Union’s tactics show disregard for drug policy, its members

Thursday, February 12, 1998

Union’s tactics show disregard for drug policy, its members

COLUMN: Group wants to use proposed ban to get concessions from
league

God damn it, it looks like this is going to be another serious
column. I must be slipping.

You see, today I’m going to talk about pot, and no, it won’t
have to do with you know who.

It has to do with the unwillingness of the NBA Players
Association to have marijuana added to the league’s list of banned
substances.

Attention has focused on the issue in light of the arrests of
such young stars as Isiah Rider, Marcus Camby, and most recently,
Chris Webber. These Doobie Brothers have the league concerned about
its image at a time when they need young role models to carry the
game into the next century.

However, this is not a new problem for the league. In 1981,
Celtic great Robert Parish apologized to fans and teammates after
he was busted for having five ounces Federal Expressed from San
Francisco to his house outside of Boston.

I believe he explained his actions by saying, "That East Coast
crap’s just no good, maaan. You need that Cali shit!"

And the problem is not limited to the NBA. Canadian snowboarder
Ross Rebagliati lost his gold medal Wednesday after testing
positive in Nagano.

A snowboarder smoking out? What are the odds?

Neighbors in the Olympic Village were shocked; they had simply
believed Rebagliati had a girlfriend when they heard him speaking
repeatedly of his beloved Mary Jane.

Presumably Olympic officials were clued in when, post race,
Rebagliati offered to trade his medal for a half dozen Taco
Supremes. ("Dude, I’m like starvin!") However, there is apparently
no truth to the rumor that he used the Torch to light up.

What sets the NBA apart is that other sports cover marijuana in
their drug policies; the NBA is the only one of the big four
American pro sports that does not.

The NBA’s current policy calls for a player to be suspended
should he be convicted of marijuana possession, but it does not
allow for testing, as it does for heroine and cocaine.

Now the league wants to change that, and the union sees an
opportunity.

National Basketball Players Association Executive Director Billy
Hunter wants to use the policy as leverage against the league
should they reopen the collective bargaining agreement this summer.
In other words, he wants the league and the owners to trade
financial concessions for the ban: if they want the players to be
pot free, they’re going to have to pay them for it.

Hunter, you see, is a disgusting human being.

To his credit, his official story is that the punishments the
league is proposing (a five-game suspension the first time, six
months the second, and a lifetime ban the third) are too harsh.

Fine. Argue with the league about the penalties, but accept the
basic existence of a ban.

Hunter contends that the union is united in fighting the league,
claiming that a majority of those at a meeting Saturday in New York
opposed testing.

But many high-profile members, including young All-Stars Shawn
Kemp, Jayson Williams, Jason Kidd and Grant Hill, are breaking
ranks and questioning the union’s position.

"It’s crazy. It doesn’t make any sense," Hill told the
Associated Press. "If it’s illegal, it’s illegal."

More than that, Grant, it’s just plain stupid if you’re a top
athlete. Never mind the evidence that marijuana is even more
carcinogenic than cigarettes (hey, who cares if these guys die in
30 years, as long as they can pull down 12 boards a night, right?);
repeated use affects respiration.

To translate for the scientifically impaired, if you smoke pot
for a while, you can’t breathe as well. And for an athlete, the
ability to get oxygen into the bloodstream is critical.

And then there are the effects on the brain. Can there be any
doubt that pot affects higher logic when athletes such as
Rebagliati and the NFL’s Warren Sapp don’t think to take a brake
from tokin’ when they know they are going to be tested?

But then again, common sense isn’t exactly a factor in the
union’s position on this issue. The league isn’t asking its players
to give up booze or strip clubs, two other favorites of today’s
professional athlete, only that they obey the law. Is that really
so much to ask?

Hunter obviously thinks so.

Hmm, with that logic, maybe he’s the one that should be
tested.

Rob Kariakin is a fourth-year student who claims to have never
inhaled. E-mail responses to [email protected].