Debunking Myths That Sports Leagues Use To Justify Cannabis Prohibition
A number of sports leagues and organizations prohibit cannabis use by athletes, and have for many years. Cannabis use is prohibited in leagues like the National Basketball Association (NBA), National Football League (NFL), and Major League Baseball (MLB), even when the use occurs in a legal state, and even when the use is medical in nature. The Uncle Cliffy team, led by 18 year NBA veteran Clifford Robinson, wholeheartedly opposes cannabis prohibition in professional sports.
Cannabis prohibition does not work, but for some reason many league officials and athletic competition regulators cling to the failed policy anyways. Various reasons are offered up by sports cannabis prohibitionists as justification for keeping prohibition in place. The reasons offered up are not valid and the claims prohibitionists make are often based on personal opinions rather than on facts. Anyone who has conducted sufficient research can easily debunk the reasons offered up by officials who try to justify prohibiting cannabis in professional sports.
One of the most common reasons offered up by sports cannabis prohibitionists is that ‘there needs to be more research’ conducted before leagues and regulatory entities can make an educated decision on a policy change. As the Uncle Cliffy team has previously pointed out, cannabis is one of the most studied substances on the planet. Cannabis has been the subject of more peer reviewed studies than Toradol, Hydrocodone, and Tylenol – combined. All three of those substances are widely embraced by professional sports leagues. If there has been enough studies of those substances to warrant allowing their use by athletes in the NBA, NFL, and MLB, why isn’t the same true for cannabis?
Another common reason offered up by sports cannabis prohibitionists is that cannabis is harmful to players, with no exceptions. That claim completely ignores the undeniable, growing body of evidence that proves that cannabis can be very beneficial for athletes. We list several studies on our website which have found that cannabis can be effective at treating pain and brain injuries. Cannabis is also effective at treating many other conditions and ailments. Cannabis can also help athletes reduce their reliance on opioids and other pharmaceutical drugs, which is something that every league should be on board with. Cannabis has been found to be 114 times safer than alcohol, yet cannabis is banned and alcohol is widely embraced by professional sports leagues. How does that make sense? It doesn’t.
A third reason offered up by some sports cannabis prohibitionists, which is ironic given the previous paragraph, is that cannabis is a performance enhancing drug. The Uncle Cliffy team does not believe that cannabis is an athletic performance enhancer, at least not to the point that it warrants being prohibited for that reason. Some research has found that cannabis consumption can increase blood flow and oxygen uptake. However, the same could be said for water and a number of foods. Cannabis can help with inflammation and pain, but so too can various over-the-counter medications that are not prohibited by professional sports leagues.
Just because a substance provides a slight difference in biological functions such as oxygen uptake does not mean that it should be categorized as a performance enhancing drug. A difference needs to be made between substances that slightly increase a biological function and those that clearly provide an advantage to athletes that use them. A substance needs to provide a significant physical advantage to an athlete in order to warrant being classified as a performance enhancing drug, and therefore be banned in professional sports leagues. What the exact threshold should be is something that the Uncle Cliffy team will leave to the scientific community, but we feel very confident in saying that cannabis is not a performance enhancing drug and should not be in the same category as anabolic steroids.
From a scientific standpoint, cannabis can help athletes via wellness benefits, and is safer than other substances that athletes are allowed to use. From a rules standpoint, any concerns that prohibitionists have do not outweigh the need for compassion for athletes and the need to eliminate the perpetuation of institutional racism in professional sports. Cannabis prohibition has a disproportionate impact on minority athletes, and that is something that professional sports leagues should want to avoid. League cannabis policies should be based on science and logic, not the personal political beliefs of a small group of league officials and sports competition regulators. If the National Hockey League can operate successfully without including cannabis on its list of banned substances, other leagues can certainly do the same. Free the plant!
