Drug Abuse And The Nfl - 996 Words

Eric Rutherford English 1101 CRN 11790 Section 36 Veronica E. Brown Informative Essay 11/1/2014 Words: 995 Drug Abuse in the NFL What is the definition of drugs? Is it the simple explanation of a substance we consume that is alien to our bodies, for better or worse? Or is it much more complicated than that? Many would agree that people use them as an escape from reality, a way to hide their pain in life, or a way to deal with stress. People who use illegal drugs for their own benefit, whether it’s for stress release or for performance enhancement, are drug abusers. In today’s society drug abuse is very common. Millions of Americans smoke weed, snort coke, or do heroin and other hardcore drugs. The people who do this are a wide†¦show more content†¦In recent months leading up to now, there have been quite a few cases of players abusing drugs, which have led the NFL to consider changes to the policy. There are a handful of specific areas that have been revised recently; these include HGH Testing, Appeals, DUI Discipline, PED Discipline, Marijuana Threshold, and Marijuana Discipline (DUI and PED discipline has been ramped up, and marijuana policy is more lax). The NFL wanted to ease up on the punishments given out on marijuana abuse, and focus on cracking down on DUI’s and PED’s. The punishments given are varied by what offense the player commits. For one of the most popular of drugs, marijuana, a first time offender will be placed in a substance abuse program without any suspension. A second offense leads to a two game fine. Each additional violation leads to a four game fine, a four game suspension, and then a 10 game suspension. So, a player can test positive for marijuana three times without getting suspended (DUI and PED discipline has been ramped up, and marijuana policy is more lax). With DUI’s however, the league has become stricter. In the past, a first time offender was not suspended. Today you get a two game ban for your first violation. Second time offenders get an 8 game suspension and aggravating circumstances can lengthen the suspension. (DUI and PED discipline has been ramped up, and marijuana policy is mor e lax). As for