Weed connoisseur and rapper, Snoop Dog, advocated for athletes' ability to use marijuana at their own discretion in a debate with sports commentator Stephen A. Smith.
The rapper joined Smith on Jimmy Kimmel Live, where Smith was the guest host last night. The two had an important debate about weed in sports. Smith, who has made a habit of pleading with athletes to “stay off the weed,” first asked the rapper whether he agrees. In response, Snoop urged the NBA and the NFL to stop punishing players for smoking weed and suggest for the leagues to adopt a more progressive approach to drug testing policy.
“I push for [weed] in sports because baseball doesn’t test for marijuana [and] hockey doesn’t test for marijuana, so it should be the same with basketball and football,” said Snoop, who in 2015 launched his own brand of cannabis products.
Snoop Dogg's Stance On Weed In Sports">Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images
When asked whether it makes sense for pro sports leagues to conduct weed tests and punish those who fail with fines and suspension, Snoop disagreed saying, “What happens is you have these players who take these pills, and they get addicted to these pills, and it still doesn’t give them the relief that they need as far as the pain or whatever they’re going through.”
Snoop and Smith's conversation is timely. Most recently, track sensation, Sha’Carri Richardson was suspended for failing a drug test while in Oregon, where marijuana use is legal under state law. Richardson's suspension sparked multiple heated debates on social media over the Olympic's outdated views of the drug's impact on athletes.
Watch the interview below:
[via]