Warriors Coach Steve Kerr admits he used Marijuana for back pain

Posted by Sagar Satapathy on December 07, 2016.

Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr on Friday revealed that he tried medical marijuana twice in the past eighteen months while dealing with chronic back pain, while talking to Comcast SportsNet Bay Area's Warriors Insider Podcast with Monte Poole.

“I've actually tried marijuana twice during the last year and a half, when I've been going through this chronic pain that I've been dealing with”, Kerr stated.

Fifty-one year old Kerr said he has tried marijuana after complications from back surgery in July 2015 that led to chronic pain and caused him to miss nearly three months to start last season. He was sidelined and could not coach the Warriors for the first several months of the 2015-2016 season due to his health issues.

However, Kerr clarified that he used marijuana when he was away from the team and not coaching. He also informed Poole that he was unaware if he was going to be drug tested, but that the marijuana "didn't help at all."

Although Kerr did not benefit from the use of the drug, the Warriors coach believes at some point in the future all major sport leagues will allow players to use marijuana for medicinal purposes, as he believes it is better than pain killers like Vicodin.

"Athletes everywhere are prescribed Vicodin like it’s Vitamin C, like it's no big deal. You're seeing that change in these laws that you're talking about in different states, including California. But I would just hope that sports leagues are able to look past the perception”, Kerr said.

Notably, medical marijuana has been legal in California, but the NBA and the NFL continues to outlaw marijuana, as it remains listed as a trigger that would cause a violation of the league’s substance abuse policy.

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