AP Discovers That SEC Schools Do Not Take Marijuana Use As Seriously As The NCAA

The Associated Press has a really long article about all this research they did with regard to smoking pot in the SEC. The long and the short of it is this: different schools police themselves differently and they all are much more lenient on their own stoner scholar athletes than the NCAA.

Halfway through the report, it is helpfully pointed out that the NCAA doesn't even really concern itself with recreational drugs and chooses to focus more on performance enhancing drugs. And then a few more paragraphs down:

The use of recreational drugs is a growing concern around all of college football.

Got that? The NCAA, notoriously unnecessary meddler that it is, can't be bothered to deal with recreational drug use but, it's a "growing concern" throughout college football.

I really have no idea what the point in detailing the various drug testing policies for various SEC schools is, though. They are distinct universities with separate boards, administrators and student bodies. Yet, paragraphs like this are littered throughout the report.

Athletes at Georgia and Auburn who test positive for marijuana a second time face the prospect of losing half their season to suspension.

Arkansas and Florida, by comparison, suspend athletes for 10 percent of a season for a second positive.

Georgia, Kentucky and Mississippi State are the only ones with suspensions for athletes' first positive test for marijuana, 10 percent of the season for each. Kentucky includes possible dismissal for each of the first two positives, with a(half-season suspension for No. 2).

The policy variations continue beyond the first positive test.

Well I'll be goddamned. While we prefer to discuss more socially relevant issues, there's a growing concern in this reader that these articles are just an excuse to see how many times a writer can type the word "drugs."

SEC teams' penalties for drugs not created equally [AJC, AP]