NFL's Buzzkill: No Beer at Giants Stadium

by Paul Armentano
by Paul Armentano

There was far less "buzz" than usual during the NFL season's final regular season Monday night football game between the New York Jets and the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, and it had little to do with the Jets' dire season record. Rather, the ennui of the tens of thousands of atypically subdued fans in attendance could best be summed up in three words, prominently displayed on makeshift signs throughout ABC's nationwide telecast: "We want beer!"

That's right, beer.

Following a string of violent incidents – including a pair of stabbings – between rowdy football fans during the team's previous games, Giants Stadium officials made the bold move to halt sales of the intoxicant. The rationale for the ban? Jets spokesman Ron Colangelo could not have been more blunt: "It's for the safety of our fans."

Alcohol's long-standing association with aggressive behavior, whether it's among raucous sports fans or late-night bar patrons, is well-publicized and much debated. Yet, a relevant fact that is often overlooked in this public discourse is that an alternative, almost equally consumed intoxicant, is rarely, if ever, linked with violence – marijuana. However, unlike alcohol, marijuana is illegal and not only at Giants Stadium.

Regardless, no credible research has shown cannabis use to be a causal factor in violence, aggression or delinquent behavior, dating back to the U.S. government's "First Report of the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse" in 1972, which concluded, "In short, marijuana is not generally viewed by participants in the criminal justice community as a major contributing influence in the commission of delinquent or criminal acts." (The Commission went on to recommend Congress remove all criminal and civil penalties on the possession of small amounts of the drug, a recommendation that Congress and then-President Richard Nixon promptly ignored.)

A more recent federal review by the Canadian Senate reaffirmed: "Cannabis use does not induce users to commit other forms of crime. Cannabis use does not increase aggressiveness or anti-social behavior." In contrast, research has demonstrated that certain legal drugs, most notably alcohol, do induce aggressive behavior.

"Cannabis differs from alcohol in one major respect. It does not seem to increase risk-taking behavior," stated the British Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs in its 2002 report recommending the depenalization of marijuana. (Parliament eventually did so in 2004.) "This means that cannabis rarely contributes to violence either to others or to oneself, whereas alcohol use is a major factor in deliberate self-harm, domestic accidents and violence."

British soccer fans recently experienced this lesson first hand after their team's opening loss to Portugal at the Euro 2000 tournament in the Netherlands. According to news reports, the British fans – whose reputation for post-game, alcohol-fueled tirades is known worldwide – took the loss without incident and not a single fan was arrested after the match. The Dutch secret to keeping the peace – a clamp down on alcohol and regulated access to cannabis.

Yet, while alcohol enjoys its status as the unofficial sports drink of the NFL, law enforcement continue to spend billions of taxpayers' dollars annually arresting more than 750,000 Americans for doing nothing more than possessing or smoking small amounts of pot. Perhaps if the situation was reversed, fans in Giants Stadium and throughout the NFL could enjoy their games in peace.

January 14, 2006

Paul Armentano [send him mail] is the senior policy analyst for the NORML Foundation in Washington, DC. This article was originally published in the Washington Examiner.

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