Heading into Thursday, Laremy Tunsil was the top offensive lineman entered into the draft pool. A big, quick left tackle, Tunsil was projected to be the third player selected overall. Then, something bizarre happened. Minutes before the draft began in Chicago, a video was released from the former Ole Miss star's Twitter account, depicting him smoking an "unidentified substance" from a bong attached to a gas mask. Tunsil, who said he was hacked and that the video was old, quickly deleted it and apologized. But the damage was already done, and wary teams left the talented lineman on the board until midway through the first round. Tunsil's fall, from third to thirteenth, cost him his reputation and an estimated $13 million in contract value (per Bleacher Report).
To be clear, what Laremy Tunsil did was stupid. Even if he was hacked (as he probably was), and even if the video was old (as it probably is), filming himself partaking was shortsighted considering his stature as an athlete. He should've known the stigma surrounding marijuana consumption, and tried to keep his vice on the low. But athletes make mistakes all the time. And the fact that his mistake was so costly underscores something very wrong about the USA and the NFL (assuming they aren't one and the same, that is).
First, take a quick look at the following images.
None of these players were punished, in case you were wondering. In fact, the athletes are being rewarded in these very photos. With showers of alcohol. That were paid for by their respective leagues - the NFL included. If you didn't know, American professional sports are also among the alcohol industry's greatest business allies. Watch a football game sometime, and let me know if you encounter a single commercial break that doesn't feature a beer or liquor advertisement. I'll wait.
These are the same leagues that suspend and/or fine players for marijuana usage. These are the same leagues in which the careers of young men like Laremy Tunsil are ruined for association with a substance no worse than one that is not only tolerated but actively promoted. I call a personal foul on the National Football League.
In fairness, the NFL and its fellow racketeering league regimes are not totally at fault for their subjective substance policies. In most states, recreational marijuana consumption is illegal. As obscenely powerful as the leagues are, they can't override state law (*gasp*). And that is why policies like the NFL's, and tragedies like Laremy Tunsil's, reflect the need for change on a grander scale.
According to the Washington Post, someone gets arrested for marijuana possession every minute of every day. In most cases, getting busted for pot means losing a job or important job benefits. And although whites and blacks use at roughly the same rats, blacks are four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession, according to the ACLU. All this means that the criminalization of weed has given millions of Americans damaging criminal records, and is an enabler of racism. The persistence of the arrests also shows how little the illegal label on pot has done to stop people from using it. It is a bad policy on every level.
To further worsen matters, marijuana consumption is by no means worse than alcohol consumption. Both are inhibitory drugs, and prove dangerous when combined with driving or other high-stakes activities. Aside from this, though, pot-smoking has no detriments that outweigh those of drinking. Because marijuana can't kill you like alcohol poisoning can, and because pot doesn't destroy the liver, heart, and pancreas like alcohol does, many in the medical field even consider it the safer of the two drugs. But that's not the point.
The important message demonstrated by the statistics is that people's lives are wrecked by the illegal status of a substance similar to one that is accepted by the law and cherished by businesses. Laremy Tunsil's case is a very high profile example of how this plays out for hundreds of thousands of Americans every year. It's time the Federal Government adopts a sensible approach to marijuana, so that businesses across the country can be reasonable with their employees. Until that happens, promising careers will continue to go up in smoke.
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