Aggie Basketball related because smoking it (or conservative Texas lawmakers failing to legalize it, if you wish to take that view) is hurting our season. Despite all of us being Aggies (+ a few trolls + a few Aggie trolls), I know we have a lot of different ages and walks of life represented here and I'm curious to know where people stand on this issue.
My personal views & experience: I think marijuana should be legalized, and feel about it the same way that I think most people feel about alcohol - that it should be legal for adults, regulated, and taxed but not abused. I smoked a solid amount in my 20s and have not since then for a variety of reasons. I wholeheartedly believe that some time down the road we are going to look back at all of this mess and think it is as silly as the Prohibition era was.
Laws/team rules/league rules aside, I don't have any problem with marijuana use in athletes more than I do with drinking, other than it's not very good for you. That is to say, I don't think many athletes are drinking one glass of red wine or smoking one joint per night but if they did, it would be no worse in my opinion than the many basketball-playing Skittles-eating fools. Maybe better than Skittles even, though based on my personal experience, I would bet that a lot of the weed guys are also Skittles guys.
My point is that I don't really care that the guys on the team were smoking weed in and of itself. I'm disappointed that they did something that hurt the team and that hurt their lives and futures, but I would be no more or less disappointed if they had been reckless on an ATV, shoplifting crab legs, etc. I would be more disappointed if it were DUI, assault or anything that put an innocent other's life and welfare at risk.
It seems like a lot of people have a big problem with the marijuana use, period. I only have a problem with the guys lacking discipline and choosing short-term gratification over their team and their future. Society stigmatizes their "crime", but I don't think it's any worse than, for example, an athlete getting so fat that he hurts his knee and is out for the year or for good. That is to say, I don't have a problem with the cheeseburgers themselves, just with the lack of restraint.
If this ends up getting too heated or political, please feel free to move it to another forum, but I am curious to read responses.
My personal views & experience: I think marijuana should be legalized, and feel about it the same way that I think most people feel about alcohol - that it should be legal for adults, regulated, and taxed but not abused. I smoked a solid amount in my 20s and have not since then for a variety of reasons. I wholeheartedly believe that some time down the road we are going to look back at all of this mess and think it is as silly as the Prohibition era was.
Laws/team rules/league rules aside, I don't have any problem with marijuana use in athletes more than I do with drinking, other than it's not very good for you. That is to say, I don't think many athletes are drinking one glass of red wine or smoking one joint per night but if they did, it would be no worse in my opinion than the many basketball-playing Skittles-eating fools. Maybe better than Skittles even, though based on my personal experience, I would bet that a lot of the weed guys are also Skittles guys.
My point is that I don't really care that the guys on the team were smoking weed in and of itself. I'm disappointed that they did something that hurt the team and that hurt their lives and futures, but I would be no more or less disappointed if they had been reckless on an ATV, shoplifting crab legs, etc. I would be more disappointed if it were DUI, assault or anything that put an innocent other's life and welfare at risk.
It seems like a lot of people have a big problem with the marijuana use, period. I only have a problem with the guys lacking discipline and choosing short-term gratification over their team and their future. Society stigmatizes their "crime", but I don't think it's any worse than, for example, an athlete getting so fat that he hurts his knee and is out for the year or for good. That is to say, I don't have a problem with the cheeseburgers themselves, just with the lack of restraint.
If this ends up getting too heated or political, please feel free to move it to another forum, but I am curious to read responses.