Even if you don’t share my attitude about how pointless and wasteful this country’s four decades long War on Drugs has been, you can’t help but note how much public opinion has shifted on marijuana usage in the last five to ten years. At the moment, pot remains illegal, and almost every athletic department in the nation tests for it.” – but I don’t. Andy understandably has to pull his punches on one thing – “I realize there are quite a few of you reading this who feel recreational marijuana use should not be lumped in with the use of more hardcore drugs.In other words, if you’re McGarity and Richt, you might as well put on a brave face about your school’s policy, because you’re going to have to live with it for a long time. And in the end, if the SEC did in fact adopt a standard weaker than Georgia’s, I also have no doubt that Adams would see fit to maintain the standards he put in place at his school, because that’s how Michael Adams rolls. I have equally no doubt that his sales pitch would be disregarded by his peers. If there ever were a serious conference debate on the subject, I have no doubt that Adams would be in there lobbying his fellow presidents to follow Georgia’s lead. Georgia’s current substance-abuse policy isn’t something the athletic department came up with it’s the child of Michael Adams. If that last sentence in the above quote doesn’t disabuse you from the hope that the SEC will come to Butts-Mehre’s aid by adopting a uniform conference drug policy less rigid than Georgia’s, going back to read Groo’s post on the subject should.There are a few points I’d like to elaborate on in response. Also, it’s highly unlikely the NCAA or any conference would issue a uniform drug policy because testing laws vary from state to state. Of course, if McGarity softened the policy, he would get ripped for compromising Georgia’s morals for victories. At some point, this policy could cost Richt and/or McGarity their jobs. Athletic directors whose football and men’s basketball coaches don’t win get fired. McGarity’s is a noble stance, but it’s also a stance that seems at odds with the current culture in college sports. Second, Staples does a very good job illustrating the “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” box McGarity and Richt find themselves in. It harms the reputation of the program by allowing media and fans to easily identify first-time offenders who would have remained anonymous at most schools.
It puts the program at a competitive disadvantage by forcing suspensions when rival programs offer mulligans.Ģ. First, Staples aptly summarizes how the policy adversely affects the athletics department:īy dinging players for one game on the first positive and four on the second, Georgia’s substance-abuse policy hurts the program in two ways:ġ. If you haven’t taken the time to read Andy Staples’ sympathetic take on how Georgia’s athletics department copes with the school’s current drug policy, by all means do so.
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