Should the NBA allow marijuana use?

End of May, Kevin Durant, player for the Oklahoma City Thunder, is quietly spending his evening clubbing in California as he recovers from foot surgery, much like Karim Benzema, who has been clubbing in New York with Rihanna. After quietly fielding questions from the paparazzi on his way out of the club, he decides it's time to leave and heads for the passenger door of his SUV. As he opens his door, he can only step aside from what falls from his car and looks very much like a prescription tube of medical marijuana.

A paparazzi then exclaims «Ho, ho, someone just dropped his weed».

One of Durant's buddies picks up the prescription box which looks full of weed. Of course, we don't know what was in the box, although it looks a lot like what dispensaries prescribe, or whether it really belonged to Durant or his buddies. But, as the Huff, We're in California, the Thunder aren't in the play-offs, live your life, KD, live your life.«

TMZ Sports, which inevitably picked up the paparazzi video (see end of article), conducted its own little investigation in the NBA locker room. It collected 10 testimonials, all anonymous, from basketball players who would approve of the removal of cannabis limits from doping tests, since that's what it's all about, provided they have a prescription.

One of the players told them: «How can you tell a guy who has a prescription not to use it? They should have the right to use it.

Another: «Of course the NBA shouldn't advertise it, but I don't see a problem if a guy smokes, if he has a prescription.».

Underneath it all, these players believe the league needs to move with the times - although they all agree that the NBA is more progressive than other major sports leagues like the NFL and could be a true pioneer in cannabis policy.

Things won't be changing any time soon: TMZ Sports contacted the NBA Players Association, who told them that the topic could be discussed at the next roundtable in 2017. «It's too early to say if this is a topic that needs to be addressed in 2016,» they say.

An initial positive test for marijuana results in a 5-game suspension and mandatory entry into the NBA's substance abuse program. For a repeat offence, the penalty can be up to a 10-game suspension without pay.

Kevin Durant isn't the only NBA player to be caught up in a controversy over his - in his case, potential - use of cannabis. Mike Scott of the Atlanta Hawks (7.8 points per game on average last season) was arrested on August 31 for possession of marijuana and MD. Larry Sanders of the Milwaukee Bucks is serving a 10-game suspension without pay after failing a cannabis test for the third time. In fact, he's likely to be banned from his club. Although he's determined to «learn to live without marijuana» (his words), he defends the plant's medical virtues, knowing what he's exposing himself to by consuming it. And we're only talking about the NBA in 2014. The NFL and swimming (remember Phelps) also have their share of «nominees».

With 23 US states where medical use is legal, perhaps it's time to ask the question of cannabis testing in sport and whether it belongs on the list of «doping products»...

Video :  Kevin Durant drops a prescription for marijuana as he enters his SUV