I know some of you still have a bit of pothead paranoia from when we would see professional athletes punished for smoking a joint or just getting caught with marijuana. The next day, we’d see articles shaming these players for setting a bad example. ESPN would fearmonger the audience about how cannabis is hurting the athletes and inhibiting them from competing at an elite level. How many of you remember the uproar over 23-time gold medalist Michael Phelps ripping a bong at a South Carolina frat party? Remember how he lost a $100 million advertising deal with Kellogg because of a bong rip with the bros? The superhuman swimmer who held our undivided attention during the Olympics is a fellow 420 enthusiast. One of the all-time great running backs in NFL history, Ricky Williams, was suspended for the entire 2006 season due to violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy because he tested positive for marijuana. Now, the current pothead but retired athlete told USA Today that “in the future, teams are going to be supplying cannabis for the players.”
Luckily, cannabis rules are much more lax now due to collective bargaining agreements and players’ unions. Now, in all major professional sports leagues, players who test positive for marijuana cannot be suspended, although they can face fines and mandatory treatment programs. Back in 2019, the MLB removed marijuana from its list of banned substances. The NBA, as of 2021, has suspended random marijuana testing and is only interested in performance-enhancing drugs and hard drugs. Both the NHL and MLS do not punish players for testing positive for marijuana but instead treat it like alcohol, where the focus is on treatment and education rather than punishment. It seems like we owe some former professional athletes an apology. It’s safe to say that the role of cannabis in professional sports has changed drastically—and the worst that will happen is a “safety meeting.”
Professional athletes aren’t just talking about weed; they are actively getting involved in the business. Former NBA basketball player Al Harrington owns the largest Black-owned cannabis brand.
From left to right:
Ricky Williams | Mertex | CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Allen Iverson | Keith Allison, CC BY-SA 2.0 | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0 | via Wikimedia Commons
Al Harrington photo | Keith Allison, CC BY-SA 2.0 | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0 | via Wikimedia Commons
Calvin Johnson Jr. | Thomson200, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Stephen Jackson Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Travis Kelce | All-Pro Reels from District of Columbia, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0 | via Wikimedia Commons
Matt Barnes photo | Keith Allison, CC BY-SA 2.0 | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0 | via Wikimedia Commons
Now, almost 25 years after the birth of the modern internet and 15 years after the explosion of Facebook, players can take charge of their public persona. If you’re any kind of sports fan, I guarantee the algorithm has targeted you with some kind of talk show. I swear, my socials had Travis Kelce cotton mouth for months. I could not shake his podcast from my feed. It feels like just about every high-profile professional athlete has their own podcast, such as recent Super Bowl winner Patrick Mahomes and one of the best NBA players of all time, Kevin Durant. Former NBA player JJ Redick was able to use his podcast to become the head coach of the LA Lakers.
You’ll even find “special” episodes by former players. The podcast “All The Smoke,” which is hosted by former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, has a special 4/20 episode where they each burn down a nice fat blunt and reminisce about cannabis. Matt Barnes talks about how he would smoke a blunt, take a nap, and then go play an NBA game. The realities of cannabis culture in professional sports are becoming mainstream and unfiltered by traditional media.
Professional athletes aren’t just talking about weed; they are actively getting involved in the business. Former NBA basketball player Al Harrington owns the largest Black-owned cannabis brand. His company, Viola, has been dishing out to customers since 2011 after he saw the pain-relieving effects it had on his grandmother’s glaucoma. Legendary NBA player Allen Iverson introduced his own strain under the Viola brand called ‘96, which is an Indica strain crossed between Secret Kush Mints and Grape Stomper. Ricky Williams has a company that uses cannabis and herbs as an alternative to Western medicine called Real Wellness Herbal. Pro Football Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson Jr. and his former teammate Rob Sims founded Primitiv, a medical marijuana company that offers everything from flower to candies to tinctures.
It’s safe to say cannabis is part of professional sports culture when you can see LeBron James partaking in the ‘air blunt’ celebration. Athletes are now advocating publicly for further changes to these player rules for their benefit, both recreationally and medicinally. More players are joining the cannabis business every day, and the stigma around the plant in sports is fading. I’m still holding out for the Snoop Dogg on-field weed accessories, with the obvious Martha Stewart collab.
