Clark: NFL players going to use pot

[RetroGrow]

NFL players are pretty much in open rebellion about cannabis use:

Ryan Clark says NFL players, including some of his teammates with the Pittsburgh Steelers, turn to smoking marijuana for a variety of reasons, especially as a means to relieve pain and manage stress.

Clark, a 12-year veteran, discussed the topic of marijuana use and the league's testing system Thursday morning on ESPN's "First Take."

"I know guys on my team who smoke," Clark said. "And it's not a situation where you think, 'Oh, these are guys trying to be cool.' These are guys who want to do it recreationally.

"A lot of it is stress relief. A lot of it is pain and medication. Guys feel like, 'If I can do this, it keeps me away from maybe Vicodin, it keeps me away from pain prescription drugs and things that guys get addicted to.' Guys look at this as a more natural way to heal themselves, to stress relieve and also to medicate themselves for pain. Guys are still going to do it."

Clark also agreed with recent comments by New York Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie, who suggested the league is waging a lost cause in banning the substance, while also saying the league's testing system isn't all that effective.

"It's 100 percent true. They're fighting a losing battle. The testing isn't stringent," Clark said. "There is one random test during OTAs and minicamps during the offseason, and everybody will be tested early in training camp. After that, there are no more tests. So guys understand the ways to get around failing a drug test."

Clark also expressed his views on Twitter.

Marijuana became a hot-button issue at the Super Bowl, as both teams -- the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos -- hail from states that legalized marijuana. Seahawks coach Pete Carroll created headlines by saying he agreed with the notion the league should investigate medicinal marijuana to see if it can help players. Medicinal marijuana is legal in 20 states, plus the District of Columbia.

Commissioner Roger Goodell, addressing the issue Friday at his annual Super Bowl news conference, downplayed the possibility of the league lifting marijuana from its list of banned substances.

"It is still an illegal substance on a national basis," Goodell said. "It's something that is part of the collective bargaining agreement with the players. It is questionable as to the positive impacts, in the face of the very strong evidence of the negative effects, including addictions and other issues.

"We'll continue to follow the medicine. Our experts right now are not indicating that we should change our policy in any way. We are not actively considering that at this point in time. But if it goes down the road sometime, that's something that we would never take off the table."

Pictures and comment section at this link:
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10413409/ryan-clark-pittsburgh-steelers-discusses-marijuana-use

 

[Randy Lahey]

HAHA I don't even like Sports and this is so true! Everybody shares a love and respect for Cannabis though! Honestly I thought seeing the U.S. getting the two states that change marijuana laws going to the super bowl as a setup and a prelude for more media coverage on trying to change the laws by "Media MAnipulation" I mean seroiusly, I didn't even watch the game and, what was it?! 46 and 8???? "Now the jokes and internet MEME's can start happening about (which state was higher, whos buds were better, you can tell which team didn't smoke before the game) lol plus a "CELEBRITY DEATH BY HEROINNNN!!!" at the same time???? Take your eyes off the green it's not a problem....But HEROIN just KILLLLLLLLED this MAAAAN... The "United Snakes" GoverNymph may think they are slick......But I'm Slicker & have not a single bit of anxiety with paranoia attached to it when coming to this as my conclusion.....Some Do.

Lovely Post RetroGrow!!

 

[StayHigh149]

I have a friend that played with the NY Giants for a few years, including during their last Super Bowl victory...he & I smoked together several times during that season and previous seasons too. He said that when he's in NYC, they (meaning himself and others on the team) would order product and it would be delivered to their residences.

I wish more pro-atheletes would speak up. If atheletes can win olympic gold medals, win Super Bowls and whatnot....and smoke weed....how detrimental to society can this "devil weed" really be?

Not just atheletes, any1 that's in the public eye should speak up.
I was watching TMZ last wk & they had snapped a pic of some actress jogging & she had on a half shirt with a pot leaf on the front & they made a bid deal about it. They were saying they took a picture of her about a year prior with another pot related shirt on yada, yada, yada & that "ok, we, get it, enough is enough with the promoting of weed type of thing". I think what TMZ failed to realize is that there is still a MAJOR battle going on in many parts of the nation in reference to weed. Just cuz Cali & some other states have got it good....the rest of us still must dodge the law or get incarcerated. TMZ was making it sound as if stars wear those shirts to be part of the "in" crowd and that it's unnecessary. Well, I say we need more people to speak up, show out & show off the fact that they support the cause.

...Get Up, Stand Up...

