Back in the early days of the NFL, marijuana was taboo among team owners. GMs would quickly cut or severely fine a player for testing positive for THC. Sadly, these days, not much has changed. The NFL still puts marijuana on its banned substance list while prescribing highly addictive opiates such as Oxycodone or Dilaudid to treat pain. Many players have had long battles with prescription drug abuse. “I shook all night long,” Brett Favre explained while withdrawing from Vicodin (see interview here).
One thing that has changed is the marijuana laws in the private sector. Marijuana and CDB oil have proven to be wonder drugs for people with chronic pain, seizures, Parkinson’s, etc. Still, after all the scientific studies, the NFL continues to ban this substance.
How many more athletes have to become addicted or possibly overdose on pain killers before we learn that THC is a safer, much less addictive alternative to opiates? No, marijuana won’t keep you up all night frantically dancing to jazz music like some early propaganda films would have you believe. Let the players choose to use marijuana for pain relief. The alternative is much worse.
(My name is Kyle Riddle, and I’m an addict.)
