For many years, it has been debated whether or not medicinal marijuana has medical benefits. This widely used street drug has been studied for decades by various doctors and scientists. Despite the many research projects on marijuana, the United States government lists the plant as a Schedule I controlled substance. Today, Colorado and Washington have legalized use for recreation. While these are the only two states with fully legalized marijuana, over 20 states have legalized the plant for medicinal use. So what are some medical benefits of marijuana that can be used to treat football injuries? And what are the cons that are making the NFL reluctant to allow medical marijuana?
Please Note: This list of pros and cons is strictly medicinal.
Pros of Medical Marijuana (in relation to football injuries):
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Decreases anxiety: Harvard Medical School research has shown that marijuana can reduce anxiety and improve mood. The NFL season is a long and stressful experience and many players have had anxiety problems in the past.
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Slows progression of Alzheimer’s: With the heavy contact experienced in each football game, “emerging evidence suggests that repeated mild traumatic brain injuries, such as those that can occur in sports like American football…may be linked to a greater risk of a type of dementia called chronic traumatic encephalopathy,” according to the Alzheimer’s Association
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Relieves arthritis discomfort: NFL players are constantly moving, jerking, and cutting at unusually high speeds. Joint discomfort is not uncommon for highly active people.
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Prevents cancer from spreading: While not NFL specific, cancer affects everybody. Preventing the spread of cancer can lead to prolonged NFL careers and lives after playing is over.
Cons of Medical Marijuana (in relation to football injuries):
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Affects brain development: According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, “Marijuana also affects brain development, and when it is used heavily by young people, its effects on thinking and memory may last a long time or even be permanent.” Many NFL players are still in their early 20s and their brains are still developing.
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Causes respiratory problems: Also from the National Institute of Drug Abuse, “Marijuana smoke is an irritant to the lungs, and frequent marijuana smokers can have many of the same respiratory problems experienced by tobacco smokers.” NFL players need healthy lungs, as players are bigger, faster, and stronger than ever. In addition, with the emergence of quick tempo offenses, there is less time to catch their breath in between plays.
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Impairs motor skills while intoxicated: Increases danger of users and of the common good.
According to recent Super Bowl champ head coach, Pete Carroll:
“I would say that we have to explore and find ways to make our game a better game and take care of our players in whatever way possible. Regardless of what other stigmas might be involved, we have to do this because the world of medicine is doing this.”
Carroll is a veteran head coach and has known to be a “player’s coach” in the past. With that, one of the biggest issues in the NFL today is player’s safety. The NFL has gone under fire for wanting to expand to an 18 game season, as that increases the risk of injury. These past couple years have experienced many instances of a lack of player safety resulting in mental illness, murder, and suicide. The country has criticized the NFL regarding the recent deaths of both Junior Seau and Jovan Belcher, who both took their own lives because of depression.
By making medicinal marijuana legal for players, the NFL is taking a step towards reducing mental illness in football players. Many current and former players suffer from anxiety and depression caused by violent hits in the game. Concussion rates are as high as ever, and these concussions lead to mental illness. With the use of medical marijuana, current and former NFL players would be able to alleviate the effects of these illnesses, namely depression and anxiety.
Commissioner Roger Goodell, though, is not in full support of bringing medical marijuana into the league just yet. When asked about medical marijuana he said, “I don’t know what’s going to develop as far as the next opportunity for medicine to evolve and to help either deal with pain or help deal with injuries, but we will continue to support the evolution of medicine.” Basically, the issue of medical marijuana is still too controversial in the United States for Goodell to definitively provide an answer.
Aside from medical implications, there are social and legal consequences of allowing medical marijuana in the NFL. First, NFL players are childhood idols and very influential in society. To many fans, seeing these same players smoking weed (even if prescribed it) could turn them off to the game and encourage their children to follow others sports. The NFL also stands to lose potential revenues and advertising partners by allowing medical marijuana. If a company has an anti-drug policy, they may drop their sponsorship with the NFL, resulting in a loss of revenue for the league.
In addition, medical marijuana has many gray areas within the law, especially for NFL players travelling all over the country. As stated above, only 20 states allow for medical marijuana. In addition, there are many rules and regulations on how much of the plant one is allowed to possess and where they are allowed to smoke it. Many NFL players hardly know all of the rules to football (Donovan McNabb famously saying he forgot that NFL games could tie). Will these same players be able to follow the strict rules of medicinal marijuana? Breaking these rules can lead to even more legal troubles in a league where crime is already prevalent.
Yes, there are many reasons why medicinal marijuana is only legal in 40% of states and that recreational use of the drug is only allowed in two states. But in the NFL, a league filled with injuries both during and after a player’s career, allowing medicinal marijuana is a small step to increase player safety. Every time the whistle blows, somebody can suffer a head injury. Medical marijuana can help ease some of the side effects of head injuries. This will lead to current players sustaining longer careers and former players living better lives. Hopefully, medical marijuana can reduce the number of depression and suicide cases in NFL players, too. Unfortunately though, the negative ramifications of allowing the drug in the NFL are still unpredictable. The NFL, as a multi billion dollar company, likely will not raise a controversial issue with all of the risks.
Do you think the pros of medical marijuana outweigh the cons and it should be legalized for NFL players?