Teddy Dupay Shoots For Legalized Marijuana

Teddy Dupay will never be uninteresting. He was a riveting figure at Cape Coral’s Mariner High, setting a probably unassailable Florida state scoring record. (“It’ll never be broken,” Dupay says, “unless they add a five-point line.”) He was a lightning rod for love and hate at the University of Florida first as a 5’10” sparkplug with range for days, then as a pariah whose career ended early after he got caught up in a gambling case.

He was intriguing as a pro basketball player in Ecuador, amusing as a telemarketer, and appalling as a man charged with rape. His life has not been dull. To paraphrase Kanye West, everybody feels a way about Teddy Dupay, but at least they feel something.

So I am curious to see how Dupay’s new crusade to legalize marijuana is portrayed. There’s certainly plenty to think about in his FanHouse profile.

Dupay talks about legalizing pot as an economic decision and a challenge, something he compares to choosing Billy Donovan’s unproven Florida program as a prep star. He talks about clocking six figures as an educational sales representative. (“I was making $250-300K,” he said, “without even breaking a sweat.”) He talks about being charged with three felonies after whatever happened on that night in Utah, solemnly doing his eventual 30 days of time in prison, and coming out still in love with the woman he cannot contact.

Oh, and he talks about pot. He talks about pot a lot. He talks about smoking it in the past. About what he knew before launching his movement: “All I knew about pot was that Jason Williams smoked a lot of it.” About how paying people to sign up other people to be part of this movement isn’t a pyramid scheme: “We are the first advocacy group that will pay you to stand up for what’s right.” And about what the purpose of his push really is: ”“This isn’t about smoking it,” Dupay said. “This is about finding solutions.”

I’m sure there will be more than a few jokes about Dupay after this, and more than a few dismissals of him and his group. But I can’t imagine he’ll mind all that much.

⇥⇥“You know me,” Dupay said. “Controversy is my middle name.“Indeed it is, Teddy. And I’ll be watching you tote that name to every toker you can. It’ll be interesting, no doubt.↵