As Nate Jackson, a former National Football League (NFL) tight end, put it, “I medicated with marijuana during that time. I didn’t take the pain pills. I wanted to medicate with herbs of my own choosing” (“NFL policy stirs debate,” 2014). Now that may seem as though it is a very biased opinion, yet the consensus around the league may also seem to share this positive outlook on marijuana usage. I played football and it has always been my favorite sport to watch on television. At the same time, the nature of football makes it a very violent sport. Players need protection and marijuana can be a possible solution to that problem. Nate Jackson is not alone, many other former players are also calling for the league to change their policy. Marijuana is illegal at the federal level, yet many states are beginning to legalize it. As of now, twenty-eight states have marijuana legalized for medical use, while nine states have legalized it for recreational use as well. As it stands, players are forced to take one drug test a year, if they fail a test at any given point then they are entered into the league’s substance abuse program where they are obligated to take a drug test at any point throughout the season. Marijuana is currently a banned substance in the league as well. So despite the league’s drug testing policy, as long a player has not been entered into the substance abuse program and is not subject to random drug tests, it is not hard for a player to simply wait until they are drug tested which often times occurs in the offseason, then continue their use. While this may seem overly obvious and easy to manipulate, many players still fail drug tests multiple times. While all this is going on, many people around the league readily know that a good portion of players wait to use marijuana until after a test. America is continuing to pass legislation on the legalization for medical marijuana and even recreational use, yet the NFL is not following suit. The NFL needs to start seriously considering medical marijuana as a drug teams can prescribe to players to help with pain relief and concussions; research is continuing to come out with positive results and the league needs to consider a policy change. 

Part of the NFL’s argument on why marijuana has not been legalized is their claim for lack of scientific evidence. Yet upon further research, studies have been done the effect of cannabis on pain. According to one study done by Igor Grant in 2012, “research indicates that cannabis may also be effective in the treatment of painful peripheral neuropathy and muscle spasticity.” Grant, of the Center for Medical Cannabis Research at the University of California, found that patients dealing with chronic pain examined in this study were shown to have pain reduced by thirty to forty percent (Grant). A thirty percent decrease in pain is looked at as having an improved quality of life, so this evidence is extremely relevant. Player safety should be at the utmost importance in the National Football League in a time where the league is under much scrutiny for its violent nature. This is specific evidence that shows marijuana can in fact be effective as a pain reliever. Chronic pain is certainly a possibility in the NFL. With players taking brutal hits and blows week in and week out it doesn’t allow them much time to heal their bodies. A pain that may last just two weeks may be prolonged to several months due to the repeated hits that a player suffers in practices and games. According to a study done by Kevin P. Hill of Harvard Medical School, medical marijuana can be effective in treating that pain and seriously reducing the pain that the players feel. Hill, concluded that the use of marijuana for chronic pain, neuropathic pain, and pain associated with multiple sclerosis is backed by convincing evidence. Hill reached this conclusion based on six trials for chronic pain, six trials for neuropathic pain, and twelve trials for patients dealing with multiple sclerosis. Hill believes that this study on these three types of pain showed enough convincing information on marijuana for it to be considered an effective pain reliever. According to Eugene Monroe, playing professional football entails that “your job automatically gives you the symptom of chronic pain” (Kounang). If this is true and all players are subject to chronic pain, it makes sense that the league should then allow a drug that dramatically reduces that pain. Players want to treat their bodies and deal with pain in the most effective and best ways possible, so it makes little sense to deprive them of this possible solution. 

Currently in the United States, states are continuing to loosen their stance on marijuana. Some states even made it legal in every form, such as Washington, Oregon, Maine and Colorado. As current laws stand, recreational cannabis usage is legal in nine states or districts, including five that are home to at least one NFL franchise. In terms of medical marijuana, which would be used in the NFL, a total of twenty-eight states have already legalized it. Of the twenty-two states that have not legalized medical marijuana, only four of those states are home to an NFL franchise. According to one study done at Tel Aviv University, ultralow doses of psychoactive tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) protects the brain from neuroinflammation. Cannabinoids, a another chemical compound in marijuana, proved to act as neuroprotectants. They showed to limit neurological damage in the brain, such as a concussion (Butterfield, 2016). So despite the NFL’s firm policy on cannabis usage, the trend in the country is consistent with this research on marijuana’s medical benefits. As this trend continues, it will only reveal the disparity in policies between the country and the league even more. The United States seems to have looked into the effects of medical marijuana and has changed its stance as more and more studies come out. If the states have realized the potential huge benefits of cannabis, why should the National Football League be any different? 

