You wonder how long everyone in Butts-Mehre can stick to Michael Adams’ legacy drug policy when current trends are turning against it.
At least one-third of the Power Five conference schools are not punishing athletes as harshly as they were 10 years ago for testing positive for marijuana and other so-called recreational drugs, according to an investigation by The Associated Press.
The NCAA last year cut in half the penalty for athletes who fail screenings for substances like marijuana at its championship events…
The AP found that some of the nation’s biggest universities, from Oregon to Auburn, have already eased their punishments as society’s views on marijuana use have changed. Marijuana use among U.S. adults has doubled over a decade, according to government surveys, and recreational use is now legal in four states.
How fast is this running away from the crusaders in Athens? This fast:
The NCAA has been randomly testing athletes at its championship events and football bowl games for performance enhancing and recreational drugs since 1986. In 2014, the penalty for testing positive at either of those events for a recreational drug such as marijuana was reduced from a suspension of one year to six months.
Now NCAA chief medical officer Dr. Brian Hainline wants to end NCAA testing for recreational drugs.
Hainline said the NCAA should focus on catching cheaters who gain a competitive advantage by using performance-enhancing drugs…
Man, if you’ve lost the NCAA on being vindictive, you’re really out there on a limb.
Of course, you’ve still got that smug feeling of moral superiority to keep you warm at night, don’t you? Um, well…
“If we’re going to test at championship events for things that are illegal, then we shouldn’t just test for pot,” Hainline said. “If there are any kids under the age of 18 smoking cigarettes, we should test for that. We certainly should be testing for alcohol for everyone under the age of 21. Then we ask ourselves, `Where does the moral authority stop?’ I’m all for moral authority as long as there is a philosophical consistency to it.”
Philosophical consistency in college athletics? BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Oh wait… you were serious about that?
If Georgia announces its annual intention to make an issue out of a uniform drug policy for the conference when the SEC has its spring meeting next year, I hope somebody invites Dr. Hainline to speak there.
*********************************************************************
UPDATE: You can find a school-by-school breakdown of drug policies here.