Transportation Secretary James Burnley sharply criticized the...

Transportation Secretary James Burnley sharply criticized the National Football League for not permanently suspending New York Giants’ linebacker Lawrence Taylor and other players caught abusing drugs.

Burnley said the 30-day suspensions drawn by Taylor and other NFL players detected using drugs a second time in drug tests administered this summer were “slaps on the wrist” that sent “the wrong message to America’s young people.

“Athletes, like the millions of ordinary Americans who look up to them, should be made to suffer real-life consequences for drug use,” he said in remarks prepared for delivery to the International Narcotic Enforcement Officers Association’s annual drug conference in New Orleans.

“The policy for athletes should be straightforward. If you are using drugs and come forward to enter rehabilitation, fine; the leagues will be there to help. But if you use drugs and get caught, you’re out permanently,” he said.