You can’t escape the headlines; recently a cornucopia of athletes have been in the headlines relating to Marijuana. Some in possession, others test positive in urine tests, and others are photographed with a bong like Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps.

In this particular article, two Oklahoma State football players were arrested for Marijuana possession. As you read this article and my opinion, try and put yourself or one of your children in the place of one of these young men.

Stillwater Newspress - Two Oklahoma State football players — sophomore Jamal Mosley and freshman Dexter Pratt — have been charged with one count each of misdemeanor possession of marijuana in court documents filed on Wednesday.

Both players were charged on June 17 and arraignment for both is scheduled for July 29.

OSU media relations said Thursday that OSU head coach Mike Gundy is out of town and would have no immediate comment on the situation and that information on the situation would likely come within the next few days.

Mosely, a tight end, is expected to battle for the starting spot while Pratt was one of the top incoming recruits for the Cowboys at running back. There has been talk of Pratt redshirting with Kendall Hunter and Keith Toston expected to see much of the playing time.

Police records said that both players possessed and controlled within a residence a small plastic bag containing what appeared to be, and subsequently field tested positive as a small amount of marijuana.

Most people will probably snicker after reading this and move onto more important things in their lives. But, for these athletes, their dilemma has just got started.

Because they are college students, they will probably lose their college loan, and also any scholarship they may have earned. You see, these athletes signed a contract with their university which allows them to compete in athletics. The contract specifies each athlete will support NCAA rules and regulations.

Let’s see what the NCAA requires when one fails a drug test:

NCAA Positive Test Result
If the NCAA tests you for the banned drugs listed in Bylaw 31.2.3.1 and you test positive, you will lose a season of competition in all sports if the season of competition has not yet begun for you. If the season of competition has begun, you will lose one full season of competition in all sports – i.e. remaining contests in the current season and contests in the following season up to the time that you were declared ineligible in the previous year.

Now let’s not forget these guys live in a state with extremely draconian Marijuana laws. The article didn’t mention the quantity the athletes were charged with, but assuming it was a smaller amount, the laws leave a great deal of discretion to the judge. They could receive any amount in fines and up to 1 year in prison for simply choosing a safer alternative. Is this the message we want to send our children as they approach college?

There is a really good chance that one or both of them will have to leave his college dreams behind and go to work. Since they have a drug conviction, the only jobs they can find are the kind of jobs that you and I don’t want to do. Over time they see their friends succeed financially, and it’s only logical to conclude that some people in their position have turned to selling drugs. Why not? The rationalization is that society has already made them outcasts and the only way to make an appropriate income means selling contraband or committing crimes.

In comparison, college binge drinking is a worse offense, although tolerated by universities a great deal more than Marijuana use.

According to Mothers Against Drunk Drivers

* 54 percent of binge drinking college students black out and forget what they did or where they were at some point in the year. For students who don’t binge drink, the number was 25 percent.
* 48 percent of the alcohol consumed at a 4 year college is consumed by an underage student.
* 44 percent of students report symptoms of alcohol abuse and dependency
* 25 percent of students say they have faced academic consequences (missing class, getting a bad grade, etc.) as a result of drinking.
* On average, students who have more than 5 drinks per occasion have a GPA that is half a grade lower than the GPA for other students.

A little non-toxic Marijuana isn’t going to hurt you, but alcohol may kill you and you might just take a few people with you when you slam your car head-on into someone else.

Think for just a moment; our standing President admitted he had used Marijuana earlier in his life. The only difference between these young men and our current standing president is they got caught, he didn’t. Does that sound fair to you?

Mr. President, can you take just a moment of your time to address the growing number of Americans who are clamoring to get your support for Marijuana legalization? I know you think it’s really funny, but people are going to prison and lives are being ruined every day because you can’t stop laughing long enough to be a real president. Step up, your constituents are demanding it.