Early-enrolled freshman cornerback De'Ante Saunders became Florida's fourth player arrested for marijuana possession in 2011 in May, the Palm Beach Post's Jason Lieser reported Thursday night. On May 25, he was served with a notice to appear in court; the Post further reported that records indicate Saunders agreed to deferred prosecution, which essentially means that counseling and good behavior can have this arrest all but expunged from his record.
And, what's more, eternal Gainesville legal eagle Huntley Johnson, Saunders' attorney, says his client has kicked the sticky icky (sorry, 1993 decided to drop by) habit...
"He's quit smoking marijuana," Johnson said. "I'm satisfied that's not going to be an issue again."
...and Florida spokesman Steve McClain texted Lieser to tell him that Will Muschamp was aware of the situation and had handled it internally. It's weird: It's almost like getting arrested for possession of marijuana is a fairly minor thing on the grand moral spectrum of Western civilization or something.
Still, five arrests for four players — Janoris Jenkins, not once but twice, Chris Martin and Kedric Johnson in separate incidents, and now Saunders — means it's time for another completely worthless inquisition, right?
Uh, no. My reaction to the Gainesville Sun's May feature on Florida's supposed marijuana problem — that there is no such thing, really — is one I stand by, and I'm not going to get worked up about adults making choices about what they put into their bodies until those adults start endangering other people by doing so.
You can take the really easy route with the jokes here, but there's a question we should be asking: Don't you think we should be wondering not whether Florida seems to have a lot of tokers (hi, 1976!) on the roster, but why these arrests are only being reported months after the fact? The cover-up would be far worse than the crime, no?