The current form of pain treatment that the NFL uses is prescription pain medication, which have been known to have a high risk of abuse. As former Baltimore Ravens left tackle Eugene Monroe puts it, “All over our country people are addicted, and that’s happening in our locker rooms” (Kounang). Players are not happy with how the league currently deals with player injuries and pain treatment, and they want something new. In an interview with Mike Freeman, the NFL National Lead Writer for Bleacher Report, one veteran NFL linebacker who chose to remain anonymous stated that “smoking allowed [him] to recover from [his] concussion a lot faster and with a lot less side effects” (Freeman, 2015). The players believe marijuana can have a major impact in helping them cope with the pain that comes along with the physical abuse in the National Football League. Last year, former players filed a class action lawsuit against all thirty-two franchises in the league allegedly for pushing painkillers onto the players to help them return to the field (Kounang). Players want new solutions, they want to get rid of their pain, they want to be as healthy as possible when they step on the field. Yet many are against prescription pills and teams have been pushing them onto players, medical cannabis could be a major solution to that. Seemingly more and more players are calling for the ban on marijuana to be lifted, and as more convincing evidence shows the benefits of marijuana, their argument becomes even more valid. 

Evidence on the benefits of medical marijuana continues to come out, and it is very hard to ignore. Matthias Karst, of Hannover Medical School in Germany, conducted a study on oral medicine containing the main compounds in marijuana and its effect on neuropathic pain in 2003. He studied twenty-one patients across five weeks comparing the patients pain levels on oral medication including cannabis compounds to their pain levels while taking a placebo pill. After conducting this study and using various ways to measure levels of pain, Karst concluded that the patients consuming the medication containing compounds found in marijuana had considerably lower neuropathic pain levels. This is another study that reveals a possible pain reducing property in marijuana. In addition to the reduced pain levels in patients that were taking dosages of oral cannabis, Karst’s study showed little adverse effects to patients. He states that “tiredness was the main adverse psychological event and dry mouth was the main adverse physical effect” (Karst). After a long game of countless hits, the player may decide side effects of tiredness and dry mouth are worth the pain relief. Although this one study cannot be the final conclusion on medical marijuana, it is yet another study done that shows the beneficial properties that the drug can provide to the National Football League. 

With little adverse effects to these drugs, it makes it even more convincing. Former Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams, who is publicly an advocate and even criticized for his history with the drug, recalls that one day while sitting in the training room, he “watched player after player come in to take a Toradol shot just to practice” (Garcia). Players know that when they are in the NFL, their bodies will continue to wear down the longer they play. These players rely on having little to no pain in order to be able to play the game at the highest level. If that pain is eliminated or even lessened to a certain degree where the players feel more comfortable out on the field, it would be better for their bodies so when they get hit their bodies are ready for it, as well as the play would be better for the league helping it make more money. The owner’s and high standing officials of the league need to be more open minded to something new. Legalization of marijuana for medicinal use would be a major breakthrough for the sport in terms of protecting the longevity of its players. Constance Finley, the founder of an extract firm called Constance Therapeutics, simply believes that “the owners have to see responsible, smart people who are completely mainstream to have their experiences reflected, have their minds opened” (Garcia). Educating owners who have a say in important decisions like these could be key to getting the legislation passed, and that may be all that is needed. If they are presented studies that have been done proving the health benefits of using medical marijuana and how it could protect the players in their organization, there is little reason to continue to punish players for their use of cannabis. 

This debate will seemingly continue on until marijuana is legal in the NFL. Players will not stop speaking out on their beliefs about the drug in hopes of the ban being lifted. The league operates under agreements between two groups, the NFL, which includes the commissioner, coaches, owners, and any staff, and the National Football League Players Association. Every couple years these two groups meet to discuss salaries, rules, and any other issues that would involve both parties and come to a contract. The NFLPA recently came out and said, “marijuana is currently a banned substance under the collectively bargained Substances of Abuse Policy,” and they continue by saying, “no change to marijuana’s status as a banned substance has been recommended by those medical professionals” (Kounang). So despite Ricky Williams and Eugene Monroe’s public comments and position on the topic, the association representing the players has yet to begin lobbying for medical cannabis to be allowed. Nate Jackson, a former Denver Broncos tight end who played in the league for six seasons, came out and said after retirement that ‘cannabis has been a part of [his] football experience since [he] started,” and he “never liked the pills and medicated with cannabis” (Kounang). This is coming from a player who openly admitted to using the drug while in the league and obviously supports marijuana. He has been exposed to the brutal nature of the game and has experienced the toll that it takes on his body. Did he want to constantly take painkillers to make himself feel better? No, that is what marijuana was for. 

