For the NBA’s Union Chief, the Politics of Marijuana Go Beyond the League

This isn’t just a job for Michele Roberts.

That’s been apparent with the head of the NBA player’s association for some time. It was evident when she pushed back her plans to step down from the role in early 2020 when the COVID-19 crisis struck the league, preferring to stay on and help her players through the uncharted waters ahead; then again in the Orlando bubble, where Roberts played a central role in forcing the NBA’s hand on several racial justice program concessions during the league-wide stoppage for racial solidarity initiated by the Milwaukee Bucks.

And it’s visible now in another advocacy effort that also has wide-ranging societal implications: The elimination of marijuana testing in the NBA.

The NBA’s temporary suspension of random marijuana screening during the Disney bubble—the program had existed uninterrupted for 37 years after the NBA became the first major North American league to accept a comprehensive drug program in 1983—was collectively bargained between the league and players’ association. Per multiple league sources, random marijuana testing will remain suspended through the upcoming 2020-21 season—only “with cause” tests will be done, an area the league has historically been pretty lax about, sources say (PED testing will remain a part of the league’s program, per sources).

Roberts’ interest in marijuana’s social impact began well before the NBA arrived at Disney World, however.

While the bubble was still a concept in June, Roberts joined the board of Cresco Labs, a Chicago-based cannabis company. That decision, as she tells it, had little to do with her NBA role.

“I watched the tech industry develop as it was growing over the years,” Roberts told GQ in a phone interview. “I’ve seen tech and where it started, and [what] it’s become." Roberts, who is a Black woman, continued: "I remain saddened that in a lifetime of people who have been able to enjoy [that] new industry, still most of the people who predominate it don’t look like me. The more I watched this, the angrier I became.”

Roberts sees parallels between the early days of the tech industry and the current state of the cannabis world. This is a burgeoning industry that she doesn’t want to see her community left out of yet again, and it’s also a field with a complicated history in relation to Black people in particular. Part of the reason she chose Cresco Labs specifically was the company’s commitment to involving people of color and all genders in the licensing and manufacturing of cannabis – and the profits that will presumably arrive as legalization continues its steady march across the country.

Marijuana has long been a prominent part of America’s racial segregation toolkit. Racist rhetoric was a big part of the country’s move to broadly criminalize the drug in the 1930’s; the connection between cannabis and violence, specifically among Black and Hispanic communities, was falsely pushed, and heavily. This theme persisted for decades, from the passage of mandatory minimums to the “War on Drugs.”

Even in 2020, the ACLU reports that Black people “are 3.64 times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana possession, notwithstanding comparable usage rates.” In some states, the multiplier is nearly 10.

When Roberts had a chance to be part of reversing this course, even a small one, she jumped at it.

“When I was watching the cannabis industry grow, again I saw an opportunity for communities of color,” Roberts told GQ. “I thought it was especially appropriate given there are so many poor people and people of color who ended up paying huge penalties for being involved in an industry that is about to be, within the next 10 years, legal throughout the United States.”

Roberts was drawn to Cresco in large part due to its efforts on the social front. In 2019, the company became the first in the cannabis field to launch a Social Equity & Seed Development (SEED) program aimed at promoting inclusion and diversity in the industry. The effort focused on several areas, including access and engagement for communities of color plus expungement efforts for past marijuana convictions. It was a way to not just enter the space, but to make the kind of difference she desired within it.

The timing turned out to be perfect. Within just a few short weeks, the unique circumstances of the NBA playoffs allowed Roberts to enter the same fight on behalf of her players.

The move to suspend testing in the bubble was bargained relatively quickly between the league and players’ association, sources say. The choice to maintain the suspension into the upcoming season is largely meant to minimize contacts and maintain COVID safety—or at least, that’s the party line. "Due to the unusual circumstances in conjunction with the pandemic, we have agreed with the NBPA to suspend random testing for marijuana for the 2020-21 season and focus our random testing program on performance-enhancing products and drugs of abuse," said league spokesman Mike Bass. 

To Roberts, though, it’s a clear sign of things to come. Far from a one-time event, she’s confident that “in the next CBA, maybe even next season,” the removal of random marijuana testing for NBA players will be permanent. She points to leagues like the NFL and MLB, which have already made similar moves despite having a much less progressive reputation than the NBA.

“We’re not going to expose our players to unnecessary risks,” Roberts said, ostensibly referring to COVID precautions. Her follow-up applies to non-pandemic times, though: “And it is not necessary to know whether our players are positive for marijuana.”

Roberts obviously doesn’t have singular control over this. Issues like these have to be collectively bargained between the league and player’s association, with multiple league sources confirming that dialogue about a permanent elimination of testing remains ongoing.

These kinds of arrangements often come with “give-backs,” as those in the league term them, where the side pushing for the change offers a concession of their own to the other in exchange. But that might not be necessary here, largely because Roberts’ support isn’t the only significant piece of momentum the cause has going for it.

Public perception is a real thing, for one. The NBA has leaned ever-further into its position as the most progressive sports league, and trailing other North American sports leagues to a move that’s clearly backed by a majority of the population is uncharacteristic.

Then there’s the health side, which could be the element that gets the league over the top here. Research into both THC and CBD for pain relief and recovery has become more prominent in recent years, to the point where it’s crossed over into mainstream society. Meanwhile, the opioid crisis that’s plagued the country for years has raised awareness about the dangers of far stronger medically-prescribed painkillers than marijuana.

“I know these guys play in pain, live in pain, almost as a matter of course,” Roberts says of her players. “They don’t want to take a lot of drugs that they could perfectly legally take from their trainers, because they’re aware much of that stuff is highly addictive.”

Marijuana could be a big part of the answer. As the country at large takes a more and more progressive stance on the subject, with well over half the states now boasting some kind of legal marijuana program (medical or recreational), the potential for improved research into the true clinical benefits of these substances is high.

Don’t get Roberts started on the politics, though. This former lawyer always keeps an eye on public policy, and is convinced that were it not for a certain recent US Attorney General “who decided that marijuana was a demon drug,” as she puts it, all this would have already happened years ago.

“Had we had a different AG that didn’t have such a problem with marijuana, I think we would have seen some legislation come out of the feds,” Roberts said. “And the league, I believe, would have been more comfortable agreeing that we would no longer test for marijuana.”

Still, the wheels are in motion.

For many NBA players, it’s a long time coming. Current and former players alike tout its benefits both publicly and (more often) privately, with past NBA stars like Shawn Kemp and Al Harrington serving as major advocates.

As much as anything, it’s about the stigma for many guys in the league today. Roberts counts numerous examples of players who will speak with her about these topics, but won’t go public for fear of being labeled “pothead” or “stoner.” Guys worry teams will view them differently when they hit free agency; some of their fans might, too.

All this does is obscure the reality. One Western Conference NBA player—speaking on condition of anonymity for exactly those stigma-related reasons—estimated that roughly 70% of the league partakes in cannabis consumption to some degree. Several front office executives polled thought that number was low. Whether it’s a cultural thing, a pain thing or a recreational thing, it’s happening already.

And Roberts, as an advocate both within and outside her NBA role, is a big part of bringing it out in the open. To her, it’s only a matter of time.

“I am absolutely confident [that] by next season, at the absolute latest by the time the next CBA is negotiated, this is going to be old news.”

Originally Appeared on GQ