According to Don Banks of Sports Illustrated, there are as many as 10-11 prospects labeled as "first round talent" in next month's NFL Draft that are part of what is being called an "epidemic" of marijuana use. The increased number of prospects that have a history of pot use is being looked deeper into to see if this is due to just trying the drug or being "addicted" to it, as one unnamed GM has stated. While I question the comprehension value of the word "addicted" it also seems that this generation of Front Office personnel are not putting as high a value on the so-called issue.
Remember that current Minnesota Viking Percy Harvin had the same tag before he was picked in the first round last year. DeSean Jackson of the Philadelphia Eagles also had the reputation and with the success by both of those players, along with the trend of states throughout the country headed towards de-criminalization, it shouldn't be a major problem for those players who are looked at as first round talent.
In Banks' article, he says that four NFL GM's, under the cloak of anonymity, said that perhaps as much as one-third of the draft class had experimented in some way with marijuana. Gee, these kids were in college, weren't they? Something tells this writer, a former college student, although in the late '70's, that the percentage is probably a lot closer to 100% than to 33%. However, to label those people as "drug abusers" is ridiculous in this day and age. At the same time, if any of those prospects tested positive for drugs such as cocaine or meth, then that is a serious problem that deserves to be addressed and the label would be deserved.
Read Don Banks' interesting story from Sports Illustrated here.