Medicinal marijuana is legal in 20 states, plus the District of Columbia. It should also be legal in the NFL, according to New York Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie, who suggested the league is waging a lost cause in banning the substance.
"We're just going to do it anyway," Cromartie told interviewer Ashlee Ray on Thisis50.com, an entertainment website. "They just need to let it go. They need to go ahead and say, 'Y'all go ahead, smoke it, do what you need to do.'"
Although it appeared that Cromartie used the word "we're" in his comments, the cornerback took to Twitter on Wednesday to clarify that he doesn't use marijuana.
The interview that I did on the weed policy, I never said We're I said tht Players will smoke anyway. I don't smoke so I don't care about it
- ANTONIO CROMARTIE (@CRO31) February 5, 2014
Cromartie made his remarks Friday, but they didn't gain traction until Wednesday, as they were overshadowed by Super Bowl XLVIII in the New York/New Jersey area.
Marijuana became a hot-button issue at the Super Bowl, as both teams -- the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos -- hail from states that legalized marijuana. Seahawks coach Pete Carroll created headlines by saying he agreed with the notion the league should investigate medicinal marijuana to see if it can help players.
Commissioner Roger Goodell, addressing the issue Friday at his annual Super Bowl news conference, downplayed the possibility of the league lifting marijuana from its list of banned substances.
"It is still an illegal substance on a national basis," Goodell said. "It's something that is part of the collective bargaining agreement with the players. It is questionable as to the positive impacts, in the face of the very strong evidence of the negative effects, including addictions and other issues.
"We'll continue to follow the medicine. Our experts right now are not indicating that we should change our policy in any way. We are not actively considering that at this point in time. But if it goes down the road sometime, that's something that we would never take off the table."