 

[m314]

"It is still an illegal substance on a national basis," Goodell said. "It's something that is part of the collective bargaining agreement with the players. It is questionable as to the positive impacts, in the face of the very strong evidence of the negative effects, including addictions and other issues.

It's funny how the people least knowledgeable about an issue tend to be the ones most confident in their opinions.

 

[RetroGrow]

I have a friend that played with the NY Giants for a few years, including during their last Super Bowl victory...he & I smoked together several times during that season and previous seasons too. He said that when he's in NYC, they (meaning himself and others on the team) would order product and it would be delivered to their residences.

I wish more pro-atheletes would speak up. If atheletes can win olympic gold medals, win Super Bowls and whatnot....and smoke weed....how detrimental to society can this "devil weed" really be?

Not just atheletes, any1 that's in the public eye should speak up.
I was watching TMZ last wk & they had snapped a pic of some actress jogging & she had on a half shirt with a pot leaf on the front & they made a bid deal about it. They were saying they took a picture of her about a year prior with another pot related shirt on yada, yada, yada & that "ok, we, get it, enough is enough with the promoting of weed type of thing". I think what TMZ failed to realize is that there is still a MAJOR battle going on in many parts of the nation in reference to weed. Just cuz Cali & some other states have got it good....the rest of us still must dodge the law or get incarcerated. TMZ was making it sound as if stars wear those shirts to be part of the "in" crowd and that it's unnecessary. Well, I say we need more people to speak up, show out & show off the fact that they support the cause.

...Get Up, Stand Up...

Yup, everybody needs to get up, stand up, stand up for your rights. Apologies to Bob Marley. He perhaps was the first & most famous spokesman for herb, so we all owe him a debt. I'm proud to say he got his herb from me when in the U.S., and I toked up with him. He smoked huge spliffs, almost continuously. Didn't pass it though. I don't know how he did it, but he could smoke me under the table.
Aside from that, several recent Presidents smoked, including Obama, who admits it, but Bill Clinton smoked daily when he was with Gennifer Flowers. He was also a regular cocaine user, but pardoned his supplier to cover that up. G.W.Bush also is known to have smoked.
Of course, one of the first famous people to admit smoking was Louis Armstrong. Willy Nelson, Cheech & Chong, Woody Harrelson....and the list goes on. All thes athletes are coming out now, so that is a good thing. After all, they are worshipped as gods. Of course all the current young pop stars are smoking like chimneys.
But dude, you admit to watching TMZ?

 

[Sisu]

Nearly all of the commentary and discussion I've heard on ESPN has been positive and favorable. Seems like the last two days there has been a lot of discussion about cannabis in the context of the NFL. A few days ago I half watched a basketball oriented segment on ESPN and it was also favorable. I can't recall who it was, it may have been Adrian Branch or Jalen Rose.

How are the antis going to spin this? World class athletes admitting they smoke reefer and calling for it's legalization

 

[RetroGrow]

It's funny how the people least knowledgeable about an issue tend to be the ones most confident in their opinions.

Yes, but they've got religion........they are just holier than us.....

 

[StayHigh149]

But dude, you admit to watching TMZ?

LMAO!!! What can I say...channel surfing...yeah that's it...channel surfing

 

[XxxMedicatedxxX]

i was tought about it... they have so much moneys some of them must smoke weed

 

[m314]

Yup, everybody needs to get up, stand up, stand up for your rights. Apologies to Bob Marley. He perhaps was the first & most famous spokesman for herb, so we all owe him a debt. I'm proud to say he got his herb from me when in the U.S., and I toked up with him. He smoked huge spliffs, almost continuously. Didn't pass it though. I don't know how he did it, but he could smoke me under the table.
Aside from that, several recent Presidents smoked, including Obama, who admits it, but Bill Clinton smoked daily when he was with Gennifer Flowers. He was also a regular cocaine user, but pardoned his supplier to cover that up. G.W.Bush also is known to have smoked.
Of course, one of the first famous people to admit smoking was Louis Armstrong. Willy Nelson, Cheech & Chong, Woody Harrelson....and the list goes on. All thes athletes are coming out now, so that is a good thing. After all, they are worshipped as gods. Of course all the current young pop stars are smoking like chimneys.
But dude, you admit to watching TMZ?

Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter have both said it should be legalized. Just like president Fox in Mexico. They just didn't do anything to change the laws when they were in office. Obama's starting to lean towards that direction lately. I'm hoping he does something meaningful when he still has the power to do so.

