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Pigs get fat, hogs got slaughtered, and employers who unreasonably try to run the private lives of their employees eventually pay for it.

Amid efforts to understand why the NFL’s TV audience is shrinking, there’s one reason that unnecessarily is keeping some of the best young players off the field: The Big Brotherish ban on marijuana use.

Whether it’s Josh Gordon, Justin Blackmon, Martavis Bryant, Randy Gregory, or any other player who has been or will be suspended for smoking marijuana or using other recreational drugs on their own time, the NFL’s effort to supplement the criminal justice system by punishing players who haven’t been arrested or charged with any crime deprives the game of talented players who could be making the game more exciting and compelling and competitive.

It’s one of several issues the league needs to consider when engaging in much-needed navel gazing regarding the reasons for the dip in ratings and the ways to change it. Apart from the reality that it’s the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do for the business of the NFL.

Don’t count on the NFL changing course spontaneously. Because the issue of marijuana use has become part of the broader menu of collective-bargaining topics, the league will want a concession from the NFL Players Association before ever walking away from the marijuana ban, even if it’s clearly in the best interests of the game to defer any concerns regarding the use of marijuana and other street drugs to the relevant legal authorities and/or the inherent meritocracy of the sport.

Put simply, if a guy doesn’t get arrested and can continue to perform at a satisfactory level regardless of whether he uses marijuana, he should be allowed to keep playing — and the league should want to do all it can to help him keep playing.