DALLAS — Since everybody has an opinion about Dallas sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson getting suspended from the Olympic games, how can I not?
Richardson gets a 30-day suspension for smoking marijuana, but this isn't a performance-enhancing drug. If it was, a good friend of mine would be the fastest guy on the planet.
But 30 days for smoking a drug that is legal or decriminalized, a distinction with little difference, in most states.
I'm with most Americans who think marijuana should be legal. I'm not saying people should smoke it, I'm just saying they should be able to if they want. We tried banning alcohol and that didn't work. I think the money we've spent on the war on drugs, another war we lost incidentally, might have been better spent some other way
But here's my problem: I don't buy her explanation as to why she decided to use the drug. I'm sorry I don't.
And I do believe this: While I don't think marijuana is the problem some people make it out to be, if you can't stop smoking when you know you're going to be tested, you have a problem.
And while it might be a bad rule, it's still a rule. And rules still matter, at least to some of us.
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