Marijuana Lobbyists? They're Smokin' the Competition!
By Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts
Sunday August 5 2007 Page D03
So, listen, Barry Bonds: We've got, like, a completely new way of
thinking about this whole debate on controlled substances in athletics that will totally blow your mind.
The new team in first place in the Congressional Softball League?
None other than Washington's marijuana lobbyists. Dude!
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The One Hitters -- a team sponsored by Students for Sensible Drug
Policy, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws and related advocacy groups -- had by last week
amassed a 13-3 record and vaulted to the top of the league, which includes teams from the RNC, DNC, Justice, Customs and
Border Protection Service and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
"This effectively shatters the notion that drug policy
reformers are just a bunch of lazy 'stoners,' " SSDP's Tom Angell wrote to us.
This stereotype has plagued the team since it joined the league
four years ago. "We've definitely heard some snickers. Teams come in thinking we're going to be pushovers,"
said executive director and team captain/starting pitcher Kris Krane. "We have a chip on our shoulder about
it."
Two years ago, the team fielded by the White House's Office of
National Drug Control Policy refused to play the One Hitters -- first pleading scheduling problems but later copping to
ideological concerns. Krane is still steamed: "We're contributing members of society. We're policy people who
genuinely care about the impact the war on drugs is having on our nation, and we're trying to dispel some of the
stereotypes."
So: What's up with the name? Krane admitted that "it's sort of
a double-entendre," alluding to small marijuana pipes. "We really didn't want to do anything to reinforce the
stoner stereotype -- because we're not a bunch of stoners, we're policy wonks. But we decided to have some fun."
And when they celebrate after the game? "The only substances
you'll find on our team is beer," Krane said.