The 2006 Heisman trophy winner and Ohio State legend, Troy Smith, recently made headlines when he received citations for allegedly driving while under the influence of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The incident comes of the heels of an arrest in April of 2016 for drunk driving and possession of marijuana. Smith is apologetic about his mistakes.
"What happened that night was a terrible decision on my part. Just like the first time when I got a chance to go through a trial and tribulation. I don’t think I did a good enough job letting the public know, letting everybody know, that there is no portion of a human being that should understand that drinking and driving is OK. It is not OK," Smith explained. "I want to apologize for doing it and along those same lines with the last incident that just happened, there is a portion of the world that thinks and feels and believes that marijuana is definitely beneficial for yourself. It really is but along the lines of rules and regulations, it's not legal to carry the drug. It is not legal to bring it to one portion of the state to the next and I was in trouble for that. This is where I was wrong. I should have done a better job with decision making."
Nonetheless, Smith advocates for the use of medical marijuana and believes that it has helped him with the head trauma he endured playing football throughout his life.
"I remember the first time that I was asked to run a down and out at 5-10 yards," Smith recalled. "When I caught the ball I collided with one of my buddies. As soon as I got up and looked at him I saw three versions of him. And immediately at seven years old I knew that it wasn't right. I didn’t start and take in Cannabis at that early of an age, but from seven on until 14 I played mike linebacker and quarterback. So with that being said I banged by head on the defensive side and I tried to run away from guys who were trying to bang my head on the offensive side of the ball."
The first time he tried cannabis he was 12 years old.
"I had a chronic headache prior to. We sat down for five minutes in his backyard in his garage. My headache was gone and immediately after that we went and played some more pickup football."
For the full interview, listen to the podcast: BRILLiant Perspectives.
