(A stern anti-marijuana crusader hand-in-hand with the marijuana king of Oakland? Looks like Martin Scorsese just found his next screenplay. Photo via Esther Lin/MMA Fighting)
There’s really not much more that can be said about Pat Healy’s — or really, any other fighter’s — positive test for marijuana and subsequent suspension/fines. As insane as it is that we live in a world where marijuana usage often carries a higher penalty for MMA fighters than that of steroids, it’s also a rule that every fighter understands the moment they become an employee of the UFC. Simply put, if you’re not smart enough to understand exactly how long marijuana metabolites stay in your system prior to a fight, you pretty much deserve what’s coming to you. It’s the reason I picked a line of work that literally allows me to blow bong hits at my computer screen while writing this. Not that I am — as with alcohol, I don’t believe in smoking before noon. On weekdays.
That’s not to say that we relish whenever a fighter is busted for marijuana, in fact it’s usually quite the opposite. In the case of Healy, he had the biggest (and possibly most exciting) win of his career negated and over 100k in bonus money revoked because he liked to kick back with a little Wildwood Weed after a day of getting his ass kicked. It’s a better excuse than most of us have, but don’t expect the man who received his revoked $65,000 “Submission of the Night” bonus, Bryan Caraway, to offer him any sympathy. In an interview with MMAJunkie, Caraway shot from the hip when discussing his feelings for all of us you dirty, pot-smoking degenerates:
I couldn’t be more happy, and it was an insanely pleasant surprise
All I’ve got to say is that’s some expensive weed. I like Healy a lot. I came up through the fighting ranks with him. We used to train together at Team Quest. I love the guy. But I have absolutely zero remorse or guilt.
I hate weed. I cannot stand it. I’ve never tried it. I’ve never smoked a drug in my life. So I have absolutely zero tolerance for people that do it. I don’t care if it’s legal in some places or not. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous. Whether it’s legal in real life or not, they tell you to follow the rules. You need to follow the rules.
While Caraway is certainly correct in regards to “the rules,” I always find it baffling when someone declares their staunch opposition to a substance, law, or cause while simultaneously stating that they have no experience or understanding of the substance/law/cause upon which their opinion is based.
Look, gun control is one thing — although I personally think the same rules apply — but to say that you cannot tolerate people who use a substance as harmless as weed regardless of its legality is plain ignorant. It’s also a setback of being raised in a society based on “freedom” — we rally behind the liberties and causes that apply to our individual lives while declaring that we have the right to deny our fellow man of different freedoms without even attempting to understand their point of view. It’s hypocrisy at its finest, and Caraway seems to fit this mold to a tee. To quote Honest Abe, “Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves.”
But look at me, getting on my soapbox again. The fact is, Healy was aware of the potential consequences the moment he took a puff of that sweet, sweet herb, and now he will have deal with those consequences. If he doesn’t like it, maybe he should find a different line of work. Or just sign with Bellator.