UFC Fighters Will Not Be Penalized For Using CBD Starting In 2018
After UFC 202 Nate Diaz shocked many people, especially members of the media, by using a vaporizer pen during his post-fight interview. Nate pointed out that the vaporizer pen cartridge he was consuming contained cannabidiol (CBD), and touted its benefits. “It’s CBD,” Diaz said at the time. “It helps with the healing process and inflammation, stuff like that. So you want to get these for before and after the fights, training. It’ll make your life a better place.” CBD, which is one of dozens of cannabinoids found in the cannabis plant, has been proven to help treat all types of ailments by various studies and personal testimonies.
CBD does not cause euphoria like its cannabinoid counterpart tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Because it does not induce euphoria, CBD has become more and more popular with people (including athletes) that want to experience cannabis’ medical benefits, but without the ‘high’ that comes with consuming THC. All but four states in America have passed cannabis reform measures that are at least CBD-specific. Most sports leagues have been slow to recognize CBD’s benefits, and prohibit CBD along with all other parts of the cannabis plant. One noteworthy exception would be the National Hockey League, which does not list cannabis (or any of its parts) on its banned substances list.
On Friday the World Anti-Doping Agency, which sets the drug testing standards that organizations like the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) follow, announced its list of prohibited substances for 2018. One substance was exempt from the list – CBD. Per MMA Fighting:
Beginning Jan. 1, Diaz could vape CBD in the pre-fight press conference if he wanted to, since it will no longer be prohibited at all.
“Cannabidiol is no longer prohibited,” WADA wrote on its website. “Synthetic cannabidiol is not a cannabimimetic; however, cannabidiol extracted from cannabis plants may also contain varying concentrations of THC, which remains a prohibited substance.”
On some levels this is a significant move by an agency that has long opposed cannabis in all forms. But the policy change is likely to prove to be largely symbolic from a functioning standpoint. In order for CBD to provide the most amount of benefit, it needs to be coupled with THC, a process known as the ‘entourage effect.’ In layman’s terms, cannabinoids from the cannabis plant work together to help each other travel throughout the human body. Isolated CBD or THC on its own will not be as effective. Combining one with the other, and other cannabinoids via whole-plant extractions, provides the most benefit to the person consuming the cannabis.
So in order for CBD to provide the necessary level of benefit in most cases, it would need to come from the whole cannabis plant. That means that some THC would be involved, putting the athlete at risk of failing a drug test. Athletes can certainly use CBD on its own, but it will not provide as much benefit as if they had consumed CBD combined with other cannabinoids. For some athletes the new policy will be enough, but for most athletes, the policy change by the World Anti-Doping Agency will be more symbolic than anything.
One significant takeaway from the policy change is that the agency does not view CBD as being a performance enhancer, at least not enough to cross the threshold to constitute CBD being a substance that is a performance enhancer as it relates to athletic competition. The new policy that UFC fighters will be bound by is much more progressive than the policies that professional football, basketball, and baseball players are bound to. The National Football League, National Basketball Association, and Major League Baseball still prohibit all forms of cannabis, although it’s worth pointing out that cannabis tests in those leagues only look for THC metabolites in players’ systems, not CBD metabolites. Hopefully this policy change is a step in the right direction rather than a permanent change, and will be followed by more comprehensive reforms.
Georgia Tech Athletics Is Considering Changing Its Drug Testing Policy
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has a very strict policy when it comes to cannabis testing. The NCAA currently has a THC metabolite threshold of 15 ng/mL. To put that into perspective, Olympic athletes are held to a standard of 150 ng/mL. From 2013 until 2017 the threshold was just 5 ng/mL for NCAA athletes. According to the NCAA’s website, “NCAA conducts testing at its championships, and year round on campus in Division I and II programs.” All NCAA drug testing involves the collection of the athlete’s urine while under the direct visual supervision of another person.
The first failed test results in a loss of 50% of an athlete’s season in every sport that they participate in. A second failed test results in the athlete losing an entire year of their collegiate athletic career due to suspension. NCAA athletes are guilty until proven innocent, proven by the NCAA’s policy of considering a refusal to take a drug test or failure to show up for a drug test as being the same thing as an actual failed drug test. The NCAA policy does not distinguish cannabis from other ‘street drugs’ in its policy.
