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This isn't steroids we're talking about. This isn't HGH or blood doping. Many NFL players like to smoke, which gives them something in common with many Americans in their 20s. That is not going to change, apparently not even if the players know the exact hour of the exact day to expect to have their pee hauled off in a van.
So. This is not a competitive balance issue, it's not a quality of play issue, and if it's a marketing choice, it is one that is actually more damaging to the brand than it is helpful. The NFL has to maintain a certain image in order to attract corporate partners, and the image that it has chosen is a corporate and pot-unfriendly one. That makes sense, but what causes more negative attention: nonstop reports of players being suspended for violating the league's substance abuse policy, or quietly removing marijuana from the testing slate? Marijuana is only a problem for the NFL because the NFL insists on making it a problem.
http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2014/5/1...-for-marijuana
So. This is not a competitive balance issue, it's not a quality of play issue, and if it's a marketing choice, it is one that is actually more damaging to the brand than it is helpful. The NFL has to maintain a certain image in order to attract corporate partners, and the image that it has chosen is a corporate and pot-unfriendly one. That makes sense, but what causes more negative attention: nonstop reports of players being suspended for violating the league's substance abuse policy, or quietly removing marijuana from the testing slate? Marijuana is only a problem for the NFL because the NFL insists on making it a problem.
http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2014/5/1...-for-marijuana
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