NFL, NFLPA officially announce changes to substance abuse policy

Following the NFL and NFLPA's official announcement of the new drug policy on Wednesday, the two sides have now also agreed upon and announced changes to the substance abuse policy.

Most notably, significant changes have been made to both the thresholds and punishments for marijuana testing, as well as discipline for DUI's and related offenses:

Two discipline stages will be added for marijuana positives, as follows: a first violation will result in referral to the substance abuse program, as is the case today. Subsequent violations will result in a two-game fine, a four-game fine, a four-game suspension, a 10-game suspension, and one-year banishment. The new stages are the two-game fine and the 10-game suspension. In addition, the threshold for a positive marijuana test will be raised from 15 ng/ml to 35 ng/ml, reflecting recent actions taken by other testing organizations.

Discipline for DUI and related offenses will be increased. A first DUI offense, absent aggravating circumstances, will result in a two-game suspension without pay. A second offense will result in a suspension of at least eight games without pay. In either case, a more lengthy suspension may be imposed if there are aggravating circumstances.
 

With the new policies being put into place retroactively, players currently serving one-year suspensions for a marijuana positive are having their suspensions reduced to 10 games. Of course, this includes Cleveland Browns star wide receiver Josh Gordon.