In addition to the NCAA’s drug testing policy, schools can also enact their own drug testing policies. A number of schools have instituted drug testing policies that are more progressive than the NCAA standard when it comes to cannabis. As described in a recent article by The Cannabist, universities in Oregon, Washington, and multiple schools in the Atlantic Coast Conference have taken a more sensible approach to their athletic cannabis testing policies. Georgia Tech is the latest university considering whether or not it should update its drug testing policy. Per the previously cited article from The Cannabist:
Georgia Tech’s substance-abuse policy has been in place since the 2012-13 academic year. Athletic director Todd Stansbury believes it’s time to take a look at it. He has the backing of his most prominent coaches, Paul Johnson and Josh Pastner. In examining Tech’s policy, which has a “three-strikes” component, the school is joining what he called a national trend.
Pastner said he is in favor of a different set of consequences for testing positive for marijuana vs. other substances, citing its prevalence on college campuses and legalization in certain states. He also proposed the removal of a strike if an athlete passes tests for a prolonged period.
“I don’t want our guys to be smoking marijuana, but I do think there’s opportunities to maybe have it not be as stringent,” he said.
The Uncle Cliffy team does not advocate for cannabis use for recreational purposes by people under the age of 21. However, we do believe in compassion and logic, and the current NCAA drug testing policy is way too stringent, and ultimately is harmful to college athletes. No college athlete that tests at 15 ng/mL of THC metabolites should ever be penalized, as that threshold does not prove that a player actually consumed cannabis. A study from 2015 found that someone who was simply around other people consuming cannabis could test as high as 50 ng/mL, even though they had never personally consumed cannabis themselves (secondhand smoke exposure).
It is not exactly a secret that cannabis is fairly common on college campuses in America. To say that an athlete should be taken out of competition for just being around cannabis is ludicrous, let alone for half of an entire season for the first offense. The NCAA policy, or even the most progressive cannabis testing policies at the individual university level for that matter, does not provide for exceptions for athletes that are 21 or over and have consumed cannabis in a legal state (of which there are 8 now, plus Washington D.C.). The policies also do not allow exceptions for players who are registered medical cannabis patients in their home state, which is not common for young adult athletes, but a policy should still accommodate for those rare situations where medical cannabis at that age is warranted and approved by a medical doctor.
Cannabis can stay in a person’s system for as long as 100 days. A college athlete could be home, or visiting a legal state, consume cannabis out of season in a legal setting, yet still fail the NCAA’s and/or university’s drug test because they still had THC metabolites in their system. That makes no sense. The Uncle Cliffy team fully appreciates the seriousness of the situation, and that what’s best for college athlete’s health and safety is paramount. But that’s exactly why we advocate for reform in college athletics.
If a college athlete over the age of 21 wants to make the safer choice and consume legal cannabis rather than alcohol, they should be allowed to do so. Also, if a player benefits from using legal medical cannabis instead of more harmful pharmaceutical drugs, college drug testing policies should allow it. If a college athlete has a low enough THC metabolite level in their bodily fluids to compete in the Olympics, then surely they should be able to compete in college sports. A drug testing policy that falls short of that is a policy based more on outdated political views than it is on science and compassion. #FreeThePlant
PGA To Increase Cannabis Drug Test Threshold Starting Next Month
Most professional sports leagues prohibit cannabis use, even when the use is occurring in a state that has legalized cannabis for adult use, and even when the use is medical in nature. One exception would be the National Hockey League which does not include cannabis on its list of banned substances. For the leagues that do prohibit cannabis, each has its own threshold that determines whether or not an athlete has failed the drug test due to cannabis use.
