Pubdate: 6 Nov 1997
Source: The VirginianPilot 
Section: Sports
Email:  
Author: Mitch Albom, Detroit Free Press

NBA'S GOING TO POT; CALL IT CHEECHANDCHONG EFFECT

Let me give you the straight dope on the NBA's marijuana policy: There is
no policy.

You heard me under NBA rules, if a player wants to puff a joint, then go
out and play a game, there is nothing to stop him. Nothing, of course,
except that it's against the law in most places. But if the player can beat
that, the league has no punishment. It won't even test him.

This is astounding. In a sport that pays for and depends on maximum
physical performance, there is no testing for marijuana? No penalties for
being arrested for possession?

Nope. And here's the kicker: According to a recent New York Times article,
nearly 70 percent of NBA players use marijuana.

And you thought they got high only for rebounds.

Seventy percent? Who's coaching these guys. Cheech and Chong? Where's the
next expansion franchise  Bogota? When they said "in your face," I didn't
know they meant smoke. Seventy percent? Can that be right?

Well, there were three cases this summer alone involving NBA players and
marijuana  Allen Iverson, Marcus Camby and Isaiah Rider. And those are
just the players who were arrested. Several of the active players
interviewed for the Times survey  including Utah's Karl Malone and
Orlando's Derek Harper  admit the 70 percent figure could well be accurate.

Geez. I knew players rode in buses. I didn't know it was Willie Nelson's bus.

"You don't know if guys are under the influence when they're playing," said
Harper. "It's scary."

Especially for commissioner David Stern, who has cultivated the image of
his NBA more carefully than a Erench farmer cultivates his truffles. Now
Stern has a fight on his hands. He wants some kind of pot, rules. And,
simply put, the players union doesn't want him pokin' into their tokin'.

Stern has suggested modifying the league's existing substance abuse policy
  which hasn't been changed in 14 years  to include marijuana. He wants a
fivegame suspension for firsttime offenders testing positive or being
arrested for possession.

A fivegame suspension.

And you know what the players' union says? "Too harsh."

Are they talking about the punishment or the blend?

"I don't intend to impose on our players more than what is iniposed on
people in society," said Billy Hunter, executive director of the players'
association.

Hmm. Somebody needs to hand Hunter a map to the real world. Out here in
"society" there are many workplaces where you get tested as a matter of
course. (Unlike the NBA, where even for the drugs that are banned, you
can't test a player simply because his behavior is suspicious).

And out here in "society," if you fail even a single marijuana test, it can
cost you your job. Five games? Too harsh? If anything, the penalties for
dope should be more harsh in sports, because the business relies on peak
physical performance. You don't allow airline pilots with vision problems.
You don't allow divers who can't swim. How can the NBA not care if a player
gets high before a game?

Now, granted, I don't think many players do this. But rules are designed
for worstcase scenarios, and at $50 or $100 a ticket, fans have the right
to expect players to be focused on the game, not waiting for halftime to
munch.

Richard Dumas, a former Phoenix Sun who was banned from the league for drug
use, told the Times "Almost everyone does it. . . . If they tested for pot,
there would be no league."

Now, I am not here to preach about marijuana use. I leave that to wise,
thoughtful, educated experts, like Woody Harrelson.

All I'm saying is, at the moment, marijuana is illegal pretty much
everywhere. And a league that tries to capture a national youth audience
should be responsible enough not to contradict the law. Other sports, such
as pro football and major league baseball, have marijuana on their banned
substances lists. How has basketball escaped it so long?

Is it because, in the past, the NBA haven't wanted to catch the big names
mandatory testing might catch? Or is it because, in a league that sells
itself on star appeal, the players call the shots?

Hunter says marijuana testing could pick on "problem" players. He says
teams could use tests "to monitor players they don't like."

Yes? And your point is? If the player isn't using drugs, then no amount of
testing should bother him. And if Hunter is suggesting that teams would
make up drug results to get rid of a player, then this league has a trust
problem much bigger than its dope problem.

Personally, I have a hard time believing that 70 percent of NBA players
smoke dope because, if they did, Nike would have gotten into rolling paper
by now. (Slogan: "Just Dooby It.") But there is clearly a problem here, and
fans have the right to be mad.

Stern says the players' union wants something in return for  a marijuana
policy. Something economic. This is insane.

Then again, if 70 percent of the league really smokes dope, Stern ought to
wait an hour. He'll be able to get whatever he wants with a carton of
Twinkies.