NFL players themselves, on national TV, have stated that, in their opinion, somewhere around 70% of the players in the NFL used marijuana. They said it casual like everyone already knew that. 70%, that’s a lot of guys.
On a recent HBO program, Bryant Gumbel reported that an estimated 50%-60% of the players in the NFL used pot on a regular basis. Some use it for pain management some for their own personal edification.
Gumbel also reported that a doctor in Israel had been treating mice with head trauma with marijuana and showing a significant improvement in their conditions. Now if they can just find a 300 pound mouse to try it out on.
Wouldn’t it be convenient for the NFL if medical authorities came out saying that medical marijuana is useful in the treatment of certain conditions incurred by players in the league say like concussions?
In just the past couple of years, Marijuana has gone from being a frowned-upon but loosely tolerated social phenomenon mostly used by the younger generation, to one of the most widely discussed topics in the media today. Everywhere you look some expert is expounding on the wonders of medical marijuana while on the other channel some other expert is harping on the dangers of the same weed.
They must be making a lot of noise because the movement has even gotten the attention of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell whose office sits squarely in the middle of the controversy. Goodell has even stated publicly that if medical experts were able to show that medical marijuana could help treat concussions, he would consider allowing players to use it.
He told USA Today, “We will obviously follow signs. We will follow medicine and if they determine this could be a proper usage in any context, we will consider that. Our medical experts are not saying that right now.”
But for now the policy of the NFL on the use of marijuana remains the same. Greg Aiello of the NFL Commissioner’s office told reporters, “The NFL’s policy is collectively bargained and will continue to apply in the same manner it has for decades. Marijuana remains prohibited under the NFL substance abuse program.”
The ironic part of all this is that the two teams competing in the Super Bowl this year just happen to be from the only two states in the union where recreational marijuana use is legal, just not so if you happen to be a player in the NFL.
