Pubdate: Tue, 21 Jan 2003
Source: Washington Times (DC)
Copyright: 2003 News World Communications, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.washingtontimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/492
Author: Patrick Hruby
Cited: National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (www.norml.org )
Cited: Office of National Drug Control Policy (www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov )
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

FIRED UP

During his 13-year stint in the NFL, Mark Stepnoski smoked marijuana. Not 
very often. Not in Snoop Dogg-shaming quantities. But enough to know the 
real thing from oregano and enough to claim he never suffered a single 
deleterious side effect.

Excluding, of course, the munchies.

"That wasn't a problem," Stepnoski said with a laugh. "I was one of those 
people who had to work to keep weight on."

Two years into retirement, the former Dallas Cowboys center is still fired 
up when it comes to pot - only now, he's a spokesman (and presumably, a 
tokesman) for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, a 
Washington-based lobby group dedicated to marijuana policy reform.

Though Stepnoski isn't the only famous figure affiliated with NORML - the 
group counts director Robert Altman and musician Willie Nelson as members - 
he's the first high-profile athlete to take an active, visible role in the 
organization, which seeks to decriminalize and regulate marijuana use.

"I used [marijuana], and it never really prevented me from attaining any of 
the goals that I set for myself," said the 35-year-old Stepnoski, a member 
of NORML's national advisory board and the group's Texas chapter. "In 
addition, I met many other people who also would occasionally smoke 
marijuana. And they certainly didn't strike me as criminals. "I don't think 
that the drug is properly judged on a scientific basis. Just because 
marijuana is illegal, people think it's wrong. I don't agree with that."

A marijuana user for nearly two decades, Stepnoski gave money to NORML 
throughout his NFL career and became a lifetime member of the group in 
1998. He also subscribed to High Times, a magazine for cannabis enthusiasts.

Otherwise, Stepnoski kept his interest in pot politics quiet. Marijuana is 
on the NFL's banned substance list, and the All-Pro center didn't want the 
negative attention that would come with publicly contradicting the league's 
anti-drug stance - particularly given the substance-related legal woes of 
former Dallas teammates Michael Irvin and Nate Newton.  "No one knew," 
Stepnoski said. "The media would have had a field day with it."

After he left the Cowboys in 2001, however, Stepnoski decided to come out 
of what one article dubbed "the smoky closet." He gave a lengthy interview 
to a Dallas news weekly last October, then outlined his pro-pot views 
before a national television audience on Fox News Channel's "O'Reilly Factor."

According to Howard Woolridge, executive director of Texas NORML, 
Stepnoski's football background makes him an ideal advocate for 
marijuana-law reform.

"There are tens of thousands of doctors, lawyers and Indian chiefs out 
there who use marijuana occasionally," said Woolridge, a former police 
officer. "But they're not going to step out of the closet and say, 'Yeah, 
this is doctor so and so, head of neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins, and by the 
way I smoke dope two or three times a week.' The world would fall apart.

"That's why, for us, to have a guy that's on the All-American academic team 
in college and was a highly successful NFL player for 13 seasons is huge. 
It slams into the stereotypes of the burnt-out stoner who is going to wait 
tables for the rest of his life."

Not everyone is as enthused. News of Stepnoski's second career touched off 
a flurry of hand-wringing in his hometown of Erie, Pa., and hundreds of 
residents polled by a local newspaper said their perception of the local 
football hero had been tarnished.

Though slightly more than half of the individuals surveyed said their view 
of Stepnoski had not changed, one response labeled him an "embarrassment" 
who "should be ashamed to show himself in the area." Others questioned his 
suitability as a role model for young athletes.

Officials at Stepnoski's high school, Cathedral Prep, are reconsidering 
their decision to induct the 1985 graduate into the school's athletic Hall 
of Fame, a ceremony scheduled to take place in March.

"There has been a lot of discussion about it," said Father Scott Jabo, Prep 
headmaster. "We're pleased with Mark's athletic accomplishments. But his 
public announcement causes some concerns with all the work we do with our 
students to discourage the use of marijuana."

Likewise, Office of National Drug Control Policy spokesman Tom Riley said 
Stepnoski is setting a bad example for the young.

"It's kind of sad," Riley said. "Young people look up to professional 
athletes. That's the reason this guy is famous and why NORML would want him 
as a spokesman. It's an incredibly cynical gesture, especially given that 
more teens now need treatment for marijuana than any other drug combined."

Riley noted that a National Institute on Drug Abuse study released this 
week found that children who use alcohol, marijuana or other illicit drugs 
in their early teen years are more likely to experience psychiatric 
disorders in their late 20s.

