By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com
 

          The saga of C.J Harris, epilepsy, cannabis oil, and playing college football became a national story in the past week, so far as reaching the level of TMZ Sports and CNN, with plenty of disagreement about a player’s legal medication preventing him from playing NCAA football.

          It brought a mountain of empathy, and criticism of the NCAA and Congress, arguing that a legal medication should not prevent a player from eligibility at his dream school. The story, based on WGXA-TV’s story and information from Harris and his father, led to a barrage of support for him and the situation, ostensibly picking up momentum because Auburn was Harris’s “dream school.”

          Even the Epilepsy Foundation chimed in last Friday, urging the NCAA to change its rules.

          But it may not have been an accurate portrayal of the situation.

          WGXA-TV in Macon reported on May 23 that Harris’s use of cannabis oil as medication for his epilepsy-related seizures would prevent him from playing NCAA football, because even the miniscule amount of THC in cannabis oil would keep him from passing a drug test and being eligible.

          The story included the emotions of Harris’s father saying that was the reason, and the emotions in telling his son he didn’t have a spot as a preferred walk-on at his favorite school, and of Harris’s alternatives. Assorted stories thereafter were loaded with misinformation, from Warner Robins’ record (14-1) to its’ final game, a state title-game loss. And, apparently, why Harris wouldn’t be at Auburn this summer.

          Auburn Undercover, a 247sports.com outlet, first reported on Friday, citing sources, that Auburn pulled the offer based on the medical condition itself, based on concerns of the impact of the game’s physicality on a person with epilepsy, despite the report from the family that Harris hadn’t suffered a seizure since January, 2017.

          “Auburn’s team physician did not clear Harris due to the pre-existing medical conditions, a source close to the Auburn football program said. The Auburn medical staff was concerned about the epilepsy and wanted to protect his well being in a full-contact sport that could lead to head trauma, the source said.

          The report stated that the use of cannabis oil was not part of Auburn’s decision, because Harris wasn’t cleared based on the condition itself.

          The WGXA report didn’t quote anybody from Auburn nor the NCAA, and stated – based on information from Harris’s father – that the NCAA had ruled the player ineligible, as per information from Auburn coaches.

          Auburn’s 247sports site said that Tiger softball player Tannon Snow missed the 2017 season because of a similar diagnosis, and that it took a year to find the proper medicinal combination for the school to clear her to play. The medical staff, however, is reportedly more concerned about the possibilities in a sport where violent contact to the midsection and head happen on almost every play.

          Harris and his father have said since then that they would investigate the possibilities of junior college and NAIA football options, as well as looking at other medications for seizures that don’t contain THC or any other ingredient that would render Harris – who otherwise was getting offers from Division II and low Division I programs – unable to pass a drug test.

          TMZ.com reported that Harris's father "wouldn't clarify the reason Auburn pulled the offer."

          Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn backed up the story Wednesday at the SEC’s spring meetings in Destin, Fla., while not going into an abundance of detail.

         “He wasn’t cleared by our medical staff. That was really the bottom line,” Malzahn said, according to the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. “It didn’t have anything to do with anything else like some people reported.” 

          Harris spent his senior year at Warner Robins after transferring from FPD. He started at safety and helped the Demons to an undefeated regular season and trip to the GHSA Class 5A championship game.

          Harris finished second on the team with 82 tackles and had two interceptions.

          Harris was diagnosed with epilepsy as a sophomore in high school, and cannabis oil was eventually prescribed after more than a dozen of seizures.

          State representative Allen Peake has been a staunch proponent of medical marijuana, and fought for its legalization. He was the main force behind a 2015 law that established a registry in the state for medical marijuana.

          Nearly 2,000 patients and almost 400 doctors in the state are registered.

          Harris began taking it in January of 2017 while FPD, which as a private school was able to permit Harris to administer the medicine to himself. But after transferring to Warner Robins in the middle of his junior year, he found things different.

          For one, he couldn’t administer the medicine to himself while on campus at the public school, so his father would pick him up around lunch time and they would drive around for a few minutes while Harris took the medication, which he must do every six hours.

          WGXA reported that Auburn coaches re-examined Harris’s medical records and told his father about acceptable medication while competing in NCAA sports.

          The station noted the NCAA rule about athletes having any THC in their system. Harris’s medication has .3 percent THC, which would reportedly still be enough to prevent him from passing a drug test. The initial story drew sharp comments on Twitter from state representatives Allen Peake of Macon, who has made medicinal marijuana his primary cause, and Heath Clark.

          Peake has worked hard to provide legal cannabis medication to Georgia residents. It has become a priority for him, leading Peake to not seek re-election to represent District 141 after 12 years.

          Peake did as well, with a Tweet backing Clark’s words, noting: “We must fix this, cmon congress” with a hashtag “changethedamnlaw”.

          There has been a groundswell since the story first appeared, ask the NCAA and Congress to take action. That may slow down a little bit since the medication issue appears not to be the reason Harris won’t be on The Plains later this summer.

          Neither Harris nor Peake nor Clark have Tweeted on the situation since Auburn Undercover’s report nor, as of 2 a.m. Thursday, Malzahn’s comments on Wednesday. And there has yet to be an clarification or update from local or regional media that reported on the initial story.