Warriors Coach Steve Kerr Believes Marijuana Is A Safer Alternative Than Many Pharmaceuticals

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On Thursday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions made the stunning announcement that he was rescinding an Obama-era policy that the justice department would not enforce federal marijuana laws in states where it’s been legalized.

Voters in eight states – Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington – have approved marijuana for recreational use, and many others have decriminalized it or have legislation in place for medical purposes.

It’s unclear how exactly how this will play out given that prosecution is still left to the discretion of local attorneys. A big reason for the momentum toward legalization has been outspoken proponents across all major sectors of society, including people like Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who admitted last year he’s used marijuana in the past to deal with symptoms associated with a pair of spinal procedures he underwent in the summer of 2015.

Kerr had more to say on the matter earlier this week after California passed a law legalizing recreational use, echoing his previous statement that he believes pot is a safer alternative to many pharmaceutical drugs currently on the market. Via Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle:

“I’m a proponent of it,” Kerr said after practice Tuesday. “I do feel strongly that (marijuana) is a much better option than some of the prescription drugs, and I know that it’s helping a lot of people, which is great.”

“Having gone through a tough spell over the last year with my own recovery from back surgery, and a lot of pain, I had to do a lot of research,” Kerr said in December 2016. “You get handed prescriptions for Vicodin, Oxycontin, Percocet, NFL players, that’s what they’re given. The stuff is awful. The stuff is dangerous. The addiction possibility, what it can lead to, the long-term health risks. The issue that’s really important is how do we do what’s best for the players.

“But I understand it’s a perception issue around the country. And in the NFL, NBA, it’s a business, so you don’t want your customers thinking, ‘These guys are a bunch of potheads.’ That’s what it is. But, to me, it’s only a matter of time before medicinal marijuana is allowed in sports leagues, because the education will overwhelm the perception.”

Kerr hopes that the ongoing opioid epidemic in America will not only spark a larger conversation about the perils of pharmaceutical pain management practices but lead to a re-evaluation of how professional sports leagues view marijuana, which has long been prohibited under strict penalties.

For now, it remains on the NBA’s list of banned substances, but Kerr is likely correct that it is only a matter of time before the league catches up to the conventional wisdom on the subject, despite the federal government’s efforts to slow its momentum.

(San Francisco Chronicle)

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