Marijuana Is a Punch Line on College GameDay. For NBA Star Julius Randle, It Wasn’t.
On Saturday’s College GameDay, Pat McAfee asked Nick Saban whether he had ever used any “ancient medicine” to calm his…
On Saturday’s College GameDay, Pat McAfee asked Nick Saban whether he had ever used any “ancient medicine” to calm his players, referencing the viral controversy surrounding a smoking object seen on McAfee’s ESPN show.
Kirk Herbstreit joined in before Saban added: “I actually think if we had some of your gummies, we’d have won more games.”
The exchange was treated as a joke. But it was also a disturbing example of how normalized marijuana has become in mainstream sports culture.
Because for some professional athletes, marijuana has been anything but harmless.
On a recent episode of High Stakes with Dr. Kevin Sabet, psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Amen described his work with NBA star Julius Randle. Amen said Randle had been using marijuana heavily while struggling with anxiety and negative thoughts, and that his wife noticed him becoming increasingly distant and disconnected.
According to Amen, seeing images of his own brain became a turning point. Randle stopped using marijuana.
Randle has spoken publicly about that period of his life as well, describing how marijuana affected his ability to be present with his wife and children. His decision to stop using the drug became part of a broader effort to improve his mental health and relationships.
That experience is worth remembering as marijuana becomes increasingly casual in sports and entertainment.
What gets reduced to a reference about “gummies” on national television can look very different in someone’s actual life. Heavy marijuana use can have real consequences for mental health, relationships, motivation, and addiction—and professional athletes are not immune.
On national television, marijuana is treated like a punch line. For people who experience addiction, anxiety, disconnection, or other consequences from heavy use, it can be anything but.
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