Oregon Football: Ducks Singled out for Nationwide Issue with Marijuana Use

Today, ESPN released an article that not only spotlighted the use of marijuana by athletes playing college football, but went as far as to point out the University of Oregon as a major offender. 

Tomorrow, ESPN will be writing on more breaking news that includes the subject of underage drinking or casual sex by people in college. 

C'mon ESPN, we expect better.

While I do not condone or agree with the use of marijuana by anyone, since it is something that is currently illegal, this was not something that should have been breaking news for anyone that saw the article.

The major issue with this article is the fact that ESPN saw fit to point out Oregon when this is an issue that has been in college football for years.

In today's age, we are in a culture that has not only turned a blind eye to marijuana use, but has almost gone as far as to expect it as it has been legalized for medicinal purposes in some states.

What the article did was pointed out an unnamed Oregon player who stated that about half of the team participates in the use of marijuana.

While the finger is being pointed at Oregon, players around the nation are breathing a sigh of relief that the spotlight was not put on them because this article could have been written about most major schools. 

The encouraging thing for Duck fans was the following comment made during the article:

"

The Oregon regime is also cracking down. Anecdotal evidence suggests that Kelly has taken a hard stance in his three seasons as head coach. "I've heard weed was bigger before I got there," says one Kelly-era Duck, "but Chip cracked down on that. He'll actually attend classes with guys. If you miss a study hall, he'll drug-test you.

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All coaches are aware of the issues that are going on at their program. The more important question is what are they doing to change things. It appears that Oregon's head man Chip Kelly has taken a proactive stance with this problem and has worked on improving it. 

Again, the act of smoking marijuana is something that should be looked at, and there should be efforts to bring it to a stop, but this is an issue in society, not solely in college football and at Oregon. Stopping the use of the drug at Oregon doesn't solve the issue that exists from coast to coast. 

At the end of the day, Chip Kelly and the University will continue to have to address this issue both internally and publicly. The result of the article is that it likely made Kelly's job more difficult, and he will certainly continue to hold his players accountable.