According to a proposed collective bargaining agreement approved by team owners and circulated to players on Thursday, National Football League players may not have to be suspended from games for testing positive for marijuana much longer.
The three-page summary of key terms of the union deal, which was posted on Twitter by Darren Heitner, a sports lawyer, has also moved the threshold for positive THC metabolite tests from 35 to 150 nanograms.
It would also reduce the number of players subject to testing for cannabis. The deal would additionally narrow the window when tests can be administered from the current four months to just two weeks at the start of training camp.
Initial details of potentially “dramatically reduced penalties” for cannabis in the NFL had surfaced earlier this month. If the deal is ratified, the NFL will be the newest sports league to change its stance on marijuana.
Major League Baseball said this past December that it will remove marijuana from its list of banned substances.
NFL team owners approved the terms of the deal on Thursday, with player representatives set to consider it on Friday.
