The National Football League (NFL) has increased the THC threshold to trigger a positive cannabis test for players from 150 nanograms per milliliter of blood to 350 ng/ml, NBC Pro Football Talk reports. Fines are also reduced under the new policy from 50% of a game check to $15,000 for the first violation, from a full game check to $20,000 for a second violation, from a two-game fine to one for a third violation, and from a three-game fine to two for all subsequent violations.
Fines for missed tests will also be reduced and all players who currently have pending discipline for missed tests will have those missed tests excused and they will be considered as having no missed tests, according to the Associated Press.
In 2020, the league announced it would end suspensions for positive cannabis tests after the NFL Players Association sough to amend the rules amid cannabis reforms throughout the U.S. In an interview earlier this year, Tavarres King, a former wide receiver that played for two teams in his three-year career, estimated that “around 80%” of players in the league use cannabis.
Following the end of their NFL careers several former players entered the cannabis space, including Marshawn Lynch, Calvin Johnson, Rob Sims, Ricky Williams, Terrell Davis, Marvin Washington, Joe Montana, Eugene Monroe, and Carson Palmer.
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