I guess not shutting down the legalization movements in Colorado and Washington is meaningful. It's a start, anyway. Taking marijuana off the list of scheduled drugs would be more meaningful, or instructing the DEA to stop prosecuting people for marijuana. That will happen at some point; I just don't know if it will happen under this administration.

 

[RetroGrow]

Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter have both said it should be legalized. Just like president Fox in Mexico. They just didn't do anything to change the laws when they were in office. Obama's starting to lean towards that direction lately. I'm hoping he does something meaningful when he still has the power to do so.

I guess not shutting down the legalization movements in Colorado and Washington is meaningful. It's a start, anyway. Taking marijuana off the list of scheduled drugs would be more meaningful, or instructing the DEA to stop prosecuting people for marijuana. That will happen at some point; I just don't know if it will happen under this administration.

Jimmy Carter is one of our few honest Presidents, but I did not hear Clinton say it should be legalized. He is not usually direct or honest about things. He has a way of weaseling around issues. I guess it depends on what the definition of "is" is.....I know Christie has said the whole war on drugs should be scrapped, which is what I believe. The government should not be in charge of what we put in our bodies, even if it's heroin. They have certainly never demonstrated any expertise in the matter. They got half the country addicted to cigarettes during WWI/WWII. They tested LSD on unsuspecting citizens in Project MKUltra, a CIA operation on mind control.
Project MKUltra is the code name of a U.S. government human research operation experimenting in the behavioral engineering of humans through the CIA's Scientific Intelligence Division. The CIA project was coordinated with the Special Operations Division of the Army's Chemical Corps.[1] The program began in the early 1950s, was officially sanctioned in 1953, was reduced in scope in 1964, further curtailed in 1967 and officially halted in 1973.[2] The program engaged in many illegal activities;[3][4][5] in particular it used unwitting U.S. and Canadian citizens as its test subjects, which led to controversy regarding its legitimacy.[3](p74)[6][7][8] MKUltra used numerous methodologies to manipulate people's mental states and alter brain functions, including the surreptitious administration of drugs (especially LSD) and other chemicals, hypnosis, sensory deprivation, isolation, verbal and sexual abuse, as well as various forms of torture.[9]

The scope of Project MKUltra was broad, with research undertaken at 80 institutions, including 44 colleges and universities, as well as hospitals, prisons and pharmaceutical companies.[10] The CIA operated through these institutions using front organizations, although sometimes top officials at these institutions were aware of the CIA's involvement.[11
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_MKUltra.
Hard to believe, but true.

 

[yesum]

Pot has been shown to repair brain injuries too. You are playing football, you are gonna shake that brain a time or two. NFL is already awash in performance enhancers and pain pills.

A little ganja aint gonna hurt them one bit.

Very cool to hear about Marley toking with you. He would be sad to see how long it has taken to get around to legalizing in the US. Jamaica is still quite illegal for weed, very sad.

 

[RetroGrow]

Yes, it's still illegal in Jamaica, but tolerated. It is everywhere there. As soon as you land at the airport, hustlers will try to stop you and pitch you. But don't buy there if you go. Go to the west end of the island, Negril and Ocho Rios. Plenty of herb there. Get it from a Rasta, but always turn your nose up at what he first offers you. Tell him you want something fresh and with color, and he will come back with the good stuff. Beware, it can be very strong. Don't bring it back to the states with you though. I have been deep in the jungle there and seen huge fields growing. Rastas live in the jungle, guarding their crop with machetes. They sleep right in the fields. I used to smuggle herb out of there in the 70s/early 80s. I have met all of Bob Marley's family and both of his wives. Rastas are polygamists. I have sung with all of them on stage in concert, as part of the chorus, when he was the #1 act in the world. He is the only artist from that area who is still popular and known all over the world. His family still sells tons of Bob Marley gear of all types, and his music still sells, more than thirty years after his death from brain cancer. His family still rakes in millions in sales annually.

 

[XxxMedicatedxxX]

usa made illegal worldwide now usa should fix this and make legalize worldwide hehe

 

[Randy Lahey]

usa made illegal worldwide now usa should fix this and make legalize worldwide hehe

Now that's the damn truth!!!!

 

[supermanlives]

the next drug test for the pats is 4 \20 strangely enough

 

[StayHigh149]

Gives me another reason 2 b proud 2 b a Steelers fan!
Thx 2 Ryan Clark for speaking up!!!
He's no slouch as a Defensive back either

 

[slomocean]

players stepping up as the role models we expect