As the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes becomes more commonplace in the 50 states that make up the United States of America, it appears the NFL isn’t going to be budging on its collective ban of the drug.
That much is clear in the case of Buffalo Bills right tackle Seantrel Henderson, who already served a four-game suspension after testing positive for weed earlier this year. Now reports out of Buffalo have Henderson facing a 10 game suspension following another alleged positive test.
At issue for Henderson is his doctor’s advice to use the drug to help with his Chron’s Disease and the NFL’s policy on recreational drug use. His medical marijuana card isn’t a get out of jail free card in the eyes of the league to say the least.
Henderson claims the use is just related to the Chron’s Disease that was diagnosed last year.
“I hadn’t even been thinking about marijuana until it was brought up to me by a doctor,” he said. “Since I’ve been in the league, I’ve been in the program. I got drug tested three times a week. There’s no recreational use. There’s none of that.”
However, Henderson has a long history of marijuana use dating back to his days as a member of the Miami Hurricanes. The tackle was suspended three times for failing drug tests while a member of that team, hence his position as in the NFL’s substance abuse program since his arrival in the NFL.
Clearly the NFL needs to find a way to deal with the growing number of states where weed is being legalized, but the issue is in how a national league deals with different applications of law while the federal government has another definition of the drug as illegal.
This isn’t just an NFL vs. the players issue, this is the states vs. the federal government. Until that is fixed, the NFL may not have an easy solution at hand, you know, given its antitrust exemption and all.
As for the length of suspension, the NFL hasn’t made that clear and it won’t likely come until next week at the earliest. If it follows the pattern of PED use, Henderson could be facing a 10-game suspension.