Professional sports leagues are specifically looking for the amount of THC metabolites in an athlete’s bodily fluid (usually urine, but sometimes blood). The National Football League (NFL) sets a threshold of 35 ng/mL. The National Basketball Association (NBA) sets its threshold at only 15 ng/mL. Major League Baseball has the highest threshold of the three major sports leagues, setting the threshold at 50 ng/mL. The NFL had previously set its threshold at 35 ng/mL but increased it in recent years. The Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) is set to increase its THC metabolite threshold starting in October. Per an article written by an anonymous golfer for Golf Digest:
Under the new policy, the amount of marijuana that can be in my system is being raised by a factor of 10. The threshold for failing a test was 15 nanograms but will now be 150 nanograms.
The new policy is definitely an improvement compared to the PGA’s previous policy. To put things into perspective, PGA golfers will now be held to the same THC metabolite threshold as Olympic athletes. Having a policy that is three times as lenient as Major League Baseball, over four times better than the NFL, and ten times better than the NBA league is commendable. However, the PGA policy change does not go far enough in the opinion of the Uncle Cliffy team.
Anything short of a complete end to cannabis consumption prohibition for adults over 21 years old, including professional golfers, is ultimately unacceptable. The new PGA policy does not provide for any exceptions for medical cannabis use. The new policy also doesn’t account for the fact that cannabis is legal for adult use in 8 states now, as well as in our nation’s capital. A large number of PGA tour events are scheduled in legal cannabis states like California and Nevada. If golfers can legally consume in those states, or their home states (if they have legalized), why should they be penalized by the PGA?
At the same time that the PGA has been testing and penalizing golfers for using cannabis, they have been embracing alcohol. Cannabis is 114 times safer than alcohol. How does it make any sense to continue to penalize players for consuming a plant that is 114 safer than a product (alcohol) that the PGA currently promotes for profit? It doesn’t. The PGA’s ‘new and improved’ cannabis testing policy is still incredibly hypocritical, especially when taking into account cannabis’ proven medical benefits. The Uncle Cliffy team commends the PGA on improving its cannabis policy, but hopefully it serves as more of a step in the right direction versus being considered a permanent fix.
Join Cliff Robinson At The CWCBExpo In Boston Next Month
The newly formed 501c3 non-profit Athletes For Care and C3 Global Biosciences are hosting an educational workshop focused on the active lifestyle cannabis user at the Cannabis World Congress & Business Exposition (CWCBExpo) in Boston on October 4th at the John B. Hynes Convention Center. CWCBExpo Boston, Oct. 4-6, is the leading business trade show and conference for the medical marijuana, legalized recreational marijuana and industrial hemp industries.
The workshop, Cannabis, Wellness and the Professional Athlete, will expand upon the notion of cannabis as a medicine or therapy to explore cannabis as a general health and wellness supplement for the active lifestyle. Representing Athletes For Care at the event will be Cliff Robinson of the NBA, UFC-legend Frank Shamrock, NHL tough guys Darren McCarty and Riley Cote, and former NFL players Eben Britton and Nate Jackson.
This all-day workshop will offer attendees the exclusive opportunity to get up close and personal with several of the pro athletes who are leading the cannabis-in-sports movement. This jam-packed day will include two educational panels featuring the representatives from Athletes For Care along with industry experts and medical professionals.
The first panel discussion will examine “Performance Training Concepts Incorporating Cannabis,” with the second panel focusing on “Leveraging the Power of Influencer Marketing.” The day’s activities will also include a Q&A with the audience following each panel discussion, as well as revealing “One-on-One” conversations with former pro athletes discussing the role of cannabis in their sport, their career, and their life.
“We are excited to be part of CWCBExpo Boston and to share with attendees the therapeutic benefits of the cannabis plants. This workshop will take a deep dive into how all active lifestyles and performance athletes can benefit from cannabis as well as create a successful business that caters to this growing demographic,” said Ryan Kingsbury from Athletes for Care.