"Everybody thinks that marijuana is not that harmful, not as scary as drugs 
like cocaine," he said. "But in the last 10 years, a lot of studies have 
come out showing the damage that marijuana can cause. Talk to the people 
that run treatment programs. They're not going to say it's harmless."

For their part, Stepnoski and other supporters of marijuana-law reform 
argue that cannabis is far less addictive than nicotine and that the health 
risks associated with the drug are on par with those stemming from alcohol 
and tobacco use. As such, they believe that marijuana prohibition is not 
only unnecessary, but also places an unnecessary strain on law enforcement.

According to the Texas State Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, more 
than half of the 103,922 drug-related arrests made in the state in 2001 
were for marijuana possession.

"To me, that's just a huge waste of taxpayers' money," Stepnoski said. 
"It's not educating people, not doing anything to reduce use. All it does 
is put people in jail, eat up police time, judges' time, right down the line.

"I've met a lot of people in my life who occasionally use marijuana. People 
who are responsible, who have jobs, who pay taxes, who raise families. 
Productive members of society. They shouldn't be treated like criminals."

To illustrate, Stepnoski cites his own football career. Named to a pair of 
All-America teams at the University of Pittsburgh, he earned two Super Bowl 
rings, went to five straight Pro Bowls and was named to the NFL's 
All-Decade second team for the 1990s - impressive accomplishments for a 
265-pound center who routinely squared off against much heavier defensive 
linemen.

Along the way, Stepnoski said, he occasionally smoked a postgame joint, the 
better to soothe his aching body and a creaky right knee that required six 
surgeries.

"As an athlete, I was very cognizant of what I was putting into my body," 
Stepnoski said. "That's your meal ticket. And any number of things can be 
responsible for you losing your job.

"Somebody might take up smoking cigarettes. It takes away their wind. Some 
guys drink too much. They end up in treatment. You can eat your way out of 
the league. I've seen guys do it. But I never had that problem with 
marijuana. It was all about responsible use."

As for passing the NFL's mandatory drug tests, Stepnoski said he simply 
refrained from smoking cannabis during the league's once-a-year testing period.

"It was very easy for me to quit," he said. "To me, that underscores that 
marijuana is not addictive."

Stepnoski added that while he thinks the NFL has a right to test players 
for marijuana use, he believes the league's anti-cannabis stance is 
hypocritical in light of the alcohol advertising that permeates the game.

"Every single [stadium in the league] had huge alcohol signs," Stepnoski 
said. "Most of them, tobacco also. That goes for the programs as well. 
Also, a lot of beer is sold at games.

"People are going to be critical about what I'm saying. But look at how 
many athletes endorse alcohol. Think about how many people die every year 
from alcohol poisoning, how many crimes are committed because of alcohol, 
how much domestic abuse takes place. Think about all the drunk driving, all 
the traffic related deaths.

"Those figures blow marijuana out of the water. And yet, no one will ever 
be critical of a sports figure endorsing alcohol."

Since going public with his pro-marijuana views last fall, Stepnoski has 
been giving interviews and making appearances across Texas. He also plans 
to join Woolridge in lobbying the state legislature, which NORML is 
campaigning to have marijuana possession downgraded from a B-class felony 
(like drunken driving) to a C-class felony (like driving 10 mph over the 
speed limit).

"Nobody in Texas this year wants to build more prisons and put more people 
there for nonviolent drug offenses," Woolridge said. "The question is, how 
fast can we back this train up and go to personal responsibility as an 
approach to marijuana use?"

The answer remains to be seen. While pot politics have gained mainstream 
acceptance in recent years o New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson even campaigned 
on a legalization platform o the movement suffered a setback in the 
November elections, when voters in four states rejected ballot measures 
that would have relaxed or done away with anti-marijuana laws.

Pot advocates also face an ongoing struggle for credibility. Many view 
Stepnoski and his ilk as little more than politically minded Jeff Spicolis: 
One hand on the voting lever, the other on a bag of Fritos.

Imagining that Stepnoski had been elected to public office, a Dallas 
Morning News columnist quipped that his acceptance speech would begin with 
"Dudes, who knew we could do it?" and that voting calls of "yea" and "nay" 
would be replaced with "cool!" and "totally not cool!"

"That's kind of something that just goes hand in hand with making an 
appearance," Stepnoski said. "I can only hope that sometime down the road 
marijuana is legalized like alcohol is now and that people will wonder how 
they ever made the mistake of trying to outlaw the stuff.

"If that can happen, then in a sense, I'll be vindicated."
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager