Report: Use of Marijuana, Alcohol Prevalent in NBA

Marijuana smoking and heavy drinking are rampant in the NBA, involving 60% to 70% of the players, The New York Times reported Sunday.

The estimate is based on statements made to the newspaper by players, former players, agents and basketball executives in more than two dozen interviews. One agent said the figure may actually be higher.

“No one can really know, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s 70%,” Dallas Maverick guard Robert Pack said.

Marijuana is not covered by the league’s substance abuse policy, which has been in effect without major modifications since 1984.

Commissioner David Stern has said recently he would like to have a drug policy that includes marijuana.

“That substance can impair people and cause them to be guilty of criminal conduct. We don’t want that,” Stern said in a recent interview. “I think it’s incumbent upon us to make a statement about it.”

The players’ union has resisted a marijuana policy, saying all its members shouldn’t come under increased scrutiny because of the transgressions of a few players.

“Marijuana is not tested for, and yet that is the big thing guys are getting in trouble with in the league. It’s terrible,” Utah Jazz star Karl Malone told the Times.