CWCBExpo Boston will also present its largest conference program to date (Oct. 5-6) made up of curated panel presentations, lectures, and interactive discussions, covering the main sectors of the cannabis industry: Science & Research, Cultivation, Processing, Sales, Taxes & Finances, Investments, Advocacy, and Law & Regulations. The CWCBExpo Boston will also offer headlining Keynote speaker Reverend Al Sharpton, additional add-on workshops on Oct. 4th, and an exhibit floor featuring the latest cannabis innovations and services.
Registration for CWCBExpo Boston is now open at: www.cwcbexpo.com. To view the complete schedule for the workshop, please visit www.athletesforcare.org.
About Athletes For Care
Athletes For Care is a non-profit organization founded by a group of professional athletes uniting as one voice to advocate for research, education, and compassion when addressing important health issues facing athletes and the public at large, such as the over-prescribing of opioids, chronic pain, addiction, access to alternative medicines, traumatic brain injury and CTE.
About C3 Global Biosciences
C3 Global Biosciences is a cause-driven organization committed to developing sustainable health solutions through the advancement of cannabis science. We are passionately driven to continue the research and development of CBD and other cannabinoids to improve the quality of life for the athlete on and off the field.
About Cannabis World Congress & Business Expositions (CWCBExpo)
The professionally run Cannabis World Congress & Business Expositions (CWCBExpo) are produced by Leading Edge Expositions in partnership with the International Cannabis Association (ICA). The events are the premier professional forums for dispensary owners, growers, suppliers, investors, medical professionals, government regulators, legal counsel, and entrepreneurs looking to achieve business success and identify new areas of growth in this dynamic industry. To learn more about the coast-to-coast CWCBExpos in New York, Los Angeles and Boston, go to www.cwcbexpo.com. Connect on Twitter/CWCBExpo, Facebook/CWCBExpo and Instagram/cwcbexpo.
Source: PR Newswire
Cannabis Reform In The National Football League Remains Elusive
The National Football League (NFL) has one of the strictest cannabis testing policies in professional sports. The policy has been ‘improved’ in recent years. The NFL tests players’ bodily fluids (urine) to see how much THC metabolites are in it. The previous threshold was 15 ng/mL, but has since been changed to 35 ng/mL. To put that into perspective, the current threshold is still over 4 times as strict as the threshold to compete in the Olympics (150 ng/mL).
A very big push has been underway recently to try to convince the NFL to get on the right side of history. A number of NFL players (both current and retired), along with a very high profile team owner, have been calling on the NFL to drop its prohibition on cannabis in one form or another. Some are arguing that cannabis prohibition in the NFL needs to be ended entirely, while others sound like they would be satisfied with exceptions for medical use. The Uncle Cliffy team is in the end prohibition entirely camp, as it’s the only way to ensure that selective enforcement will not occur and that the NFL’s current policy of perpetuating institutional racism will be put to an end.
The National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) has come out publicly pushing for a ‘less restrictive’ policy. Details of what that would look like have not been fully explained as of this post. The NFL made an announcement recently that it would be willing to work with the NFLPA on the issue, specifically as it relates to pain management. The announcement was heralded by many in the sports world, but the Uncle Cliffy team tempered our enthusiasm, and will continue to do so.
Articles have been popping up all over the internet touting the recent developments as significant achievements, framed in a way as if to suggest that cannabis prohibition ending in the NFL is essentially inevitable no matter what. The Uncle Cliffy team definitely likes to see the conversation picking up momentum, but feels that it’s worth pointing out that meaningful reform has not yet occurred, nor is there an expected timeline for when it will occur. For that matter, specific proposals have not even surfaced. The fact remains that cannabis reform in the NFL remains elusive. How long will it take for the NFL to update its cannabis policy, and what that update would look like, is still anyone’s guess.
Increased momentum for reform should absolutely be celebrated and embraced, but it should be balanced with a never ending desire to keep pushing for meaningful reform. A lot of work still needs to be done, and while there is light at the end of the tunnel, there is still a tremendous amount of heavy lifting that still needs to occur. Players, both current and retired, need to keep speaking out. Team owners and fans also need to step up and put pressure on league officials.
