SMOKING IS NORML

Former NFL Star Stepnoski Leading Charge For Change

Mark Stepnoski was an All-American at Pitt for his performance on the
football field and an Academic All-American for his work in the classroom.

He was a five-time Pro Bowl lineman who won two Super Bowl rings with the
Cowboys and punched open many of the holes Emmitt Smith ran through on his
way to the NFL's all-time rushing record. He also smokes dope.

Cops and counselors say one reason to wage war on marijuana is that it robs
kids of their motivation. But Stepnoski was one of the NFL's premier centers
for 13 years (Cowboys and Oilers), even though he had been smoking marijuana
regularly since high school.

"You can't have amotivational syndrome if you're going to play in the NFL,"
says Stepnoski, who retired after the 2001 season to become the president of
the Texas chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana
Laws. "That's one of the reasons why I decided to get involved with NORML,
to dispel some of the myths about the drug and its users. Since I was a kid,
I wanted to play in the NFL. Even though I occasionally used marijuana, it
never prevented me from attaining my goals."

A handful of celebrities - including singer Willie Nelson, talk-show host
Bill Maher, gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson - are also active in NORML,
but Allen St. Pierre, the group's executive director, says Stepnoski is the
first pro athlete from a mainstream sport to join the cause. Many have
expressed support, he says, but fear their careers will suffer or they'll be
targeted by authorities.

"If there is one thing that is stopping people from speaking out, it's the
fear of greater scrutiny," he says. "It's not just the police. It's the IRS.
People don't want to give up everything they've worked for just because they
believe marijuana laws should be changed."

Stepnoski hasn't been targeted for his work with NORML, but he has become a
hit with its members. A recent E-mail fund-raising appeal that featured
Stepnoski was the most successful in NORML's history, St. Pierre says.

"Bigger than the ones that featured Maher or Willie," he says. "People
really wanted to congratulate him for his courage in speaking out."

Stepnoski's new job is working to stop Americans from going to prison for
smoking a substance that has already been decriminalized in Western Europe,
Canada, Australia and some states (offenders get a ticket rather than being
arrested). He is even paying the bill for NORML's lobbyist in Austin - he
estimates the cost at about $15,000 - and serves on its national advisory
board.

Stepnoski spent much of this legislative session lobbying to lessen the
penalty for pot possession in the Lone Star State. Currently, possession of
two ounces or less is punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a fine up to
$2,000; the bill, which has been stuck in committee, would make possession
of one ounce or less punishable by a $500 fine.

"We're trying to get marijuana reclassified so people can pay a ticket
instead of going to jail," says Stepnoski. "The punishment doesn't fit the
crime."

Marijuana is definitely not for everybody, says Stepnoski, who saw the dark
side of drugs as a mainstay of the rock 'n' roll Cowboys of the '90s.
Teammate Michael Irvin, a regular at the Cowboys' infamous "White House"
party scene, was convicted in 1996 on felony drug charges. Another, Mark
Tuinei, died from a heroin overdose in 1999. Nate Newton, meanwhile, is in
prison after convictions for transporting large amounts of marijuana.

But Stepnoski believes laws that make pot a felony are more dangerous than
pot itself, and when used responsibly, marijuana is no more problematic than
alcohol.

"The vast majority of people who use it are responsible adults," Stepnoski
says.

Stepnoski first tried marijuana during his high school days in Erie, Pa.,
and he continued to smoke pot through his football career, abstaining the
day before games to keep his mental edge.

He says he also smoked pot to take the edge off a brutal sport. "After a
game you need something to relax," he says. "I'd rather smoke than take
painkillers."

Docs: Steroids Are Worse

Marijuana is bad for sports, but not as bad as steroids, according to a
group of doctors working on a standardized banned substance list for the
2004 Olympics.

The panel of doctors affiliated with the World Anti-Doping Agency that met
in Lausanne, Switzerland, this weekend recommended that marijuana be
considered a "specified substance," which means less severe penalties than
performance-enhancers such as steroids or amphetamines.

