NFL PLAYERS CALLS FOR CANNABIS POLICY REFORM
The NFL has a strict policy on the use of marijuana, but one NFL player is making the argument that it’s not only needed, but a better solution for the consistent ailments that plague professional football players.
“Your job automatically gives you the symptom of chronic pain,” said Ravens offensive tackle Eugene Monroe, a member of the NFL since 2009. “You’re hitting each other as hard as possible every single day in practice. Your body is in pain a lot of time.”
Questions are being raised about the NFL’s policies on treating injuries and the chronic conditions they create. The long-term effects of being a professional athlete in the NFL have recently inspired documentaries and movies based on the pressures of the sport, which can cause brain damage, permanent nerve damage, and prolonged body pain associated with injuries and arthritis.
Conventional treatments for these ailments are typically opioid painkillers, corticosteroids and other anti-inflammatory prescription drugs, all of which have long-term side effects. Monroe is making the argument that cannabis is a much safer alternative, especially in light of the opioid epidemic that is affecting the rest of the United States.
“All over our country people are addicted, and that’s happening in our locker rooms,”
said Monroe.
Previous NFL players have admitted to using marijuana during their career, as well as in their retirement. “Cannabis has been part of my football experience since I started,” said Nate Jackson, who played in the NFL from 2003 to 2008. “I never liked the pills and medicated with cannabis.”
Former Bears quarterback Jim McMahon is using cannabis in his retirement to treat brain damage, early-onset dementia and chronic pain, all of which are associated with his time in the NFL. Of the 100+ Percocet tablets he took per day, McMahon said, “They were doing more harm than good.”
The NFL insists they need more research to determine if there is a medical benefit for their players.
“I agree there has been changes, but not significant enough changes that our medical personnel have changed their view,”
said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “Until they do, then I don’t expect that we will change our view.”
A nonprofit group called Realm of Caring has undertaken the task of researching how cannabis can help NFL players.
In partnership with Johns Hopkins University, Realm of Caring is trying to raise money to conduct more research on the precise ailments of NFL athletes and how cannabis could help their symptoms. Ryan Vandrey, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine, wants to explore these options.
“We want to go in and learn as much about the players. Who’s using? What kind of benefit? How does it benefit (players) versus traditional treatments? Are there other associated effects?”
There have been studies indicating that cannabis can help heal the brain, and the U.S. government even holds a patent on the neuroprotective properties of cannabinoids, the chemical compounds responsible for the medicinal efficacy of cannabis. The patent states, “…cannabinoids are found to have particular application as neuroprotectants, for example in limiting neurological damage following ischemic insults, such as stroke and trauma, or in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and HIV dementia.”
Still, the NFL requires even more data before considering a reversal of their policy on marijuana.
“The NFL will need to have legitimate information before they remove marijuana from the banned substance list and ultimately not hurt their product in the field,”
Monroe said. “But there’s opportunity in that space also, for the NFL to get involved and maybe lead efforts.”
