San Francisco 49ers linebacker Reuben Foster could face a one-game suspension for his marijuana possession arrest, according to NFL Network reporter Ian Rapoport.
The NFL substance abuse program would suggest a fine, but recent protocol on marijuana arrests has been one game. The three most recent examples are from 2015. Between January and February of that year, Ahmad Bradshaw, Datone Jones, and Oday Aboushi all had marijuana possession related arrests, and all three received a one-game suspension.
The NFL’s substance abuse program does not actually include a one-game suspension option, but this might be connected to the personal conduct policy instead of the substance abuse policy. The substance abuse program offers a fairly clear explanation of punishments, while the personal conduct policy seems to be generally at the whim of the commissioner.
There is one little twist, that might not impact anything, but is interesting to consider. Foster was arrested in Alabama for drug possession. If he had been in possession of marijuana in California, it would not have been a crime. There is still an intent to distribute crime when you’re in possession of Nate Newton levels of marijuana, but that was not the case here.
California changed their drug laws as of January 1 to legalize personal possession of marijuana. I don’t believe you can smoke it in public, but you can possess it and use it in your own home. So, if Foster had simply remained in California, this would not be an issue.
It will be interesting to see if Foster tries to push on that, and negotiate down to a fine given the difference in state law. I doubt it will work given that it was a crime where he was at the time, but it is still interesting to consider the debate that might only increase as more states legalize personal use of marijuana.