PISTONS NOTEBOOK: HILL BELIEVES SURVEY ON SUBSTANCE ABUSES

Grant Hill isn't sure what the actual percentages are of NBA players who
abuse alcohol and some marijuana, but 70 percent didn't sound too far off
the mark.

"It could be that high," he said after practice Monday. "I haven't actually
seen guys do it, but you hear the stories. There are a lot of guys who do."

Hill, who has never tried alcohol or pot, was reacting to a survey of
former players, general managers and agents published in the New York Times
Sunday that claimed that pot smoking and heavy drinking were rampant in the
NBA. The survey estimated that between 60 and 70 percent of players either
smoked pot or drank heavily.

"The players' association and the league may not want to hear this, but
part of the problem is that the league considers heroin and cocaine
illegal, and marijuana legal," Hill said.

The NBA, as mandated by the players' association, conducts drug tests for
heroin and cocaine but not marijuana. "If they are going to test for drugs,
they need to test for all substances -- cocaine, heroin, steroids,
marijuana, everything," Hill said. "If something is illegal on the streets
but legal in the NBA, that's sending the wrong message."

Hill also thinks the NBA should expand drug testing beyond just the
players. "I think the players would feel better about it if everybody who
works for the NBA is tested," he said. "I think they should test everybody
from David Stern to Eddie."

Eddie is Eddie Rivero, the Pistons' locker room assistant and unofficial
historian. "I know this gets into human and civil rights issues, but I
agree with what Karl Malone said: 'If you aren't smoking it, then you
shouldn't have any problem getting tested,'" Hill said.

There are those who believe the survey is exaggerated. "In my professional
opinion, its certainly not 70 percent," Pistons trainer Mike Abdenour said.
"If my memory serves, when the league was having its cocaine problem 70
percent was the number they used then and that was far from reality."

Copyright 1997, The Detroit News