The chorus of football players advocating for marijuana as a medicinal alternative for pain management and concussion therapy is growing louder, as five former NFL athletes participated in a panel discussion last week at the Cannabis World Congress and Business Expo at Manhattan’s Javits Convention Center.
The panel, according to the New York Daily News , was moderated by former Giants defensive lineman Leonard Marshall and included former Bears quarterback Jim McMahon, former Broncos tight end Nate Jackson, former Broncos wide receiver Charlie Adams and former Jaguars offensive tackle Eben Britton.
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McMahon, who is dealing with early dementia, severe headaches, memory loss and depression — all symptoms associated with too many concussions — believes he would be healthier now if he was allowed to use marijuana instead of pills during his playing career. Marijuana is an effective pain killer and less harmful than opiods, McMahon said.
“Hundreds of thousands of people are dying from [painkillers] and there’s not one case of people dying from the hemp plant,” McMahon said.
Britton added, “Juxtaposing my experiences with pharmaceutical drugs like Vicodin and Percocet, that made me angry and irritable, frustrated, didn’t get rid of any of the pain, made it difficult to sleep, increased my heart rate and made me feel crazy. On the other side of that there’s cannabis that helped me sleep, put me into a healing state of being where I was relieved from stress and anxiety as well as feeling the pain relief.”
Jackson, who appeared on an edition of HBO’s Real Sports that dealt with the same issue, added, “The owners of these teams are, by and large, wealthy men who are older and do not understand that this is a pretty innocuous substance.”
While the NFL is reportedly quietly exploring the benefits medical marijuana , the practice’s chief advocate among current players — Eugene Monroe — was cut by the Ravens recently. The team said the move was made purely for football reasons, but Monroe tweeted this:
— Eugene Monroe (@MrEugeneMonroe) June 16, 2016
Concussions are one of the biggest issues currently facing the NFL, and some players and doctors believe that cannabidiol, or CBD — a chemical found in hemp — can help minimize brain damage caused by concussions.