Larry Sanders, Marijuana And The NBA’s Anti-Drug Policy

Sanders Not A Martyr Based On Facts

The truth is we don’t know all the facts. We could be dealing with anything from a simple reluctance to surrender his marijuana to pot addiction. We could be dealing with someone who’s just immature, or we could be witnessing a life-altering moment for someone who may be dealing with mental illness.

But until we get the facts, it’s hard to feel too sorry for Larry Sanders’ deteriorating NBA career outside of hoping he gets his life back on the right track.

That sounds a bit harsh, but you have to remember who we’re dealing with here. Just last year, Sanders defended his marijuana use to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

"“It’s something I feel strongly about, just to let you know something personal about me. I will deal with the consequences from it. It’s a banned substance in my league. But I believe in marijuana and the medical side of it. I know what it is if I’m going to use it."

"“I study it and I know the benefits it has. In a lot of ways we’ve been deprived. You can’t really label it with so many other drugs that people can be addicted to and have so many negative effects on your body and your family and your relationship and impairment. This is not the same thing."

"“The stigma is that it’s illegal. I hate that. Once this becomes legal, this will all go away. But I understand for my work it’s a banned substance. I will deal with the consequences and I apologize again to my fans for that.”"

I don’t bring this up to be a Mr. Mackey and say, “Sanders said he did drugs and drugs are bad, m’kay?” because like I said, I’m not here to argue about whether or not pot should be legalized.

The reason this is important is that he acknowledged his difference of opinion with the NBA on marijuana use, apologized for breaking the league’s rules … and then proceeded to violate those same policies less than a year later.

Sorry, but the moment you become a repeat offender for breaking a rule you know is in place, you lose all rights to sympathy.

It’s also worth noting that Sanders confronts the stigma that marijuana is addictive. Here’s a guy who could make $44 million just by playing a game, staying away from pot and following the rules.

If weed isn’t addictive, as Sanders says himself, I don’t feel the need to question the validity of the NBA’s rules … especially since they’re not as big a problem as the person who chooses to break them on a whim instead of enjoying a millionaire career.

In his Letter From Birmingham Jail, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote, “I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and willingly accepts the penalty by staying in jail to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the very highest respect for law.”

But guess what? MLK was talking about racism, basic human rights and equality, not one’s ability to spark up a doobie recreationally. Excuse me for not seeing Sanders as a persecuted martyr just because he can’t refrain from smoking pot.

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