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On Friday, Warriors coach Steve Kerr made the somewhat surprising admission that he’s used marijuana on a couple of occasions during the past year and a half to help treat his ongoing back issues. Kerr missed a significant portion of Golden State’s historic 73-9 season due to complications from a pair of spinal procedures he underwent the previous summer.
Kerr was far from apologetic about using pot to get relief from his chronic back pain. In fact, he went so far as to advocate for a change of mindset in professional sports, where athletes are routinely prescribed narcotic pain medicines for various ailments. Kerr alluded to the fact that past studies have shown that pharmaceutical drugs kill more people in America each year than all other illicit drugs, combined.
Full Steve Kerr pregame comments on medicinal marijuana vs pain-killers pills. Thoughtful, interesting stuff: pic.twitter.com/GM46KedCEE
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) December 4, 2016
Kerr clarified, however, that he isn’t personally a fan of marijuana, saying that it doesn’t agree with him. Reporters asked Klay Thompson about his comments on Sunday, and the All-Star guard said that, while he supports his coach and, in general, the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, he does not believe it should be used recreationally.
“But not recreationally,” Thompson said. “That should not be of its use ever, but there’s obviously a medicinal side to [marijuana] that people are finding out have benefits, especially people in really high pain.”
Twenty-six states and the District of Columbia currently have legislation allowing medicinal and/or recreational marijuana use. California is one of those states. However, marijuana has long been prohibited among NBA players, and according to ESPN, coaches are subject to an annual drug test during training camp, but it’s unclear what sort of consequences, if any, might be in order for Kerr.
