New NBA labor agreement may allow players to use marijuana without consequence

Random drug testing of NBA players would no longer include cannabis if the tentative agreement between its union and the league reached over the weekend is ratified.

NBA players could use marijuana without fear of penalty if the tentative collective bargaining agreement announced over the weekend is ratified.

According to Insider, the stipulation is one of the terms of the seven-year tentative contract, or CBA, between the National Basketball Association and the National Basketball Players Association.

The NBA had suspended testing amid the coronavirus pandemic, and in 2021 announced its random testing would not include marijuana. NBA spokesman Mike Bass said then that random testing would focus on “performance-enhancing products and drugs of abuse,” according to Insider.

The tentative deal would enshrine the marijuana exclusion in a new contract if the CBA is approved, Insider reported, citing The Athletic.

According to Insider, former NBA players, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Allen Iverson, have advocated for marijuana legalization, as have athletes from the NFL and other sports leagues.

As Associated Press previously reported, the deal reached early Saturday came after more than a year of bargaining. The agreement is “pending ratification by players and team governors,” the basketball league said in a brief comment.

The NBA was on the verge of telling the Players Association of its plan to bow out of the current CBA on June 30. Though the new CBA would be a seven-year deal, it could end a year early if either side decides to opt out.

Specifics will be shared “once a term sheet is finalized,” the NBPA posted on Twitter.

After the tentative deal was announced, Insider reported, Tamika Tremaglio, executive director of the NBPA, tweeted that the organization’s goal during the negotiations “was to protect our players, enrich their lives on and off the court, and establish a framework that recognizes our players as true partners with the governors in both the NBA and the business world at large!”

According to the AP, even after both sides vote to approve the new deal, the actual agreement will have to be written, and there will be some revising along the way. The current CBA is 600 pages long.

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