NFL reportedly set to soften stance on marijuana
May 14, 2014, 5:12 PM | Updated: May 15, 2014, 6:34 am
It won’t help Walter Thurmond or Brandon Browner, but the NFL is reportedly set to change the league’s drug policy and soften its stance on marijuana.
Browner, a former Seahawk Pro-Bowler, was indefinitely suspended last December after testing positive for pot. Fellow cornerback Thurmond was suspended four games in November for failing a drug test, reportedly marijuana.
ESPN’s Dan Graziano reports the new rules will significantly increase the amount of THC required to trigger a positive pot test and reduce punishments for players caught using marijuana.
Former NFL quarterback and 710 ESPN host Brock Huard says it’s clearly a conciliatory move by the league in an effort to reach an agreement with the player’s union on a new drug policy that clamps down on the use of performance enhancing drugs, testing for human growth hormone for the first time.
The NFL Players Association and the league have been trying to hammer out a new drug policy since 2011, disagreeing about a number of issues including who has ultimate authority in matters of player discipline. The union wants all discipline appeals heard by an independent arbitrator. The league has insisted the commissioner has final say.