Although marijuana is still criminalized at a federal level, the government does have some insight on the benefits of the drug. Despite the fact that the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) classifies marijuana as a drug with no currently accepted medical use, the U.S. government holds a patent on cannabis as a neuroprotectant. In the patent, it writes, “the cannabinoids are found to have particular application as neuroprotectants” (Kounang). So even though the DEA does not acknowledge the medical benefits of marijuana, the government recognizes its potential upside. In citing the multiple studies presented earlier, all were found to show the effects that marijuana has on pain treatment. Each individual study that was researched came to the conclusion that marijuana did in fact relieve pain. The average career length of a professional athlete is the shortest in the NFL in comparison to other major sports including baseball, basketball, and hockey, and that is due to the violent hits that their bodies take week in and week out. These players need the most effective and least harmful remedies to save their bodies from deteriorating so quickly. To Eugene Monroe, the effect of marijuana can make an impact much greater than the game as well. He believes that in addition to preparing for the games during the season, marijuana can help when the season is over since many players deal with chronic aching pain. Monroe states that “players can play with their kids, see their families and not have their bodies ache” (Kounang). If using marijuana has been beneficial to some, Eugene Monroe, Ricky Williams, and Nate Jackson to name a few, it can certainly be beneficial to many. These stories and these players experiences should not be taken lightly by the league and should be looked at as a reason to dive further into studies based on medical marijuana. 

Despite these players praising the substance they believe can greatly benefit others careers, many will point out the possible drawbacks of legalizing marijuana. One issue that people commonly cite is the risk of getting addicted to the drug and dependent on the high it provides. One solution to this problem is that if a player gets prescribed by the team doctor to use marijuana, it must be properly regulated by the medical staff of that franchise. The franchise and the league can work together to restrict doctors from over prescribing. A player may be allowed to test positive for marijuana, just as long as they are prescribed by that team’s doctor. This is a way to limit players’ access to the drug while still allowing them to use it. Another argument made against professional athletes using marijuana for pain treatment is that they are role models to kids and it could send the wrong message. Some may point out that this could get kids to believe that marijuana is much more acceptable to use. While this may be true, kids should begin to be more educated about medicinal purposes for the drug and to change the view of it as more of a medicine, instead of a plant that causes a “high.” Additionally, I would propose for the league to only give players oral medications, instead of smoking the plant. The oral medication would contain extracts of marijuana containing the beneficial compounds and chemicals. This would prevent kids from thinking smoking the plant was more acceptable. Prescription pain pills are thought of for their medicinal purposes for players, marijuana could be too. In addition to that, people may point out the adverse effects of using marijuana instead of pain relief. These effects being the high feeling or feeling tired or groggy. Yet if someone were to take painkillers, they would be at a high risk of abuse. Certain disadvantages come along with any type of medicine including marijuana, yet they would not be as detrimental as painkillers. 

The country is continuing a current trend of becoming less and less strict regarding marijuana laws. States are continuing to allow marijuana for medicinal use, while some states have even lifted their ban on recreational use. Despite this, The NFL has not budged on their policy. The NFL has not recognized marijuana as beneficial to players and have not changed their policy on marijuana usage. Players continually get suspended year in and year out for being caught with marijuana or failing a drug test. What might be possible though, is they are ahead of the curve and use marijuana to help with pain already. It could be beneficial to those players after taking such harsh hits for weeks on end during football season. Marijuana may simply be their way of relieving pain after a tough game, it may work better for them than taking pain medicine. The National Football League needs to start taking marijuana more seriously. Their decision to ban it from the league may turn out to be very detrimental years down the road current studies are an indication of the major benefits that may come from cannabis usage. Some players say it does wonders, most do not say anything as if they were to admit to it, they could be suspended, but those who are retired and have experienced it first hand, should start to be taken more seriously. The NFL needs to reconsider its current drug policy on medical marijuana. The drug has many potential benefits and the league needs to begin funding more research on cannabis in order to get their players the best medical treatments for the rigors of the NFL. Marijuana has been around for a while and it is not too late to get the players the medicine they need to have long, healthy, successful careers.
