NFLPA to propose 'less punitive' approach to marijuana use

The NFL Players Association is set to make a proposal that would alter football's drug policies, with the aim of taking a "less punitive" approach to dealing with the use of recreational marijuana, announced NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith.

The NFLPA will present the idea to the union’s board of player representatives, and if it's approved by them, it will then be taken to the league.

Any changes to the drug policy needs to be signed off by the NFL, who administer it along with the NFLPA.

"I do think that issues of addressing it more in a treatment and less punitive measure is appropriate," Smith said in a meeting with The Washington Post's Mark Maske. "I think it's important to look at whether there are addiction issues. And I think it’s important to not simply assume recreation is the reason it’s being used."

Currently, marijuana is a banned substance for players, who can be fined or suspended if they test positive or miss tests. But Smith argues that this approach to recreational use means issues such as depression can be overlooked.

"We have to do a better job of knowing if our players are suffering from other potentially dangerous psychological issues like depression, right?" Smith said. "So if I look at this myopically as just a recreational use of marijuana and miss the fact that we might have players suffering from depression, what have I fixed? Worse yet, you may have solved an issue that gets the steady drumbeat in a newspaper but miss an issue like chronic depression ... where a person theoretically might be able to smoke more weed because it makes them feel better but it’s not curing their depression.

"So to me, as we're looking at that front end - and it's been a long process -the reason why I think it's more complicated than just making a quick decision about recreational use is we look at these things as a macro-issue. And what we try to do is what a union's supposed to do: improve the health and safety of our players in a business that sometimes can seriously exacerbate existing physical and mental issues."

The NFL said in November that it would consider changing its policy if advised by medical professionals, but emphasized they have yet to receive any such recommendations.