the players by letting them know when it's coming, only the dumb ones get nailed. When they can, I do believe they'll remove it from the list.

 

[paladin]

You would think making weed legal would lessen the criminal element as we saw with alcohol but fact is the black market it strong in places like Colorado, the tax is so high that the black market can undercut the price and still make a good profit from it. Why would I spend twice as much for legal weed as I could for illegal weed? We don't see excessive price on Jack Daniels

Nods.
If they would allow home grown in exchange for a tax stamp it would end alot of problems

 

[CouchCoach]

But it certainly isn't addictive, we're told.

"Hooked on a Feeling" ain't just about love. Ole BJ had his struggles with mind benders.

 

[xwalker]

Evidently, for NFL players, it is harder than I realized to smoke marijuana and not get caught.

Either that, or it is utterly amazing how careless and unprofessional some of these guys can be.


At least that's my current working theory after several players, including most notably Jets defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson and Cowboys linebacker Rolando McClain, were suspended recently under the NFL's substance abuse policy.

Without getting bogged down into too much minutiae, here are the rules: Players get tested once a year for "street drugs" (including marijuana) and that test is in May or June, during the team's Organized Team Activities. A positive test would place the player in the league's program, which entails more frequent testing and some meetings. If the player fulfills his requirements in the program, he needs to test positive two more times to get suspended. If the NFL's medical director believes the player hasn't adequately participated in the program, a second positive test could trigger a four-game suspension like the ones that Richardson and McClain got.

There are a couple key points that need to be reiterated:

1) NFL players only get tested once a year for substances and they KNOW when it will take place.

2) Even if a player tests positive once, as long as he does what the league asks, there won't be any serious repercussions unless he tests positive TWO MORE TIMES.

Let's start with the first point, which is really the most important one. Everybody knows when the test is coming. Every year. To use some Wellsian (Ted, that is) terms, I was "generally aware" during my time as a player of several teammates who "more probable than not" smoked marijuana on a fairly regular basis.

How do I know? They talked about it, hinted at it and even smelled like it from time to time. Yet none of those guys that I remember, with the notable exception of one after we were no longer teammates, ever had any issue with the NFL's substance abuse policy, which is an intelligence test as much as anything. But don't just take my word for it.

http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/135008328/sheldon-richardson-rolando-mcclain-suspended

That link is from several years ago...

 

[Wizarus]

Working as intended. The test exists to weed people out of the system. As you said, it's pretty easy to pass the drug test. They don't want people who manage to fail the test playing in the NFL.

 

[CowboysExchange]

All of that may be true. You know what it most definitely is? IRRELEVANT!!!!!

Currently, having weed in your system above a certain level is against the rules and can get you suspended. A player (or fan) not liking the rule or thinking it is stupid doesn't make it acceptable for them. It boils down to a simple choice; Stop smoking weed long enough to pass the easy, scheduled test or find another job that pays you hundreds of thousands of dollars (minimum)...sans college degree for most of them.

I have a debilitating health condition and im in pain all the time. I cant take pills or drink because they either constipate me or make me hungover or sometimes even a tad combative or cloudy and tired. I work at my own pace for myself 24/7 and I dont draw welfare or disability or insurance. Nothing. I dont believe in all us medical protocals. Im very holistic and have an addictive personality so I have to stay away from what abides by the NFL Rules even though its legal. Alcohol impairs my driving and causes me to make poor choices.

Maybe you dont have any health issues or pain and you just like the buzz of getting high. And if you dont thats great God bless ya because you wont be able to hold a job or get one if you do. Lol. We dont take care of our sick in America. They get peanuts. Im glad that works for you but these banged up guys should have a legal choice. One thats safe and harmless and if it breaks the rules make it a fine and a 1 game suspension. Otherwise treat it like all the other legal sustances. Lol.

Im not arguing that the player didnt break the rules. Punish him. Ban him for life for murder over a something that isnt illegal in 8 states and more following.

Youre probably just assuming that most the nfl players arent smoking weed and are popping all those pills and drinking alcohol but most athletes dont do stupid harmful stuff to their body regardless of rather it complies with their stupid rules. I guarantee ya 50% of the NFL Players smoke weed regularly so whether the rule is right or not its not working because most of these guys are not gonna harm their body or probably cant play anyways when complying to nfl standards

 

[glimmerman]

I have a debilitating health condition and im in pain all the time. I cant take pills or drink because they either constipate me or make me hungover or sometimes even a tad combative or cloudy and tired. I work at my own pace for myself 24/7 and I dont draw welfare or disability or insurance. Nothing. I dont believe in all us medical protocals. Im very holistic and have an addictive personality so I have to stay away from what abides by the NFL Rules even though its legal. Alcohol impairs my driving and causes me to make poor choices.

Maybe you dont have any health issues or pain and you just like the buzz of getting high. And if you dont thats great God bless ya because you wont be able to hold a job or get one if you do. Lol. We dont take care of our sick in America. They get peanuts. Im glad that works for you but these banged up guys should have a legal choice. One thats safe and harmless and if it breaks the rules make it a fine and a 1 game suspension. Otherwise treat it like all the other legal sustances. Lol.

Im not arguing that the player didnt break the rules. Punish him. Ban him for life for murder over a something that isnt illegal in 8 states and more following.

Youre probably just assuming that most the nfl players arent smoking weed and are popping all those pills and drinking alcohol but most athletes dont do stupid harmful stuff to their body regardless of rather it complies with their stupid rules. I guarantee ya 50% of the NFL Players smoke weed regularly so whether the rule is right or not its not working because most of these guys are not gonna harm their body or probably cant play anyways when complying to nfl standards

1 of the things that I disagree with is the 50% of them smoking or using pot. It’s higher than that...

 

[Doomsday101]

1 of the things that I disagree with is the 50% of them smoking or using pot. It’s higher than that...

I don't know, if it was more than 50% who have tired it then sure. Hard to know with any certainly those who still do occasionally and on a regular basis