The NBA recently announced it does not plan on testing players for cannabis use this season, likely to the pleasure of NBA players who have been using it medicinally — or otherwise — on the low.
As a vice president of the Players’ association, the media is increasingly looking to Boston Celtics wing Jaylen Brown for feedback on such changes to league policy as this, and the Cal-Berkeley product was asked about that development near the end of his most recent press availability session during the NBA’s media week proceedings.
While he doesn’t seem to be an advocate for the use of cannabis per se, Brown offered a thoughtful response to the question.
The NBA has officially suspended random marijuana testing for the 2020-21 season …
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) December 4, 2020
“I think that everything is in negotiation,” began the Players Union VP.
“When it comes down to the NBA and the Players Association, and that was something that the world is moving differently on. It’s an interesting conversation and there’s a lot of information as yet to unfold. But in terms of that, I think a lot of guys celebrated that as an outlet to take out stress.”
“There’s still a lot of information that is yet to be discovered and told on that subject, but I don’t have a problem with that,” he added.
Jaylen Brown is taking the fight to systemic racism, but he wants your help https://t.co/yRt4Sn39de
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) December 4, 2020
With the U.S. House of representatives advancing a bill that would remove cannabis from the list of controlled substances passing for the first time and most states having legalized medicinal and/or recreational use at that level, it seems wise for the league to shift its footing gradually as well.
But, as Brown alludes, more research on how best to institute a league-wide policy on what is at present a patchwork quilt of regulation and legal regimes with unknown impacts on athletic performance is also likely in order.
