Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
NBA forward Lamar Odom has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons lately. The former champion went missing on a drug binge last week and is reportedly addicted to crack cocaine, among other substances. Now, there’s a new report from TMZ that’s shedding light on the drug problems that are apparently rampant throughout the league.
Several anonymous players spoke with TMZ recently and shared that a new drug concoction called ‘Lean’ is very popular across the league. Lean is a mixture of codeine cough syrup and Sprite and it’s apparently becoming the drug of choice. We all know the stereotype that NBA players smoke a ton of weed, but it seems the issues run much deeper.
One of the anonymous players estimated that as high as 30 percent of players use hard drugs like Molly and Ecstasy. But most of the sources estimated it to be closer to 10-15 percent. Either way, it sounds like a lot of ballers are living hard when they’re not on the court and potentially putting themselves at risk. But of all the hard drugs reportedly being used regularly, cocaine is not one of them because players view it as too risky. Molly and Ecstasy = good. Cocaine = bad. Guess I don’t follow that logic.
The NBA only tests for drugs four times per year, so once the players have taken their fourth test, they can basically do what they want. Although the NBA has a bad reputation in terms of players smoking pot, it really pales in comparison to the PED problems in baseball, for example. It’s fair to wonder if this new report will get the attention of NBA officials and if a change to the league’s testing policy could come in the future.
Related:
Lamar Odom Reportedly Addicted To Crack
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