How Can These Guys Fail a Drug Test?

[glimmerman]

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

I saw someone (can’t remember who) that was interviewed sometime back and they said for every one person you hear about that’s in the program there is at least 4 that you haven’t heard about. It’s been a problem for a while and usually they are in stage 1 for the month and released. It’s when they fail enough to get their check fined that you start hearing about them.

 

[CowboysExchange]

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

martellus bennett said like 80% of all players smoke regularly. So lets start doing hair samples so we can get rid of the deadly weed for good. Maybe we can incarcerate them to a life full of hard labor also. Lol.

Its immoral to smoke weed but its ok to drink a gallon of whiskey or hooch per day. Im sure thats what jerrah is thinking. Hes prolly glad Gregory isnt drinking and popping pills and acting a fool like twill or crawford

 

[Flamma]

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

I'd say they're held to a higher standard than most jobs, but a lower standard than a UPS driver for example.

I can't help but laugh when people make the NFL drug program out to be some harsh deal. For me a random test can happen at anytime, there is no heads up. Names are pulled through a computer system and if your name comes up you are called in to take the drug test. 1 failed test and you are terminated. These guys are getting multiple failed test before any suspension are given

Same goes for me, they use a computer to pluck names. Only it takes 5 failed random tests to get me fired. I might not even be tested 5 times in 20 years. That said, I drive for my employer. I'm guessing you do the same or operate heavy equipment? No other job that I've had did random drug testing. They test you once upon employment and it ends there. Like I said, I drive for them, I get tested. The toll collectors on that same roadway do not get randomly tested. Same goes for UPS drivers as opposed to the loaders/unloaders. Same with Verizon drivers. They get tested, the people in the office do not. Why does the league have a need to test for recreational drugs to play football?

 

[CowboysRule]

Weed = Legal
alcohol = Legal
Pills = Legal

Why should the rules be any different?

Weed is not legal. Under federal law it is an illegal substance.

If a player can't stop smoking for a few weeks to get around a drug test than they are either addicted or just really stupid or a mix of both. If they don't like it, they can stop playing. Ask David Irving.

 

[CowboysExchange]

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"

Did you use weed for medicinal reasons or you just like to get a buzz

 

[BatteryPowered]

Weed = Legal
alcohol = Legal
Pills = Legal

Why should the rules be any different?

Uhh...have you checked the federal statutes on weed?

Besides...the rules of different because they are different.

News flash...Life is NOT fair. But it is about dealing with the consequences of the choices we make.

 

[CWR]

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

Absolutely anything can become an addiction. That doesnt mean there is a chemical dependency on it though....

Anyone who gave a rats *** about their job could/would stop smoking for a few days in order to pass.

 

[jsb357]

YALL SHOULD BE HAPPY THAT HE SMOKES WEED AND ISN'T MAKING STUPID CHOICES

fact...

even if it's legal in all 50 states an employer can still require that you work unaffected
by certain legal and illegal chemicals that may be present in your bloodstream.

 

[CowboysExchange]

Weed is not legal. Under federal law it is an illegal substance.

If a player can't stop smoking for a few weeks to get around a drug test than they are either addicted or just really stupid or a mix of both. If they don't like it, they can stop playing. Ask David Irving.

The whole f n league smokes weed. Why is that ya think? Because there is no addiction to weed. Its kinda funny that the rules allow you to drink and be a pill freak. But the athletes keep turning to weed. Its because the other doesnt work for them.

Gregory gets tested more than 1 time a year. Lol. Lets make an example outta the ones getting caught up in the web of testing. They arent testing for alcohol. Ken stabler used to play drunk every week. Lol.

