The NFL, Cannabis, And Common Sense
Every year the commissioner of the NFL, Roger Goodell, is asked about removing cannabis from the banned substance list for players. Every year the Roger Goodell gives a less than convincing excuse as to why the NFL will not remove marijuana from the banned list, but this year he threw in a statement regarding a “willingness to work with the NFLPA on the issue”.
The fact that the NFL is not leading the charge on research and application dealing with the uses of cannabis to deal with pain management and CTE does not seem logical. There is a great deal of data that suggests that marijuana has a number of beneficial qualities that could help the league’s biggest asset which is it’s players. It seems that a league which will get in front of a camera and talk about how worried it is about concussions, would decide to get out in front of the research that could actually help deal with the problem.
There is an opioid epidemic that is sweeping the nation and the NFL is not immune to it. Players are being over prescribed addictive and dangerous drugs to manage their pain from the rigors of the sport. Again why not look for an alternative that could potentially increase the quality of life for your players?
Mary Jane may not be the answer to all the questions players and the league have when dealing with pain management, but it seems like a good place to start. The article quoted below from TNMN gets into deeper detail regarding the league and it’s stance on weed. TNMN is also a good source for news and notes on what’s new and important in the realm of cannabis.
When we think of the National Football League (NFL), we think of big, strong, fast men making the game many played in grade school and high school, look like art. The speed, the coordination, the remarkable things they do with their bodies, keep fans coming back season after season anticipating more amazing feats from these near super humans.
But, while we enjoy watching them run over each other and crush each other for glory, many have been asking about how to manage pain and recovery. Anyone who has watched an NFL game has seen bone crushing hits and head jarring tackles that make the average person cringe. When most plays end, the players jump up and move to the next play. What we know is that those hits, over time, take a toll. Their bodies are beaten and bruised. They suffer concussions, torn ligaments, broken bones and detached muscles. With all this carnage, how do they cope? How do these men deal with the pain, week in and week out, day in and day out?
What we know currently about player pain management is the league has some work to do. We know that currently team doctors use drugs such as Vicodin, OxyContin and Toradol very liberally. We know the players use the drugs so liberally that the league has been sued by the players for the reckless use of these and other strong addictive drugs to help players deal with pain. This isn’t pain management, it is addiction peddling.
Drugs like Vicodin work by blocking the pain receptors in the brain leading to pain relief and feelings of relaxation, which especially for NFL players can quickly lead to addiction. NFL games are often compared to being in multiple car crashes in the same day. After years of this type of physical beating, it is not difficult to see how a drug like Vicodin being handed out like candy on Halloween can become a problem. Players rack up aches and pains like gold coins in a video game. Needless to say, drugs that block pain and help them relax make sense, but moderation and proper dosing are key, which as previously stated, has been an issue with the NFL.
Steve
Steve is an affordable multifamily housing professional that is also the co-founder of Whiskey Congress. Steve has written for national publications such as The National Marijuana News and other outlets as a guest blogger on topics covering sports, politics, and cannabis. Steve loves whiskey, cigars, and uses powerlifting as an outlet to deal with the fact that no one listens to his brilliant ideas.
