Matt Every: PGA Tour can take a major step in updating drug rules

Matt Every has been suspended by the PGA TOUR for what he says is prescribed cannabis use. If that is true, the TOUR needs to take a serious look at its drug policy.

Matt Every isn’t a household name in golf, but his story became one of the biggest in the sport on Friday. With the PGA TOUR playing the CJ CUP @ Nine Bridges in a time zone completely opposite to the United States, Every was on the receiving end of a 12-week suspension for what the Tour called a “drug of abuse”.

Here’s the catch, though: while the Tour didn’t go into detail (as is their ancient and outdated policy), Every himself decided to tell his own story. It’s one that will be more and more common in the months and years to come, and it should push the Tour – along with most other sports leagues – to reevaluate their rules.

In a statement released on social media, Every revealed that he tested positive for cannabis, which is a substance that finds itself in a ton of legal gray areas across the United States. His full statement can be seen below, as reported by Ryan Lavner of Golf Channel:

Here is Matt Every's statement on his 12-week PGA Tour suspension. He says he tested positive for cannabis – a drug that he has been legally prescribed for a "mental-health condition." pic.twitter.com/Jv11nTkhfv
— Ryan Lavner (@RyanLavnerGC) October 18, 2019

First things first, I applaud Every for controlling the narrative. While the Tour has held firm on its policy to not publicize its disciplinary procedures relating to specific players and punishments, this allows him to avoid the speculation that would certainly follow such a suspension.

It’s also not the first time that Every has run into trouble relating to his use of marijuana. In 2010, he was arrested in a hotel in Iowa for misdemeanor possession, which led to a similar three-month suspension. However, as laws have changed, the Tour finds itself with a problem. Namely, how do they deal with a substance that has been prescribed for a legitimate medical condition while also keeping it on their list of “drugs of abuse”?

Here’s an idea, and I know it’ll never fly with those in control of the money: remove cannabis and cannabis-related products from the list, permanently. It’s the only logical solution, and it’s going to happen sooner or later. Why not be seen as taking the first step?

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Matt Every knew he was breaking the PGA TOUR’s rule, along with the World Anti-Doping Agency, but decided that his personal well-being was more important to him, and that’s to be commended.

Let’s be honest here, too: nobody has ever found marijuana to be a performance-enhancer, other than dealing with stress, anxiety and the physical toll of being a high-level athlete. And to list it alongside something like cocaine in the Tour rulebook is obviously laughable.

The line on recreational and medical use is also becoming far blurrier thanks to the hottest product in sports today: CBD. Granted, the cannabidiol derived from hemp has little or no THC (the psychoactive compound in marijuana), but the stigma is quickly being removed thanks to education and research. So why punish players for basically getting therapy without popping pills?

I get that there’s a major difference between CBD and marijuana – as evidenced by Bubba Watson’s high-profile sponsorship with cbdMD – but even if the line is only drawn at medical use, the fact is that it needs to be drawn somewhere this side of 1955. You don’t need to support full recreational legalization to at least support the medical community’s judgement, that much should be obvious.

Matt Every is not in a situation unlike many other Americans. The fact that his job bans the medication that his doctors has prescribed should be an issue to all of us immediately, shouldn’t it? I live in a state which allows for the use of medicinal THC, and I wouldn’t be suspended from my job for following my doctor’s guidelines. Why should this be any different?

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The PGA TOUR has done a fantastic job of making itself a more attractive product to a significantly younger market than in years past. While the optics of cannabis/marijuana might not be attractive to those who control the purse strings today, adapting their rules with the times will ensure that those fans stick around for the long haul.

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