OAKLEY REALIZES A MIND IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE AND SPEAKS IT

Raptors Forward Claims 60% Of NBA Uses Marijuana

TORONTO - The Toronto Raptors haven't employed a more convincing
decoy all season: As the media scrum surrounded all-star guard Vince
Carter after yesterday's practice, the man everyone really wanted to
speak with -- all-interview forward Charles Oakley -- slipped out the
door undetected.

The day after Oakley told a New York newspaper that 60% of NBA
players are on marijuana, he apparently wasn't in the mood to expand
on his accusations.

So, while Toronto coach Lenny Wilkens urged reporters to speak with
his verbose veteran -- "He'll answer to you," said the coach, "ask
him about his statement" -- the only Raptor who addressed Oakley's
claims without a "no comment" was point guard Mark Jackson.

"I respect him. The man doesn't bite his tongue and he speaks his
mind," Jackson said of Oakley. "If he is a liar, prove that he's a
liar. If not, do something about it."

Oakley made headlines in yesterday's New York Post for claiming that
not only are a majority of NBA players on marijuana, but some are
taking the court while under the drug's influence.

"You got guys out there playing high every night," Oakley told the
newspaper prior to the Raptors' 113-111 loss to the New Jersey Nets.
"You got 60% of your league on marijuana. What can you do?"

Oakley also told the Post that when he first broke into the league,
"there might have been one out of six" players smoking marijuana.
"Now it's six out of 12." Asked if he felt the 60% figure was
legitimate, Oakley said: "It's over 50 and once you go over 50 you've
got to go to the next number, 60."

The 37-year-old Oakley, of course, has made a name for pooh-poohing
the state of the league. In the interview, he also took a shot at the
league's drug-testing policy, which sees rookies tested three times
per season and veterans once a year.

"You test a guy, he gets high the next day," he said. "There's no
respect for the game no more."

NBA commissioner David Stern, who has spent much of this season
attempting to repair the league's flagging image, urged Oakley to
report drug-policy violations to the league.

The list of NBA players who have been charged with marijuana
possession in recent years includes plenty of high-profile names,
including Philadelphia's Allen Iverson, Sacramento's Chris Webber and
Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

And Sacramento Kings guard Jason Williams -- who'll be in Toronto for
a game tonight -- was suspended for the first five games of this
season for violating the league's drug policy.

Still, Oakley's claim that 60% of players are using marijuana is alarming.

Said Jackson: "Well I know I'm high, on life and on God. So that's
good stuff for me. I can't comment about anybody else.

"[Drug use] is not just a problem in sports, it's a problem in the
world today. Matter of fact, some of you guys behind the microphones
and the cameras, maybe 60% of you guys ..."