''You don't follow guys home, but just from what you hear, I think it's closer to 70 percent,'' said Derek Harper, the Orlando Magic point guard. ''It's scary, because you don't know when guys are using it. You don't know if guys are under the influence while they're playing or what the case is.''

Stern admitted in a recent interview that he has ''serious questions concerning drinking and marijuana,'' and that perhaps too much attention was paid to economic issues in the last collective bargaining agreement, signed more than a year ago. If the owners decide to reopen the agreement in July, the league will propose tightening the drug policy, Stern said, by suggesting some degree of private testing that might allow the union to supervise it, and that would include marijuana. But the National Basketball Players Association has historically resisted mandatory testing and budged only a little in 1988 by agreeing to rookie testing.

''I think the union has a balancing act,'' Stern said. ''I think anyone representing someone is fair in saying, 'Don't discriminate by asking us to take oaths and allegiances that you don't place on other people.' Saying, 'Are or have you been a member of the pot-smoking party,' is a series of words that raises a sense of witch hunting.

''But on the other hand, we do have a group of people, including players, who collectively work hard and obey the law. You have to ask yourself what additional obligations come to people in those positions. I think we and the union sort of disagree as to where you draw the line.''

League Image Vs. Star Power

Will either side compromise? If there is enough solidarity among players who do not want an updated policy, how does a league, bankrolled by its stars, reel in the freedom it has given them in past negotiations?

''I've often heard it from players that they suspect people in management are using drugs,'' said Billy Hunter, the executive director of the players association. If tougher drug testing were applied to all league employees, other workers would resist just like the players, he said.

''If there is a marijuana problem, it's one reflective of society,'' Hunter said. ''The conflict comes in because you have states around the country that are looking to legalize it. We intend to take a reasonable and prudent stance on this issue. We have a concern about player image and the success of the league. We don't want to undermine it or destroy it. But I don't intend to impose on our players more than what is imposed on people in society.''