According to the Athletic, The National Basketball Association(NBA) will allow players to use mariju@na after reaching a new labor agreement with the players’ union. This means the league is following similar moves at the Major League Baseball (MLB) and National Hockey League (NHL).
The NBA reached a deal with the National Basketball Players Association for the 2023-2024 season, which includes a stipulation that the league will no longer test players for mariju@na use.
The league and the players’ association still need to ratify the agreement, but it is set to include a clause removing mariju@na from the league’s drug testing program, and players won’t be penalized for use anymore.
Former NBA players have come out in support of mariju@na legalization, including J.R. Smith and Al Harrington, who both lobbied for legalization in New York in 2019. Harrington told GQ that 85% of players smoke or use “some form of cann@bis.”