The owners and players are thankful for weed. The Nfl just needs to change the rules or the punishment. Weed and peds are not equal

 

[Nightman]

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

RGregory knew he was getting tested at the Combine..... he was smoking with another player and they said they would stop a month ahead of time... the other player stopped but RGregory went on for another week and got busted at the Combine.......STUPID

But all he had to do was stay clean for 90 days and it would all go away..... instead he failed or missed 4 more times in the next year because he now got tested several times a month

Plus they raised the levels for a positive to 35ng from 15ng

NBA uses 15ng
NFL uses 35ng
NHL doesn't test
MLB uses 50ng but only tests on arrests or cause
Olympics uses 150ng

Considering less a dozen players get busted a year I can't see any reason for major changes

The NFL still has liability issues and as long as players are injuring their brains I can't even see tacit approval of marijuana use

 

[jrumann59]

Players (like Randy Gregory) who enter the League already in the program aren't aware of when tests are given.

Now, all other players who aren't in the program already...then they have an idea when the test will be.

Gregory knew he was going to be tested at the combine.

 

[CowboysExchange]

Uhh...have you checked the federal statutes on weed?

Besides...the rules of different because they are different.

News flash...Life is NOT fair. But it is about dealing with the consequences of the choices we make.

Yes. Go ahead and punish him for breaking the rules. Throw the book at him. Now 80% of the players are smoking weed in the Nfl.

Do you think we should increase testing and maybe do hair samples so we can punish all these immoral rule breakers?

If were gonna punish 1 person why not just go after all of them?

 

[CowboysExchange]

See now you want to condemn gregory for breaking the rules but you dont want to go after the other 80% that are using weed? Lets just do one little hair sample and suspend them all.

Yall seem to have your own opinions and i respect them but 80% of the players are not in compliance. Lol

 

[Rockport]

Did you use weed for medicinal reasons or you just like to get a buzz

My brother has terminal cancer. He uses it to increase his appetite. Chemo makes you not want to eat. He says it’s giving him a few more months.

 

[glimmerman]

RGregory knew he was getting tested at the Combine..... he was smoking with another player and they said they would stop a month ahead of time... the other player stopped but RGregory went on for another week and got busted at the Combine.......STUPID

But all he had to do was stay clean for 90 days and it would all go away..... instead he failed or missed 4 more times in the next year because he now got tested several times a month

Plus they raised the levels for a positive to 35ng from 15ng

NBA uses 15ng
NFL uses 35ng
NHL doesn't test
MLB uses 50ng but only tests on arrests or cause
Olympics uses 150ng

Considering less a dozen players get busted a year I can't see any reason for major changes

The NFL still has liability issues and as long as players are injuring their brains I can't even see tacit approval of marijuana use

I see the NFL raising the limits again. 150ng or at least 50ng. Raising to 150ng would make them problem cut down to only the real bad week heads (not judging, to each his own)that can’t quit for a day.

 

[glimmerman]

My brother has terminal cancer. He uses it to increase his appetite. Chemo makes you not want to eat. He says it’s giving him a few more months.

And he should smoke or drink or take whatever eases his pain..

 

[Cowfan75]

There is really no reason to fail. When you look at the testing procedures for street drugs, marijuana even has its own separate parameters from the other drugs. They are pretty relaxed on it already. Maybe they raise the amounts allowed in there system again at the next CBA. I think it’s the Olympics that raised it so much that if they are tested as long as they didn’t smoke within 24 hours they pass it for weed.

I remember Gregory being interviewed following a game, and you could tell the guy was stoned at that very moment. He had to have been smoking at halftime.

 

[Rockport]

And he should smoke or drink or take whatever eases his pain..

If you mean alcohol you’re wrong. It’s a depressant.

 

[GMO415]

It's just harder to cheat at using now .

 

[Haimerej]

Non addictive? BS Guys will throw their careers away over it see Irving. See guys who fail over and over. As for Alcohol players have gotten in trouble and suspended due to alcohol abuse, they can be suspended for prescription drugs as well if found abusing them.

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

It's not addictive. Some people enjoy it more than football. Doesn't mean they're addicted. The guys who end up, "throwing their careers away," usually aren't the guys who eat/sleep/drink football. RoMac, Irving, Gregory- these guys aren't known for their understanding of the game.

Personally, I don't begrudge a guy making some cash, figuring out he doesn't want to play anymore, and then doing what he wants. Can't keep him on the team (need that roster spot) but I'm not going to be mad at him.