The NFL has crossed a line with it's archaic medicinal marijuana policy and are contributing to the opioid epidemic. The NFL has suspended Buffalo Bills offensive lineman, Seantrel Henderson, for 10 games following a third failed drug test for marijuana. Now Seantrel Henderson's story is not your typical failed drug test story. He has Crohns disease and has had two intestinal surgeries this year. His doctors say he can't take normal pain medicine because of the condition of his stomach and intestines are in.
Now if his doctor's would have prescribed him Vicoden, or Oxycontin they would have gladly gave him a "medical exemption" and he would have been on his way. However they will make absolutely no medical exemption for marijuana despite
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Former NFL quarterback Jim McMahon has attributed the NFL's extreme anti-marijuana stance and dolling out of pain-pills on a deal with pharmaceutical companies.
If you give any credence to, the quite shocking evidence, found in the SportPharm DEA investigations then it becomes pretty clear his theory may not be that far off. It seems as though team physicians all across professional sports were illegally writing prescriptions prescribed to themselves and dolling them out to players.
The California Board of Pharmacy report states:"RSF and SportPharm filled prescriptions for at least eighty-one (81) different physicians in 27 different states where the physician listed himself or herself as the patient in the prescription. These prescriptions were written by team physicians for professional and college sports teams throughout the United States and were apparently intended for office use and distribution by the physicians to either team staff or team players, despite the fact that each prescription indicates that the patient was the physician who wrote the prescription."
Now if there really was a backdoor deal between the NFL and drug companies it would certainly help to explain the NFL's staunch anti-medical marijuana stance. It would really be no different than the "deal" the drug companies make with politicians. They donate tons of money, they buy influence all across politics and media, and they do absolutely everything in their power to stop natural
The NFL suspends its players without pay for any use of illegal substances based on the number of offenses and the suspensions are four games, eight games, and one full season suspension (Dolich, 2013). Each league has improved its policies in recent years, but the support for increased and better testing continues to grow. The MLB can require players to provide blood samples and the NFL had talks of taking blood samples during training camp in order to test for Human Growth Hormone (HGH), but the NBA and NHL have not applied these procedures in their programs (Calcaterra, 2013).
From the worldly perspective, people can be inclined to compromise ethical beliefs for their perceived benefit in doing so. In this case, having a coach ignoring performance enhancing drug use to continue a winning record, and teammates that are “pushing” the use creates tension for a developing athlete. Just because a substance is not yet illegal does not make it “right” to consume; the substance still offers an advantage over those who are not using it. “One hundred percent of community sports instructors…reported that they have a role to play in preventing doping” (Backhouse, 2012, p.170). With this knowledge, it becomes clear that there is a negative connotation associated with using performance enhancing drugs, and for good reason, “94% of community sports instructors indicated that doping should be outlawed due to its negative effects on health” (Backhouse, 2012, p.170).
Major corporation's require drug tests for people applying for a job position. This is a good way for companies to make sure they don't hire employees with substance abuse problems. Hiring people with substance abuse problems is common in the NFL. This is concerning because the NFL requires a drug test for all players entering the league. Collegiate players entering the draft are tested before they can become eligible for the NFL. If a person applying for a corporate position gets caught with drugs in his system, they will be dismissed
Washington argued that Roger Goodell, the Commissioner of the NFL needs to take active steps and lead other sports in terms of regulating and legalizing the use of medical marijuana. Goodell takes the approach of following medical advice, but Washington believes that the NFL needs to lead the way, rather than follow.
In recent years the number of athletes caught using drugs has increased dramatically. The use of a illegal or unprescribed drugs can cause serious problems and unfairness in many ways. Certain drugs can cause harm to the user and the people around the user, most student athletes do not even know what they are putting into their bodies. With all the risks many persons propose student athletes to be drug tested at random.
cocaine, heroin or LSD, the player can be disqualified from the league. According to the New York Post. “If a player tests positive for Marijuana three times, the player will be suspended for five games.”
