As marijuana inches toward ubiquitous legality across the United States, professional sports organizations will likely become more open to the idea of using the drug for its well-documented medicinal purposes. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver revealed his interest in the science behind medicinal marijuana while attending a Basketball Without Borders event in Israel. From the transcript (courtesy of the NBA):
I would say it’s something we will look at. I’m very interested in the science when it comes to medical marijuana. My personal view is that it should be regulated in the same way that other medications are if the plan is to use it for pain management. And it’s something that needs to be discussed with our Players Association, but to the extent that science demonstrates that there are effective uses for medical reasons, we’ll be open to it. Hopefully there’s not as much pain involved in our sport as some others, so there’s not as much need for it.
Silver has come out as staunchly against the implementation of medical marijuana in the past, but here he sounds more open to the idea. It is certainly plausible that Silver’s opinion has shifted as marijuana has become legal in more and more states that host NBA teams.
Medicinal marijuana use is legal to some extent in the following NBA-team-having states: California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Oregon, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Florida, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Toronto and Washington D.C.
Those states (plus District of Columbia) hold a combined 19 of the NBA’s 30 teams.
This comes on the heels of Sacramento Kings big man Zach Randolph being arrested for possession and supposed intent to sell a large quantity of marijuana.
