David Irving is not happy with the NFL’s substance abuse policy. The fourth-year Dallas Cowboys defensive end will spend the first four games of the upcoming season on the sideline thanks to a cannabis-related suspension, but that hasn’t stopped him from railing against the league’s marijuana policy on social media.
In a series of now-deleted comments posted underneath an Instagram selfie uploaded over the weekend, Irving decried the NFL’s penchant for handing out pain pills like candy while punishing pot users. Responding to a follower who accused him of using steroids, Irving confirmed that his current suspension stemmed from cannabis, adding that he has been “medicated” during every game he has ever played.
“Check this, y’all wanna judge n say what’s right or wrong,” Irving wrote on Instagram, according to the Dallas Star-Telegram. “These guys prescribe me Xanax bars, ambient, and painkillers, some of us, like myself have been smoking weed since 12. Never been in trouble w the law. Always had a 3.0 or higher too. It’s natural, I’d much rather smoke weed than take all that lab made [expletive]... The nfl laws on weed are [expletive] n we all know it. I’m from Cali. I’ve had my medical card. It’s nothing wrong with it. Also. Every game you seen me play in, I was medicated. I don’t see you or any of my coaches or previous coaches complaining about my play.”
Over the past few years, as cannabis reform takes hold across the country and the plant’s social stigma begins to dissolve, retired football players have repeatedly spoken up about the benefits they have found in CBD and THC treatment. In an interview with MERRY JANE last year, retired NFL linebacker Reggie Williams said that CBD allowed him to walk again after years of tackling had left him wheelchair bound.