No one wins, including the NFL itself, when players are taken off the field for consuming and/or possessing a plant that is 114 times safer than alcohol. The Uncle Cliffy team is confident that meaningful reform will occur in the NFL sooner rather than later, but only if advocates continue to fight as hard as possible to free the plant and not get complacent. The plant is not going to free itself just because conversations have picked up. Keep fighting for freedom and compassion. Onward!
The NBA Should Not Penalize Miles Plumlee For Cannabis Arrest
According to multiple reports, Atlanta Hawks center Miles Plumlee was recently arrested for personal cannabis possession in Long Island, New York. The arrest was first reported by longtime NBA reporter Peter Vecsey (the same Peter Vecsey that gave Cliff Robinson the nickname ‘Uncle Spliffy’). Few details about the arrest have surfaced other than that Miles Plumlee paid $100 following the arrest, and that the arrest was for possession of a personal amount of cannabis.
In the state of New York, possession of less than 25 grams of cannabis (first offense) carries a penalty of $100. If that was the case for Miles Plumlee, his situation is not really a big deal. To illustrate that point, consider the fact that possession of up to one ounce while away from a person’s residence is legal in 8 states and our nation’s capital. The possession limits are even greater when someone is possessing cannabis at home in those states. Had Miles been in possession of the same amount of cannabis in Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, California, Nevada, Massachusetts, Maine, or Washington D.C., he would have been free to go and his name would never have been dragged through the media mud.
Unfortunately now, in addition to the unfair stigma that Plumlee will have to deal with for years to come, Miles is likely to be punished by the NBA. The NBA’s policy dictates that a first time cannabis offense requires a player to enter treatment. The penalties get steeper with every subsequent offense. The NBA does not have a public database that shows how many violations a player has, if any, so it is undetermined at this point what could happen to Miles from a league standpoint.
The Uncle Cliffy team urges the NBA to not penalize Miles Plumlee. If all Miles was doing was possessing a personal amount of cannabis and no one was harmed by his actions, then he really did nothing wrong. Miles is simply the victim of an outdated, failed public policy. Miles Plumlee has been recovering from knee surgery, and it is quite possible that the cannabis he was in possession of was for medical purposes. Had Miles Plumlee been a registered medical cannabis patient in one of the 29 states that have legalized medical cannabis, and been caught in that state or a state that has a reciprocity cannabis law on the books, he would have never been arrested.
Miles is originally from Indiana, and currently plays in Georgia. Where he lives is not known, but unless he is a citizen of New York, he would not be eligible to enroll as a medical cannabis patient in New York where he was caught with cannabis. But just because a player crosses state lines does not mean that the need for medicine goes away. The NBA should apply some logic and have some compassion for its player and not penalize Miles Plumlee. After all, he was caught possessing a plant that is legal in 8 states for adult use, 29 states for medical use, and no one was harmed by his actions. With cannabis being 114 times safer than alcohol, a substance which is widely embraced by the NBA, penalizing Miles Plumlee for a cannabis offense away from the team during the offseason makes no sense. As Dan Feldman from NBC Sports put it in his article about Plumlee’s arrest, ‘Why is the NBA penalizing players for something that ranges from a petty offense to completely legal?’
“I grew up in New York State. Having had my own run in with cannabis prohibition in New York, I can say firsthand that New York’s prohibition laws are unjust and harmful. This is something that Mr. Plumlee will have to deal with long after his encounter with law enforcement. Not only will he have to deal with the stigma that comes with being an NBA player caught with cannabis, his family will have to deal with it too, which is unfortunate. Hopefully the NBA takes a rational approach to the situation, and Miles can get back to focusing on basketball.” said Cliff Robinson.
image via Peach Tree Hoops
Four Ways That Cannabis Can Help Older Athletes
As people age aches, pains, and the risk of developing health conditions increases. This is true for athletes and people that live active lifestyles. Wear and tear comes with the territory when people are consistently putting their bodies through rigorous physical activities, and no matter how ‘in shape’ someone is, as people age they become much more likely to be diagnosed with a number of age-related conditions and/or are at a higher risk of injury.