Some sports, including skiing and snowboarding, gymnastics and diving,
currently impose the stiffer performance-enhancing penalties on their
athletes, saying they use pot to help focus and calm nerves.

The proposed penalties for athletes who test positive for marijuana range
from a warning to a one-year suspension for the first offense. A second
violation under the new rules brings a two-year suspension. The first-time
penalty for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs is a two-year
suspension.

"Some people will say we went easy on marijuana, but we did not," says Long
Island physician Gary Wadler, a member of the WADA panel and an NYU
professor. "We have spent two years off and on discussing this issue. This
was not capricious or willy-nilly."

The proposed rules won't do much for snowboarder Tara Zwink, who tested
positive for pot in January and got the harsher two-year suspension
currently in place for her sport. Wadler says the new rules won't be
retroactive.

WADA is instituting a global anti-doping policy that includes uniform
testing procedures and punishments. If the panel's recommendations are
approved by the WADA executive board in September, they will go into effect
in January.

Police Blotter

Sgt. Rob Huss of the Washington State Patrol is stationed on I-5 between
Seattle and Portland when he pulls over the bright yellow Hummer 2 for
speeding late on the evening of Nov. 21, 2002 (84 mph in a 70 mph zone).

As he approaches the SUV, Huss catches a whiff of something other than
cigarette smoke. The passenger in the front is none other than Damon
Stoudamire of the Portland Trail Blazers, and his teammate Rasheed Wallace
is in the back. Edward Smith is the driver.

After a thorough search of the military-style SUV (owned by Stoudamire),
weed is discovered in the glove compartment in a "tin box with a Bob Marley
picture on it." All three men are immediately placed under arrest for
marijuana possession (less than 40 grams, a misdemeanor under Washington
law).

"I had to ask Stoudamire what he did," Huss says later. "I don't follow
basketball or sports very much. But both were very cooperative."

Here is a look at some of the athletes who were arrested in 2000 for
marijuana possession:

JANUARY Denshio L. Cook, former Oklahoma State DT; Greg Yeldell, Ohio State
football and track star; B.J. Tiger, backup Oklahoma State QB; Jermaine
Hinkson, former Virginia Tech DL

FEBRUARY

Troy Lee West, former Oklahoma State football player; Fred Lane, Carolina
Panthers (wife later accused of his murder); Rodney Artmore, Green Bay DB;
Isaac Hawkins, Pitt basketball player

MARCH

Desmond Allison, Kentucky forward; Rolan Roberts, Va. Tech forward

APRIL

Bruce Davis, South Dakota football player; Bam Morris, former Chiefs RB;
Sherman Williams, former Cowboy RB Kenyatta Burris, DeCarlos Anderson,
Leonard Peel, former Iowa State football players; Rodney Buford, Miami Heat
guard; De'Mond Parker, Green Bay RB Ty Douthard, former Illinois football
player

MAY

Michael Southall, former Kentucky basketball recruit; Justin Huish, '96
Olympic gold medalist in archery

JUNE

Jeffrey Newton, Indiana forward; Rick Jones, Eastern Kentucky and former
Vanderbilt basketball player

JULY

Boo Williams and Kevin Johnson, former Univ. South Carolina football
players; Sam Mack, former NBA guard; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, former Laker

AUGUST

DeShaun Foster, UCLA RB; Michael Irvin, former Cowboy; Keith Henderson,
former 49er; RB Horace Willis, Rodney Edwards, Darrell Daughtrey, Anton
Cochran, Georgia Military College football players; Mitch Ohnstad, Minnesota
basketball player

SEPTEMBER

Charlie Jackson, South Florida football player; Chris Antley, jockey (later
found dead in his home)

NOVEMBER

Richard Alston, East Carolina backup QB; Brandon Ford, Missouri TE

DECEMBER

Jasper Sanks, Georgia RB