Getty Images

The NFL either has a great sense of humor or an unintended flair for the ironic. Regardless, it’s April 20 (as in 4/20), and the NFL’s annual drug-testing period is officially open.

For players not already in the drug-testing program, it means that the once-per-year substance-abuse test can happen at any point between now and early August. Which means that, if/when a player not in the drug-testing program passes the annual substance-abuse test, he can use recreational drugs like marijuana without consequence until next year. As long as, of course, he isn’t arrested for marijuana possession in a state where it’s illegal or a bag of weed doesn’t fall out of his coat pocket while visiting the league office.

Given the amount of time necessary for marijuana metabolites to exit the system (it can take as long as 30 days) it may be too late to stop smoking yesterday. For those who stopped in time to produce a clean sample, they’ll be hoping to get their number pulled sooner than later, so that they can resume doing what is now legal in nine states for recreational purposes and 29 states for medicinal purposes.

Which brings me back to the point I’ve made time and again: Why? Why does the NFL feel compelled to Big Brother these guys away from something that is widely legal and even more widely accepted? The War on Drugs is over, and the islands of Cheech and Chong prevailed.

At this point, it’s not about right or wrong, legal or illegal. It’s not about whether it helps players better than prescription medications. It’s not whether it assists with concussion recovery. It’s about collective bargaining, and the league won’t be giving up the current policy without a concession from the union.

The union, in turn, won’t be making a concession, because the union knows that most players are smart enough to know when to stop smoke, when they can start again, and how to be discreet about using it.