cannabisnews.com: Pro-Pot Group Urges RB To Join Broncos





Pro-Pot Group Urges RB To Join Broncos
Posted by CN Staff on October 03, 2007 at 06:13:15 PT
By Vanessa Miller, Daily Camera 
Source: Rocky Mountain News
Colorado -- The pro-marijuana organization behind the referendum that made penalties for pot on the University of Colorado campus no greater than those for alcohol is encouraging suspended running back Ricky Williams to join the Denver Broncos. Officials with SAFER, or Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation, will unveil a billboard across the street from Invesco Field in Denver at noon tomorrow supporting Williams' notorious use of marijuana and encouraging him to push for a spot on the Broncos.
Williams, who just completed an 18-month suspension from the NFL for violating the league's drug policy for the fourth time, filed for league reinstatement yesterday and is awaiting approval. The Miami Dolphins runner has played in 12 NFL games since the start of the 2004 season, and his most recent suspension came in April 2006 after he tested positive for marijuana. Williams remains under contract with Miami, but the team's coach hasn't said whether he wants Williams back. SAFER executive director Mason Tvert said today that if Williams must find a new squad, he should come to Colorado. "The National Football League's marijuana policy is just as irrational as our federal government's marijuana policy," Tvert said in a statement. "Authorities are steering adults toward using alcohol and punishing them for making the safer choice to use marijuana instead." The new billboard across from Invesco reads "Ricky, come to Denver ... Where the people support your SAFER choice." It pictures the back of a player with dreadlocks wearing a Broncos jersey. Tvert said pushing football players to use alcohol instead of pot could be dangerous. "Why on Earth would the NFL steer some of the biggest, strongest and toughest men in America away from marijuana and toward a drug that contributes to violent and aggressive behavior?" Tvert said. Source: Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)Author:  Vanessa Miller, Daily Camera Published: October 2, 2007Copyright: 2007 Denver Publishing Co.Contact: letters rockymountainnews.comWebsite: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Safer Choicehttp://www.saferchoice.org/City Council Puts Pot Issue on Ballothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23289.shtmlReport: Hick, 4 Council Members Smoked Pothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23288.shtml
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Comment #5 posted by fight_4_freedom on October 06, 2007 at 08:39:21 PT:
from the safer blog
Broncos starting RB Travis Henry tests positive for marijuana!League-Leading Running Back Tests Positive for Marijuana Just One Day After SAFER’s “Ricky Williams” Billboard Makes National HeadlinesSAFER Demands NFL Not Suspend Denver Broncos’ Travis Henry for Marijuana UseJust one day after a pro-marijuana organization unveiled a billboard urging Ricky Williams to come play in Denver because marijuana has been made legal here, NFL rushing leader Travis Henry of the Denver Broncos has tested positive for marijuana. Initial reports say he faces up to a one-year suspension, and the organization behind the billboard, Denver-based Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER), is demanding the NFL refrain from punishing the star running back.“NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is probably sitting down to a glass of Chardonnay and telling his wife how he is going to punish Travis Henry for using marijuana,” said SAFER Executive Director Mason Tvert. “This NFL policy reeks of hypocrisy, and it is steering these world-class athletes away from using marijuana and toward using alcohol, a far more harmful drug.“The NFL is clearly in the pockets of the alcohol industry,” Tvert said. “Roger Goodell should explain why it is okay for him and NFL players to use alcohol, but unacceptable to use a less harmful drug.“This Sunday, people will line up during the Broncos’ game at Invesco Field to pay $10 for a beer, and that’s not a problem for Mr. Goodell,” Tvert said. “Budweiser and Bud Light face off at half-time of the Super Bowl, and that’s not a problem for Mr. Goodell. Coors is the ‘Official Beer of the NFL,’ and that’s not a problem for Mr. Goodell. Yet when an NFL player simply uses marijuana, a drug that is undoubtedly less harmful than alcohol to both the user and to society, Mr. Goodell punishes them. It does not get any more hypocritical than this.”SAFER put up a billboard directly across the street from Invesco Field at Mile High that reads, “Ricky, come to Denver… Where the people support your SAFER choice” (See Associated Press article and image of billboard below).Williams filed for NFL reinstatement Monday after serving an 18-month suspension. He is now awaiting approval from the league and seeking a team to join for the remainder of the season.SAFER was behind the ballot initiative in 2005, and campaigned on the fact that marijuana is far less harmful than alcohol to both the user and to society. A majority of Denver voters agreed and adopted the measure so that adults could legally make the safer choice to use marijuana, if that is what they prefer.Every objective study on adult marijuana use has concluded that it poses far less potential harm than alcohol use. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report that alcohol use contributes to tens of thousands of American deaths each year, whereas there are no marijuana-induced deaths, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has found that marijuana is far less addictive than alcohol and tobacco. Studies also show that alcohol is a contributing factor in countless cases of domestic violence, sexual assault, date rape, and other violent crimes, whereas marijuana has never been linked to such violent or aggressive behavior (it has actually been found to inhibit it).
