Pubdate: Sun, 21 Aug 2005
Source: Press Journal  (Vero Beach, FL)
Copyright: 2005, The E.W. Scripps Co.
Contact:  http://www1.tcpalm.com/tcp/press_journal/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2977
Author: Ray McNulty, Sports Columnist
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

MOSS SPEAKS BEFORE HE THINKS, AGAIN

This particular Randy Moss mess - the one about him telling HBO's Bryant 
Gumbel that he "might" still occasionally smoke marijuana - is a little 
tricky for those of us who were children of the '60s, teens of the '70s and 
young adults in the early '80s.

Because smoking pot wasn't considered a high crime.

It was a misdemeanor.

And, for many of my peers, it was merely part of the social scene.

They smoked at parties. They smoked at concerts. They smoked joints in high 
school, did bong hits in college and puffed on pipes after work.

Some of them probably still do.

I don't know.

I don't ask. They don't tell. And, frankly, I don't care - as long as they 
don't smoke around me.

You see, I never got into smoking dope. Tried it a couple of times my 
freshman year at college, but it wasn't my thing. It made me sleepy.

The only time I ever got high, really, was at a Beach Boys concert at old 
Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City. It was the summer of '76. I was 17 years 
old. And I was down on the infield, sitting next to a group of 
not-unattractive, fun-fun-fun party gals from the Jersey Shore.

You've heard of second-hand smoke?

I got second-hand stoned.

So I'm coming at this Moss-and-marijuana story from that perspective, which 
makes this a fuzzy issue.

Look, I don't condone the use of marijuana for non-medical purposes. It's 
illegal. It affects your judgment. And, based on what I've observed the 
past 30 years, its long-term use can have damaging side effects.

(Sorry, Cheech, but I'm not buying your pot-is-harmless argument.)

For those reasons alone, Moss should never spark up again.

Then there's this: Smoking reefer violates the NFL's drug policy.

If Moss does still get high on ganja - and, according to excepts from his 
HBO interview, he said he might light up "every blue moon" - there's at 
least a chance he'll get caught. And if he does get caught, if he fails 
enough drug tests, it could cost him more than money. It could, eventually, 
cost him his football career. That would be a waste. That would be stupid.

Of course, Moss has done some dumb things before. He's got a history of 
problems, on and off the field. Some of those problems, which date back to 
his high school years, involved his use of marijuana. And those problems 
put him at Marshall instead of Florida State and dropped him to the 21st 
pick in the NFL Draft.

Not surprisingly, the cloud of controversy has followed Moss to the NFL, 
where his pass-catching skills sometimes have been overshadowed by his 
behavior.

Now this.

Maybe Moss was just being playfully coy when Gumbel asked if he still 
smoked pot. Maybe he was being surprisingly candid. Maybe he isn't smart 
enough to know the difference.

Whatever the reason, he made a bad decision.

Not because the NFL will start testing him more often. (It won't.) Not 
because being honest is a bad thing. (It isn't.) Not because smoking 
marijuana "every once in a while" makes him Public Enemy No. 1. (It doesn't.)

But by hinting that he might still occasionally smoke pot, by not shrugging 
off the question the way he shrugs off cornerbacks, he unnecessarily opened 
the door to controversy and criticism and doubt. Every time Moss has a bad 
game - every time he drops a pass or can't get open or looks sluggish on 
the field - people will wonder whether he got stoned the night before.

Is that fair? It depends on your perspective. But he's got no one to blame 
but himself.

Just because they asked, he didn't need to tell.
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MAP posted-by: Beth