Older Americans are the fastest growing demographic of cannabis consumers in the country, and for good reason. Studies have shown that cannabis has the ability to help older Americans (athletes included!) in a number of ways. Below are some of them that the Uncle Cliffy team would like to point out. Please share this article if you know older athletes that are on the fence about using cannabis for wellness purposes.
Pain management
Dealing with ongoing pain is no fun. Virtually every older athlete deals with some form of pain related to injuries incurred while competing and/or exercising. Studies have found that cannabis can be an effective part of a pain management regimen. According to a study from 2010, “Our results support the claim that smoked cannabis reduces pain, improves mood and helps sleep.” A number of other studies have arrived at similar conclusions.
Inflammation
Most athletes deal with inflammation at one point or another when they are competing. It could be from something as simple as a sprained ankle, all the way up to a very serious injury that results in the need for a medical procedure. As the body ages, inflammation becomes more common. The human body is quicker to swell up the older it gets. Cannabis has been found by a number of studies to help reduce inflammation.
Replaces prescription drugs
One of the most commonly referred to signs of a person aging is the increase in prescription drugs present in their medicine cabinet. When people are younger they use less prescriptions, but by the time they are nearing retirement age they are often taking a whole host of prescription drugs. This is especially true for athletes. Some prescriptions result in the need for yet more prescriptions to combat the side effects of the initial prescription(s). Cannabis has been found to reduce the use of prescription drugs, including a number of studies showing a dramatic reduction in the use of opioids. Cannabis is safer than most pharmaceutical drugs, so any reduction in prescription drug use is a great thing.
Helps improve brain health
Brain health is a topic that is being talked about more and more inside and outside of the sports world. Athletes who compete in contact sports are particularly at risk of experiencing a brain injury. Even if an athlete does not experience a brain injury, brain health is something that should be on every older athlete’s radar. Just like the rest of the body, the human brain reduces in functionality as people get older. Cannabis can help improve brain health as people age, as a number of studies have shown.
Study: Cannabis Can Help People Suffering From Musculoskeletal Trauma
When people play sports and/or live an active lifestyle, repetitive motions and impacts can wear down a person’s body. Sometimes that wear and tear leads to injuries. A large percentage of athletes sustain musculoskeletal injuries. A musculoskeletal injury is an injury or disorder that affects the human body’s movement or musculoskeletal system (i.e. muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves, discs, blood vessels, etc.).
The injuries can come in many forms, including tendonitis, muscle/tendon strains, ligament strains, and ruptured/herniated discs. Sometimes the conditions can be treated by a primary physician, but other times treatment involves surgery. People suffering from musculoskeletal injuries often turn to opioids and other pharmaceutical drugs to help deal with their condition. Opioids can lead to severe addiction, are harmful for the human body, and often are ineffective.
More and more athletes and people that live active lifestyles are turning to cannabis for relief. A recent study was conducted at two trauma centers in Massachusetts which looked at cannabis use for treating musculoskeletal injuries. The study found that cannabis was an effective treatment. Per the study:
Results: The majority of patients felt that marijuana could be used to treat pain (78%, 390) and anxiety (62%, 309). Most patients (60%, 302) had used marijuana at least once previously, while only 14% reported using marijuana following their injury. Of those that used marijuana during their recovery, 90% (63/70) believed that it reduced symptoms of pain; and 81% (57/70) believed that it reduced the amount of opioid pain medication they used.
Conclusions: The majority of patients in this study believed that medical marijuana is a valid treatment and that it does have a role in reducing post-injury and post-operative pain. Those patients who used marijuana during their recovery felt that it alleviated symptoms of pain and reduced their opioid intake. Our results help inform clinicians regarding the perceptions of trauma patients regarding the usefulness of marijuana in treating pain, and support further study into the utility of medical marijuana in this population.