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Comment #4 posted by fight_4_freedom on October 05, 2007 at 12:44:39 PT:
safer has perfect timing
A day after they unveil the ricky williams billboard across from the broncos stadium, the team may be in need of a new running back. (which is ricky's position :)Henry Doesn't Want NFL To Reveal Drug Test Result
By Arnie Stapleton, AP Sports WriterVic Lombardi
Reporting(AP) ENGLEWOOD, Colo. Denver Broncos running back Travis Henry, the league's leading rusher, is trying to prevent the NFL from suspending him over the results of a drug test, Newsday reported Thursday.Henry was granted a temporary restraining order in Suffolk County (N.Y.) Supreme Court to prevent the league from using a urine specimen against him and to prevent the league from disclosing the test results, but an appellate court vacated the order, according to court papers filed in Brooklyn federal court.The report on the newspaper's Web site said Henry claims the league violated its substance abuse policy by not allowing his experts to be present for testing of his urine sample, according to court papers.The league wants the matter transferred to federal court because it involves interpretation of the NFL's collective bargaining agreement, generally covered by federal labor laws.Pending an appeal, Henry would be subject to a yearlong suspension if he tested positive again. While in Tennessee, Henry was suspended four games in September 2005 by the NFL for violating the league's substance abuse policy.He signed a five-year, $22.5 million free agent contract with the Broncos that included $12 million in guarantees this offseason after the Titans released him in a cost-cutting move and the Broncos sent last year's starter, Tatum Bell, to Detroit.The Broncos declined comment Thursday."Have to refer you to the League, we have no comment," general manager Ted Sundquist told The Associated Press in response to an e-mail inquiry about a Denver TV report that Henry had tested positive for marijuana.A league spokesman said the NFL had no comment.Henry, who injured his right knee and right ankle in a loss at Indianapolis on Sunday, has not practiced this week nor has he been available to reporters. His agent, Hadley Engelhard, didn't return messages left by the AP, nor did Henry's lawyer, Robert Dapelo.Henry, who started his career with the Buffalo Bills, is the centerpiece of Denver's revamped offense.The Broncos had hoped he could be their first workhorse running back since Clinton Portis in 2003, and he got off to a fantastic start, rushing for 433 yards and one touchdown over the first month. He also caught five passes for 52 yards.Henry's backup is undrafted rookie Selvin Young out of Texas, who has rushed 15 times for 138 yards and a league-best 9.2-yard average. The Broncos might move second-year pro Mike Bell back to tailback if Henry isn't available. Bell was moved to fullback last month.
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Comment #3 posted by fight_4_freedom on October 04, 2007 at 12:01:01 PT:
brilliant?
yes i totally agree whig. This has received so much attention in the sports world. And a lot of analysts will start with the same common statement " Although I may agree with the message SAFER is putting across, bla bla blah. So atleast we know the message is being heard. And the coverage will only get more intense as we get closer to sunday or until williams works out some kind of deal.WAY TO GO SAFER!
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Comment #2 posted by whig on October 03, 2007 at 09:59:29 PT
Mason Tvert
This is brilliant, and good.
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Comment #1 posted by The GCW on October 03, 2007 at 08:09:06 PT
Same issue for cycling.
The sports leagues etc. etc. are compromising performance enhancing drug bans by supporting government's cannabis prohibition.Performance enhancing drug bans are rational in pro-sports and to use performance enhancing drugs could and often should be considered cheating. Consider bicycle racing. Some racers do some wierd things like blood transfusions to hide performance enhancing drug use. Cycling governing bodies have a real problem with many cheaters and they need to do everything to not compromise the respect of those performance enhancing drug bans.By supporting government's irrational ban on cannabis, they tend to take away some of the respect of the message.Cycling like football and others utilize booze money and everything that goes along with it to promote their sport.Guzzle beer, champaign, wine and whiskey but don't get caught with the God-given plant.-0-http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n1662/a08.html?86648US CO: PUB LTE: Dope Smoking's No Reason To Strip TitlePubdate: November 15, 2004 Source: Velo News (CO) 
 
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