It is also suggested that a few sports teams are going to approve the use of medical marijuana to treat injuries and pain connected with playing sports games. The fact is that medical marijuana is legal in 29 states. Athletes in those states are pushing for legislature to make it possible for them to seek treatment with medical marijuana. Still, it is important to realize that the push to legalize recreational marijuana might have a devastating effect on the medical marijuana industry. People will not have to go to their family physician to get a prescription to get recreational cannabis. Thus, there is less need for physicians to oversee the dispensing of marijuana to treat various
The real question is why does the Nevada Athletic Commission test for marijuana anyway? Everybody in the industry knows that a majority of fighters smoke marijuana. And most of those fighters who compete know enough to stop smoking a
One of the most controversial topics in major sports now is if the leagues are doing enough to protect their players health and safety. The answer to this is no they are not they have multiple methods they have not tried to use largely because of the view others would take on the league, now all though I do agree with some of the reasons they don't use certain types of medication marijuana is not one I believe should be banned. And just like any medication or “drug” cannabis does have its bad sides major league sports base if a drug should be allowed off 3 main viewpoints which the drug must pass at least 2, is it performance enhancing? Is it a potential health risk? And is it against the spirit of the sport? Major sports leagues don't have marijuana passing any of these 3 “rule breakers” but there is no reason for sports leagues to have the health of players put before spirit of the sport which is reactions from other people, media and sponsors. Plain and simple
Growing up as an athlete and having to go through injuries, painkillers were just another part of the sports-world. When I was young and wasn’t able to figure out the right amount of painkillers I should take my parents would ask me, “On a scale of 1-10 what’s your pain at?” if it was an 8 or higher I would get painkillers. As I got older I was able to figure out when I needed painkillers and how much I needed, especially in high school. Student athletes would use them all the time. When I recently read an article by Jennifer Smith “Painkillers, Athletes and Addiction” it really opened my eyes and made me realize how pressured athletes are to preform and how they feel painkillers are the only way to perform at their highest level while injured. With players constantly feeling the pressure to perform while being in fear of their spot being taken. After sorting through many articles I have found that painkiller abuse is more common in athletes participating in high injury risk sports.
‘It's part of an education program [to promote] awareness. The testing is designed to deter students from taking these substances. We need to assess whether or not the results are a deterrent.’ The New Jersey program randomly tests high school athletes if they reach the state-playoff level at the end of each sports season. By the end of this school year, 500 students will have been screened” (Geifner). To this end, we can see how the New Jersey system is just an example of programs that are taking development and are focused on teaching students to avoid PEDs. Of course, the best way to resolve high school drug abuse in sports is to crack down on substance abuse by pro athletes. In doing so high school athletes will see the major consequences that can come with cheating (even if they can’t notice the health problems). People need to sign petitions to major league corporations, such as the NFL or MLB informing these leagues the importance of banning athletes from playing in games and placing significant fines. These companies must
In 2013, the Australian Crime Commission (ACC) released the findings of an ongoing investigation with ASADA regarding the use of performance enhancing drugs by professional Australian athletes and the involvement of serious organised crime in its distribution. The investigation targeted two of Australia’s major sporting codes, the National Rugby League (NRL) and the Australian Football League
Sports bring in much needed revenue to high schools, so administrators don’t want students not able to play due to drug abuse. They don’t want parents and the community to ask questions about why players are sitting when they would normally start. So they figure if they pretend it doesn’t go on in their school they don’t have to deal with it. It is unacceptable that student athletes that abuse HGH or marijuana get off scot free while other athletes have to sit and watch. The main problem is that the students that use these drugs are commonly the most played, so coaches and fellow teammates certainly won’t snitch in fear of the team’s record. This would be avoided if athletes knew going into the season that they would be randomly drug tested throughout the sport’s duration. It would cut down the percentage of teenagers abusing drugs tremendously in my opinion. As of around December of 2016 it was recorded that around 14.3% of 12th graders abuse some type of marijuana (National Institute on Drug
Professional sports today have made a drastic change in the last decades. Athletes are stronger, faster, and bigger than ever before. This could be from improved lifestyles, better quality in food, and improved health with the help of new medicine. Arguably, these improvements could also be from the use of drugs or performance enhancing drugs. Drug usage is constantly rising,
Among medications allowed in the NFL are medications that have killed dozens of individuals these including players or has made them be close to death. Not only have they killed many, but it has also got in NFL players addicted to the medicine itself. Marijuana