What Has The NFL Drug Policy And When It Came Into Effect?

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According to Dylan Bennett, most NFL players that know that most player that have medicine The National Football League (NFL) needs to change their policy on drug for players that have reason for them. One reason why they need to change it is so players that use prescription drugs can still play in the NFL instead of just being suspended and fine for taking their medication perceived by their doctor. This case will be shown because players have lost a large amount of time form their careers or have lost their careers due to the drug policy of the NFL. What is the NFL drug policy and when it came into effect? What are other sports drug policies? How can we make it more reasonable for players with medicinal reasons for drug-use to limit the …show more content…

The NFL can take things from these policies and create a new drug policy that both the players and the NFL like. But I am not talking about people who just use drugs for fun. I am talking about players who have prescribed drugs from a doctor. The reason why I say that the NFL needs to be more friendly with players who have medical reasons for using the drugs is because these players are getting punished for taking prescribed drugs from their doctors, and being fined, suspended, or banished from the NFL. For taking the drugs that were prescribed to them. Like for example there was a player who was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in 1999 his name was Ricky Williams. Ricky Williams for most of his career played for the Miami Dolphins because he was traded there, and well there he developed muscle pain and anxiety which the doctor prescribed him medical marijuana to deal with these issues. The muscle pains were from "carrying the ball around 393 times per year"(168). When he was on them "Ricky Williams drug test positive for marijuana and he was fine 650,000 US dollars"(167). Then a few months later he drugged tested positive again in this case he was suspended for four games for using doctor prescribed medicine. After that Ricky Williams tested positive again in 2005 which the NFL banished him for 18 months. Ricky Williams because of all the suspensions lost "approximately 30% of his career"(168) according to Dylan Bennett. The reason why sports analysts think that he lost 30% of his career to drug violations and suspensions is because a running back usually enters the league when they're about 20 through 22 years old. Ricky Williams retired when he was 30 and entered the league when he was 20 and in that timeframe he lost about three years because of the NFL's harsh drug policy. This is one of the examples of why the NFL needs to change its drug policy to suit players with medical reasons for taking these

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