NBA FanPulse Week 19 results: Fans believe that the league should allow players to use cannabis if they wish

Welcome to Week 19 of SB Nation’s NBA FanPulse results! Let’s take a quick look at the fan confidence results surrounding the Wizards and then get to our national question!

Wizards results: Fan confidence shoots up after a 2-2 week

SB Nation

The Wizards’ rough start after the All-Star Break likely explains why fan confidence shot down so quickly last week. But this week, things seem to be heading back to normal after Washington went 2-2 in games between Feb. 24 and Mar. 2. It’s a bit disheartening that Bradley Beal can’t win anything these days, but at least we can take solace in the fact that most of you are confident in the team once again.

National Results: Nearly 3 in 4 NBA fans want the league to allow cannabis usage

SB Nation

For those of you who do not know what cannabis is, that’s the plant that produces marijuana. Other nicknames include weed, pot, grass, Mary Jane, the Dutch, and probably many others.

Recently, Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant mentioned that the NBA should end its ban on cannabis even though other leagues like the NHL and MLB no longer consider it an illegal substance. Also there are other drugs like alcohol and tobacco which aren’t banned but certainly aren’t the best for one’s health.

Historically, the first place I can think of where people can enjoy marijuana rather freely is the Netherlands, hence the “Dutch” nickname. You can go inside many “coffeeshops” in major cities like Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague or Eindhoven to have a joint, so long as it’s consumed within the premises.

That said, the Netherlands is a seven to eight hour flight away from the DMV. Also, let’s just say that plenty of people use marijuana in our country. And finally, the Netherlands isn’t necessarily the “weed haven” that some make it out to be, especially recently.

Peter Cluskey of The Irish Times has a good article on how “Dutch tolerance” also has unintended consequences. They include things like effectively allowing gangs to supply the products that coffeeshops serve in Amsterdam. And the Dutch capital is also trying to shed its image of being the “city Las Vegas wishes it was.”

Marijuana is still illegal at the federal level here in the United States. But most states, including Maryland and D.C. now allow marijuana for medicinal or recreational use. That has allowed businesses to flourish, some of which are owned by NBA players. Marijuana remains illegal in Virginia.

Washington Wizards alumnus Al Harrington is one of the players who is heavily involved in the cannabis industry. He is the founder of Viola Brands, a cannabis producer that sells in Colorado, Oregon, Michigan and California, states where recreational and medicinal usage is legal at the state level.

In an interview with Candace Buckner of The Washington Post from October 2019, Harrington said that he used marijuana to cope with pain toward the end of his career. In his last NBA season in 2013-14, he also showed his Wizards teammates a facility with cannabis plants in Colorado.

With the changing attitudes around cannabis in America as a whole, I think it’s time to remove marijuana, CBD and other cannabis-derivatives from the NBA’s banned substances list. Hopefully that change happens soon, especially since it seems that this is an open secret in the league.

Join FanPulse!

If you haven’t already, sign up for FanPulse here!