In 2009the NFL instituted concussion protocols for a player who has his bell rung. If coaches, team spotters, NFL Officials, or the team physician see impact to a player’s head, they call a time out. The player is then escorted off the field to be examined and evaluated.
In 2014 Lester Grinspoon, associate professor of psychiatry, emeritus, wrote an open letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell urging him to listen to evidence of cannabis as a successful treatment for long-term head trauma.
Then in June of 2021 the NFL asked the Feds to support research into cannabis as an alternative to the shopping bag of pharmaceuticals prescribed for injuries that result from playing this highly physical sport and whose side effects result in life long chronic injuries.
Recently, the NFL and the league’s players’ union announced they would award grants of up to $1 million to fund research into cannabis as an alternative to opioids for treating pain.
Additionally, they have asked that players no longer be drug tested for CBD or THC. NFL players would not face the possibility of being suspended from games over positive tests for any drug—not just marijuana—under a collective bargaining agreement that has been approved by team owners and is now being voted on by members of the players union.
Currently, the federal government only funds research that shows the negative impacts of cannabis and few studies about its benefits.
While funding for this kind of research is usually provided by a pharmaceutical company they have decided they can’t make money from it because the use of locally grown cannabis for medical purposes is now legal in 37 states. Medical cannabis patients are substituting cannabis for pharmaceuticals cutting into pharmaceutical company profits.
That is why its significant that the NFL and former players like Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson along with ex NFL linesman Rob Sims have created the business Megatron and partnered with Harvard University to research the benefits of medical cannabis in the areas of chronic pain management and chronic traumatic brain encephalopathy (CTE) resulting from repeated concussions.
Hopefully, the pressure from the NFL and former players will encourage the federal government to remove the barriers to research into the benefits of medical cannabis in treating the chronic pain, head trauma these athletes incur in their short careers.
Comments