Today the NBA suspended Larry Sanders for a minimum of 10 games after he violated the league’s Anti-Drug Policy. Although the NBA hasn’t revealed what the suspension stems from within that policy, the news comes after a five-game suspension last year for testing positive for cannabis for the third time (the first two positive tests don’t result in a suspension).
Further clouding this story and adding fuel to the notion Sanders is enduring something more serious than a pot habit, was the news earlier this year he didn’t want to play basketball anymore. Sanders later refuted the report, but he still hasn’t seen the court since that time (he’s already been inactive or out for 11 straight games before today)
The suspension will begin on Monday, January 19, and will only conclude when — as the policy notes — the player has completed in-patient or aftercare treatment after a minimum of 10 games missed.
After Sanders’ suspension last year, he made waves when he said he believed in cannabis and it’s therapeutic benefits:
“It’s something I feel strongly about, just to let you know something personal about me,” Sanders said in an interview with the Journal Sentinel and nba.com. “I will deal with the consequences from it. It’s a banned substance in my league. But I believe in marijuana and the medical side of it. I know what it is if I’m going to use it.
“I study it and I know the benefits it has. In a lot of ways we’ve been deprived. You can’t really label it with so many other drugs that people can be addicted to and have so many negative effects on your body and your family and your relationships and impairment. This is not the same thing.
“The stigma is that it’s illegal. I hate that. Once this becomes legal, this all will go away. But I understand for my work it’s a banned substance. I will deal with the consequences and I apologize again to my fans for that.”
Penalties for cannabis use have been relaxed even further since we wrote about Sanders’ comments in support of the sinsemilla plant.
Cannabis is legal to consume in Colorado and Washington after initiatives passed state-wide ballots during the 2012 elections. Next month, it will also become legal in the state of Alaska, which passed a similar law in the 2014 elections; it goes into affect on Feb. 24, 2015. There are also 10 states who have legalized medical cannabis and have decriminalized cannabis possession. Seven states have legalized medical marijuana without decriminalizing possession laws, and four states have decriminalized cannabis possession. That’s almost half (24 states) the union who have taken measures to relent, or strike down, the often harsh laws associated with cannabis, specifically within America’s losing war on drugs.
We’re not saying what Sanders is doing — or did — is right, since it’s in the NBA’s policy you can’t smoke herb, but even the NBA’s Anti-Drug policy differentiates cannabis from other schedule 1 drugs (yes, cannabis is still federally regonized as a schedule 1 drug despite relaxed measures on the state level).
Cannabis is not considered among the NBA’s “Drugs of abuse,” like LSD, various amphetamines (like cocaine) and heroin. If a player tests positive for the aforementioned narcotics, they’re instantly disqualified from the league. Sometimes — like in the case of Miami’s center, Chris Andersen — they can be later reinstated.
But for cannabis, which we’re still guessing is the reason Sanders has been suspended a second time, the NBA is more lenient in doling out punishment. In fact, you don’t miss any games until you test positive for cannabis a third time – like Sanders did last year. Here’s the law currently on the books:
“Marijuana: If a player tests positive for marijuana during Random Testing or Reasonable Cause Testing, or he is convicted of, or pleads guilty, nolo contendre or no contest to, the use or possession of marijuana in violation of the law, he will be required to enter the Marijuana Program. A second positive test for marijuana will result in a $25,000 fine and the player’s re-entry into the Marijuana Program. A third positive test for marijuana will result in a five- game suspension and the player’s re-entry into the Marijuana Program. A fourth (or any subsequent) positive test for marijuana will result in a suspension that is five (5) games longer than the player’s immediately-preceding suspension.
So Sanders will be suspended for 10 games at the minimum, or more if he fails to complete the NBA’s treatment program. Hoops Rumors notes that he’ll lose $1 million of the $11 million he stands to earn this season.
We really hope whatever is bothering Sanders gets resolved and we see him finally get back on the court. Larry certainly doesn’t agree with the NBA’s cannabis policy, but it’s the NBA’s prerogative to outlaw it’s use (lots of Fortune 500 companies perform random drug tests) and he has to play in their Association by their rules. The rule flies in the face of the country’s current trajectory decriminalizing canabis, but that still doesn’t mean it’s OK.
Is the NBA’s cannabis policy fair?
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