Tagged: alcohol

August 28, 2014

Marijuana policy is behind times

The marijuana debate in this country takes several forms, most notably its drain on the criminal justice system relative to its significance as a vice. Does it make sense to fill courtrooms and jails with people who have used or distributed a substance that the president of the United States has declared no more dangerous than alcohol?

A similar question could be applied to the NFL: As more states legalize marijuana for medicinal and/or recreational use, is the league’s testing and discipline growing disproportionate? We seem to be moving in that direction and — depending on which scholar you read — the league might in fact be missing the opportunity to allow a more natural pain treatment than prescription drugs.

First, however, is the issue of discipline. All players are subject to the NFL’s policy on substances of abuse. (You can find the complex set of conditions for entrance and discipline here.) Once in the program, repeat offenders can be fined, suspended or banished from the league based on the circumstances.

August 21, 2014

There’s no established connection between marijuana and violence

Michael Brown had marijuana in his system when Darren Wilson shot and killed him, according to leaked details from the St. Louis County autopsy reported by the Washington Post.

When Trayvon Martin’s toxicology report indicated he had marijuana in his system, detractors used the information to suggest the late teen, who was unarmed when he was shot and killed in 2012 by George Zimmerman, was a lawbreaker and aggressive at the time of his death. Before the toxicology report is used to draw similar conclusions about Brown’s possible behavior when he was killed, keep this in mind: marijuana has never been definitively linked to more aggression or violence.

While some research suggests marijuana users are more likely to be aggressive, multiple studies have found the connection between marijuana use and aggression fades away when controlling for other variables such as alcohol and hard drug use. Marijuana use, in other words, doesn’t appear to lead to more violence, and higher pot use doesn’t even correlate with more violence if other factors are taken into account.