This study builds on other studies that have found that cannabis can not only help those suffering from pain, but also helped reduce the patients’ reliance on harmful opioids. If you know someone that suffers from a musculoskeletal injury, make sure to share the results of this study with them. If you personally suffer from a musculoskeletal injury, and live in a state where cannabis is legal, the Uncle Cliffy team recommends that you consider trying cannabis as a form of treatment.
The NFL Should Dismiss Jaelen Strong’s Cannabis Suspension
The Uncle Cliffy team has made it clear that we feel that no professional athlete should be suspended for cannabis. That includes not only cannabis suspensions related to random drug testing, but also for suspensions related to cannabis-related interactions with law enforcement away from the team. This would include the case of NFL player Jaelen Strong who is a wide receiver for the Houston Texans.
Jaelen Strong was arrested in 2016 in Scottsdale, Arizona after a car he was a passenger in was pulled over, and Jaelen was found to be in possession of three cannabis joints. Arizona is home to some of the harshest cannabis laws in the country, with possession of 3 joints being a felony, carrying a penalty of up to 2 years in prison and a $150,000 fine. Fortunately Jaelen was able to avoid jail time by agreeing to an array of alternative punishments.
But Jaelen is not only being punished by the Arizona court system, he is also being punished by the NFL, who has suspended Mr. Strong for one game because of the arrest in Arizona. In addition to the suspension and court punishments, Jaelen has had to deal with a lot of stigma from the league and the media, and will likely have to continue to deal with the stigma the rest of his promising career. Jaelen Strong has appealed his one game suspension, and the Uncle Cliffy team is hopeful that he will prevail.
As the Uncle Cliffy team has pointed out before, suspending African American NFL players for cannabis arrests away from the team perpetuates institutional racism. In Arizona, African Americans are almost two and a half times more likely to be arrested for cannabis compared to Caucasians despite usage rates being roughly the same between the races. So if an African American player (like Jaelen Strong) is over twice as likely to be arrested for cannabis away from the team, that same player is also over twice as likely to be suspended by the NFL for a cannabis arrest. That policy is unacceptable, and is a policy that the NFL needs to change immediately.
Taking players off the field for a cannabis arrest is absurd on many levels. To put into perspective just how ridiculous the NFL’s policy is, consider the fact that had Jaelen Strong been in Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, or Washington D.C. at the time, the amount of cannabis he was possessing would have been perfectly legal (California, Nevada, Maine, and Massachusetts had not legalized cannabis at the time of arrest, but have since then).
Three joints is roughly 3 grams of cannabis. In all of the previously mentioned states an adult over 21 years old can possess up to 28 grams of cannabis while in transit and it’s perfectly legal. In Washington D.C., the same person could possess up to 56 grams of cannabis in transit. The math alone is enough to highlight how unfairly Jaelen has been treated. Had he simply been in another state (or in Washington D.C.), he would have been allowed to go about his day with no penalty at all. In many other jurisdictions, which have decriminalized personal cannabis possession, Strong would not have been arrested and the NFL likely would have never heard about the incident.
But because Jaelen Strong was in a prohibition state, he was arrested, and because the NFL perpetuates institutional racism via its cannabis policy, he now gets to potentially sit out a game. Even if he wins his appeal, he will still have to deal with the unfair stigma that comes with being a professional athlete associated with cannabis. That is an unfortunate situation that Cliff Robinson is very familiar with.
“I was obviously suspended multiple times for cannabis use during my pro career. I have also had to deal with the stigma that Jaelen Strong is experiencing. It’s nothing I would wish on anyone. Jaelen Strong was caught with a plant that is safer than alcohol and safer than opioids, which are two substances that the NFL widely embraces. The amount he was caught with is a legal amount in 8 states now. No one was harmed by what Jaelen did, so why is he being taken off the field? Jaelen Strong is a talented player, and hopefully he wins his appeal and can put all of this behind him.” said Cliff Robinson.
image via Battle Red Blog