Tom Pelissero

USA TODAY Sports

INDIANAPOLIS – The NFL Players Association plans to propose updates to the collectively bargained substance abuse policy that repositions marijuana use as a player health and safety issue, along the same lines as revisions to concussion protocol in recent years.

NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith told USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday the goal is to better emphasize diagnosis of underlying issues and treatment in the early phases of the drug program, rather than just getting players to stop smoking weed. And Smith said the union intends to hold the league accountable to make the necessary adjustments to a policy both sides agreed to in 2014.

“I think that there is a better way,” Smith said, “to evaluate players who test positive for marijuana to figure out whether or not they have just a recreational use issue, whether they have an addiction problem, but equally important, whether or not they’re using marijuana as a result of some other issue that we’re not even looking for – whether there is a depression issue, whether there is an anxiety issue. And currently, the way the system works, that evaluation, that therapeutic look at the player isn’t occurring.

“I believe if the players vote on it, it will be a policy that is in the best health and safety interest of the players, and we will treat it the same way that we treated changes in the collective bargaining agreement to make concussion protocols safer, practice on field safer, ways to ensure that players are treated the right way for injuries, and that’s our obligation as a union.”

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The first step is finalizing a proposal for review by the NFLPA executive committee before the union’s annual meetings later this month. If approved, it would then go to the board of representatives for another vote before it would be sent to the league.

The NFL declined comment Wednesday.

Stage One of the current substance abuse policy – jointly negotiated, approved in September 2014 and most recently revised last year – includes evaluation to determine whether a player would benefit from clinical intervention and/or treatment to avoid future misuse of banned drugs.

It reads in part: “The primary purpose of this Policy is to assist Players who misuse Substances of Abuse. As a result, the implementation and application of the terms of this Policy should first be directed toward ensuring evaluation and treatment. Nevertheless, as a part of the overall program, Players who violate the law or do not comply with the requirements of the Policy will be subject to appropriate discipline.”

The 2014 policy also slowed the “schedule” for fines and suspensions for marijuana use relative to other drugs. Smith said his idea for revisions – which he shared with agents during the NFLPA’s annual seminar Wednesday at the NFL scouting combine – doesn’t include further changes to discipline. “It’s (about) making therapeutic and medical-based decisions about the policy instead of just looking at it as a rule-punitive punishment issue,” Smith said.

This forthcoming proposal isn’t related to the NFLPA’s nascent pain management committee, which the union is forming to study potential uses for cannabinoids and other alternatives to narcotic painkillers.

“This is an issue of scientifically, therapeutically and medically, are we doing the right thing with respect to people who test positive for marijuana under the policy?” Smith said. “And when you ask those three questions, you get answers, and then the idea is we will come up with and present a proposal to the executive committee based on those three things.

“I see this potential change in the drug policy exactly the same way (as concussion protocol). If we aren’t looking at ways to address serious health and safety issues that our players may have, that’s a problem. And so we’re going to look at it and see if there’s a fix to the problem, and then hold the league accountable to their obligation as the employer.”

Another issue the NFLPA plans to raise with players at their meeting this month: data that shows a “statistically significant difference” in the likelihood of injuries on artificial turf than grass fields over the past several years, Smith said.

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