{"id":1540,"date":"2016-12-28T07:09:28","date_gmt":"2016-12-28T15:09:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/?p=1540"},"modified":"2017-01-03T08:17:09","modified_gmt":"2017-01-03T16:17:09","slug":"steve-kerr-says-sports-leagues-reconsider-marijuana-policies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/steve-kerr-says-sports-leagues-reconsider-marijuana-policies\/","title":{"rendered":"Steve Kerr Says Sports Leagues Should Reconsider Marijuana Policies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr is the reigning NBA coach of the year. Kerr said in a recent radio interview that he believes sports leagues should reconsider their current positions on marijuana.<\/p>\n

While admitting he is no expert, Kerr did say he believes that cannabis is better for athletes than the drugs they are prescribed for pain.<\/p>\n

\u201cVicodin is not good for you. It’s not. It’s way worse for you than pot,” Kerr said, according to<\/a> ESPN.<\/p>\n

Kerr made his comments during an interview on a CSN Bay Area podcast<\/a> and then during a follow up interview with ESPN.<\/p>\n

Marijuana Comments Cause Controversy for Sports Leagues<\/h2>\n

Kerr\u2019s comments received a deluge of media attention, even if the coach said they were taken somewhat out of context. The original discussion on CSN Bay Area involved how to help players with pain management, not the larger issue of marijuana legalization.<\/p>\n

He told ESPN he was at first a bit surprised by the reaction, but came to the conclusion that the coverage is a good thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m actually kind of glad it became an issue,\u201d he said. \u201cIt’s a very important issue to talk about. Having gone through a tough spell over the last year with my own recovery from back surgery, and a lot of pain, I had to do a lot of research. You get handed prescriptions for Vicodin, OxyContin, Percocet, NFL players, that’s what they’re given. The stuff is awful. The stuff is dangerous.\u00a0\u201c<\/p>\n

Kerr, 51, underwent back surgery two years ago and said he tried cannabis to help relieve the pain but that it did not help him. However, he said, the attempt proved to be worth it because he found that other painkillers and drugs \u201chave been worse\u201d at helping with his pain.<\/p>\n

Kerr himself was a player for many years, winning championships with the Chicago Bulls and the San Antonio Spurs.<\/p>\n

In the wake of the interview, the NBA issued a statement reiterating that the association has placed marijuana on its list of banned substances and that coaches, as well as players, are subject to drug tests.<\/p>\n

Potential Roadblocks<\/h3>\n

Obviously, with voters in 27 states approving medical marijuana<\/a>, many people agree with Kerr that marijuana has potential as a relief for chronic pain.<\/p>\n

The nation\u2019s biggest sports league, the National Football League, has said it is working with the players\u2019 association on researching the possibilities of marijuana use for pain relief. On the league\u2019s own website<\/a>, Ian Rapoport, known as the \u201cmedia insider\u201d reporter, said 10 NFL owners told him they think the league\u2019s policies on marijuana possession and use should change.<\/p>\n

Some even suggested doing away with penalties all together, Rapoport reported. They noted that a player in Seattle, where recreational marijuana use is legal, would not face a criminal charge for possessing cannabis and therefore would not face a league suspension.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, a player in Indianapolis or Dallas doing exactly the same thing would. \u201cOne owner asked, \u2018Is that even fair?\u2019\u201d Rapoport said in a video interview.<\/p>\n

In a sense, the issue presents a microcosm of what is happening across the country outside of sports. The majority of voters in a majority of states believe, as does Kerr, that those in pain should at least have the option to try marijuana.<\/p>\n

