Blitzed: Why the NFL should consider changing its policy on marijuana use By Antonio Guerrucci Ahh, Football Sunday. With the National Football League (NFL) season in full swing, sports media outlets everywhere are sharing the latest news, upsets, and interesting storylines. From superstar holdouts ending, to newly amended rules such as reviewable pass interference, to the latest Antonio Brown developments. Along with this diverse list of narratives, there are new details emerging regarding the NFL’s stance on marijuana. NBC’s Pro Football Talk reported in March that, “the NFL is prepared to make major concessions regarding the substance-abuse policy, especially as it relates to marijuana.” While this is definitely good news coming from a conservative organization, let’s not start breaking out our best touchdown celebration dances just yet. Marijuana policy will have its place on the agenda at the next Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) meeting and will most likely not be revised until the start of the league’s 2020 season. Let’s take a look at a few reasons why the NFL should consider changing its stance on marijuana. Reason #1: Most of the NFL’s viewers approve of Marijuana. Football is America’s most dominant sport and approximately 62% of Americans are in favor of the legalization of marijuana. It’s likely that a large percentage of the NFL’s viewers favor legalization. In addition, the legislative mismatch between Federal and State laws challenges the NFL’s policy on marijuana. Players are forced to consider both Federal and State laws, as well as the rules they are subject to under NFL contracts. Then, during the offseason, players may change their behavior based on what state they reside in. Cannabis friendly players may be more likely to take into consideration a State’s legalization status when considering where to play next or where to live during the offseason. Reason #2: Other Professional Sports Leagues are already changing their Policies. All four major sports leagues administer drug tests for their players, but not all have similar policies regarding marijuana. The NFL tests each of their players during the offseason and randomly during the regular season. Testing positive for marijuana results in punishments that range from low-level fines to a one-year suspension. The National Basketball Association only tests its players during the regular season. If players fail to comply with the tests or if they test positive, they can be hit with fines as high as $250,000 and multiple game suspensions. Major League Baseball does not test for marijuana, but will if they have “reasonable cause” for a specific individual. ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported that “if a player tests positive, he might be subject to a treatment plan that can include progressive fines up to $35,000....” Finally, the National Hockey League doesn’t test for marijuana and instead places its main focus on helping those in need rather than simply punishing players. Hockey player Connor McDavid has voiced his support for further research into marijuana’s use for physical rehabilitation and as a possible replacement for more dangerous pain medications that are widely used for by injured hockey players. This segues us to our third and final reason...
Reason #3: Marijuana may help NFL players recover from injuries. According to the NFL’s Play Smart Play Safe Injury Data, there were 402 instances of injury last season on a list where only three different types of injury were reported (concussions (214), ACL tear (57), MCL Tear (131)). The statistic they don’t show is the hundreds of opioids & pain medications that are ingested each week to relieve the pain or at least reduce it enough to a playable injury. A study by Cottler, Abdallah, Cummings, et al. was conducted in 2010 to “evaluate the intersection of sports pain and opioid use and misuse among former NFL players.” The results, while not surprising, were undoubtedly staggering. Results showed that 52% of the 644 retired players questioned in the survey reported using opioids during their career, with 71% of them reporting misuse. Recently, current and former NFL players have spoken out about the misuse of these drugs, along with their experiences and struggles while using opioids. Retired players such as Eugene Monroe, Chris Long and WNY native Rob Gronkowski have publicly discussed the potential benefits of marijuana as a safer alternative. Gronk even partnered with Abacus Health products, a hemp CBD company, to launch a line of topical CBD products aimed at treating pain. The company is called CBD-MEDIC and markets products with patented formulations in the form of creams, balms, and massage oils. The company rivals another former NFL players’ company, Marvin Washington’s Isodiol. Washington serves on the board of Isodiol and co-founded ISO-Sport, a line of CBD products marketed to athletes for management of muscle soreness and inflammation. CannaBuff Insights: With the CBD craze still in full swing, we are likely to see more athletes capitalize on marketing opportunities through joint partnerships.
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