The NFL has issued a 10-game suspension to Buffalo Bill’s offensive lineman Seantrel Henderson for violating the league’s substance abuse policy after failing a drug test, which does not tolerate marijuana use, not even for medical conditions.
Henderson appealed the ruling, but the suspension was upheld and formally announced by the NFL on Tuesday, releasing the following statement:
Seantrel Henderson of the Buffalo Bills has been suspended without pay for the team’s next 10 regular-season and/or postseason games for violating the NFL Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse.
Henderson’s suspension begins immediately. He will be eligible to participate in all offseason and preseason practices and games.
The exact violation has not been disclosed, per NFL policy, but it is widely believed that Henderson tested positive for marijuana.
This is Henderson’s second suspension this year. He served a four-game suspension at the start of the season, also for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.
If Henderson is found in violation of the league’s substance abuse policy one more time, he faces a lifetime ban from the NFL.
Henderson’s agent, Brian Fettner said in September that the positive test was triggered because Henderson was using medical marijuana to treat Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory condition that affects the digestive system. Henderson missed the final five games of last season after being diagnosed with Chron’s, and underwent surgery in January to remove 2½ feet of his intestines, resulting in him losing almost 50 pounds and having to wear an ileostomy bag until his intestines were reattached in April.
Medical marijuana is legal in the state of New York, where the Bill’s play, but Chron’s disease is not listed among the conditions that qualify. Even if Henderson was a state authorized medical marijuana patient, it wouldn’t matter in the eyes of the NFL.
The league does not differentiate between medical and recreational marijuana use, despite recent callings for the NFL to reconsider. The NFL does, however, allow medical exemptions for some banned substances, like Adderall.
“There is zero allowable medical exemption for this per the NFL; however, there clearly should be,” Henderson’s agent said.
“I’ve got doctors telling me this is the No. 1 medicine that would help your disease,” Henderson told the Buffalo News in October. “You try to tell that to the league, and it seems like they didn’t care too much.”
Henderson has appeared in only one game in 2016.
Tags: Chron’s disease, NFL, Seantrel Henderson