And sports leagues that operate around the country face the same challenges as state and local governments \u2013 in some places, both medical and recreational use is legal, and in others it is not. Until a change is made in federal law, which continues to list marijuana as an illegal substance, expect these issues to continue to arise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr says sports leagues should reconsider their marijuana policies. What does that mean for the industry?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":1542,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[19],"tags":[146,77,58,144,145],"yoast_head":"\nSteve Kerr: Sports Leagues Should Reconsider Marijuana Policies<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr says sports leagues should reconsider their marijuana policies. What does that mean for the industry?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/steve-kerr-says-sports-leagues-reconsider-marijuana-policies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Steve Kerr: Sports Leagues Should Reconsider Marijuana Policies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr says sports leagues should reconsider their marijuana policies. What does that mean for the industry?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/steve-kerr-says-sports-leagues-reconsider-marijuana-policies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dispensaries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dispensariescom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-12-28T15:09:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-01-03T16:17:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/sports-leagues-reconsider-marijuana-policies.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"666\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dispensaries Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@dispensariescom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dispensaries Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/steve-kerr-says-sports-leagues-reconsider-marijuana-policies\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/steve-kerr-says-sports-leagues-reconsider-marijuana-policies\/\",\"name\":\"Steve Kerr: Sports Leagues Should Reconsider Marijuana Policies\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-12-28T15:09:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-01-03T16:17:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b2935feeb3a368f3c87819d4c4d4cad0\"},\"description\":\"Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr says sports leagues should reconsider their marijuana policies. What does that mean for the industry?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/steve-kerr-says-sports-leagues-reconsider-marijuana-policies\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/steve-kerr-says-sports-leagues-reconsider-marijuana-policies\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/steve-kerr-says-sports-leagues-reconsider-marijuana-policies\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Steve Kerr Says Sports Leagues Should Reconsider Marijuana Policies\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Dispensaries\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b2935feeb3a368f3c87819d4c4d4cad0\",\"name\":\"Dispensaries Editor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9d30250f23451474024d7b90b1b0b748?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9d30250f23451474024d7b90b1b0b748?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dispensaries Editor\"},\"description\":\"The editorial staff at Dispensaries.com are industry insiders, focused on bringing you authoritative and in depth coverage of the legal marijuana industry. We cover everything to the business trends, latest products and even help the cannicurious people better understand cannabis and the industry around it.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dispensariescom\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/dispensariescom\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/author\/dispensaries-editor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Steve Kerr: Sports Leagues Should Reconsider Marijuana Policies","description":"Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr says sports leagues should reconsider their marijuana policies. What does that mean for the industry?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/steve-kerr-says-sports-leagues-reconsider-marijuana-policies\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Steve Kerr: Sports Leagues Should Reconsider Marijuana Policies","og_description":"Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr says sports leagues should reconsider their marijuana policies. What does that mean for the industry?","og_url":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/steve-kerr-says-sports-leagues-reconsider-marijuana-policies\/","og_site_name":"Dispensaries","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dispensariescom\/","article_published_time":"2016-12-28T15:09:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-01-03T16:17:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":666,"url":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/sports-leagues-reconsider-marijuana-policies.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Dispensaries Editor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@dispensariescom","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dispensaries Editor","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/steve-kerr-says-sports-leagues-reconsider-marijuana-policies\/","url":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/steve-kerr-says-sports-leagues-reconsider-marijuana-policies\/","name":"Steve Kerr: Sports Leagues Should Reconsider Marijuana Policies","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-12-28T15:09:28+00:00","dateModified":"2017-01-03T16:17:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b2935feeb3a368f3c87819d4c4d4cad0"},"description":"Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr says sports leagues should reconsider their marijuana policies. What does that mean for the industry?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/steve-kerr-says-sports-leagues-reconsider-marijuana-policies\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/steve-kerr-says-sports-leagues-reconsider-marijuana-policies\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/steve-kerr-says-sports-leagues-reconsider-marijuana-policies\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Steve Kerr Says Sports Leagues Should Reconsider Marijuana Policies"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/","name":"Dispensaries","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b2935feeb3a368f3c87819d4c4d4cad0","name":"Dispensaries Editor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9d30250f23451474024d7b90b1b0b748?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9d30250f23451474024d7b90b1b0b748?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dispensaries Editor"},"description":"The editorial staff at Dispensaries.com are industry insiders, focused on bringing you authoritative and in depth coverage of the legal marijuana industry. We cover everything to the business trends, latest products and even help the cannicurious people better understand cannabis and the industry around it.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dispensariescom\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/dispensariescom"],"url":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/author\/dispensaries-editor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1540"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1540"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1544,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1540\/revisions\/1544"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}