A case has been made in the NFL for the use of medical marijuana by players, and commissioner Roger Goodell said he would consider allowing the drug if it’s shown to help concussions. What hasn’t been discussed, though, is the recreational use of marijuana by players, and the D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project thought that Super Bowl weekend would be the perfect time to get its message across about the “hypocrisy of the National Football League’s marijuana policy.”
The organization has paid for five billboards in locations surrounding MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., each with a message about marijuana and the league’s policy.
“Hopefully it’s going to inspire people to talk to one another about marijuana and particularly its relative harms compared to alcohol and football,” said Mason Tvert, director of communications at the Marijuana Policy Project, via For the Win.
This isn’t the first time the organization has taken shots at the NFL over its policy. In September, the group posted a billboard outside Denver’s Sports Authority Field at Mile High Stadium telling the league to “Stop Driving Players to Drink” and advised: “A safer choice is now legal here.”
“I think a lot of people will be shocked at just how many people are getting in trouble for using a less harmful substance than alcohol,” Tvert said. “When you’re sitting in a full stadium and you think about the idea of everyone in there being arrested 10 times over, it really gets you thinking about just how many people that is.”
Tvert said he will head to Goodell’s office Wednesday and drop off a copy of a change.org petition calling the NFL to stop punishing players for using marijuana. The petition had more than 12,000 signatures as of Wednesday morning.
Check out the billboards in the photos below.
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