NFL Rules Should Not Supercede State Laws

The National Football League is full of contradictions with just the latest one featuring the use of marijuana in the league.

Debates rage on whether the substance is a dangerous drug or whether its actually closer to alcohol than any 'hard substance' out there. For whatever reason, Americans have stigmatized marijuana as being 'Oh so very bad for you.'

Steelers safety Ryan Clark eloquently put it on ESPN's 'First Take' to the disappointment of some Steelers fans, that NFL players smoke marijuana as a way to relax and use it as a stress reliever to brutal hits they take on Sundays during the fall.

Clark may have a point, but that would not be the best argument for why NFL cannot ban marijuana use for every NFL team.

The states of Washington and Colorado have legalized recreational use of the drug. Fans saw last season in the NFL Combine that teams from certain states were not permitted to ask questions regarding sexuality based on either what state the team was from or what state the interview was conducted in.

In that situation, state law superceded NFL rules; even though the current Collective Bargaining Agreement says marijuana is an illegal drug and it shows up in NFL drug testing, the NFL does not have the right to punish players that was using the drug legally according to state law.

Now even that becomes tricky because there are over-the-counter steroids athletes can use legally according to state law but the NFL has banned them as well. Those drugs, however, could affect a player's performance on the field while recreational marijuana will not.

Dave and co-host Tom Pollin will further discuss this hot topic on I-80 Sports Talk on MTR Radio Friday night at 7pm EST. To join the discussion on marijuana use in the NFL, please call into the show 609-910-0687 or tweet @dmholcomb.