The world is witnessing a sea change on cannabis. On October 17, Canada legalized recreational cannabis, and on November 1, the United Kingdom will legalize medical cannabis. Major corporations like Walmart are exploring offering cannabis products in Canada, and Constellation Brands is investing in the space. And Capitol Hill and the Trump Administration (Jeff Sessions notwithstanding) may wind up being more supportive of cannabis than they ever have been.
Meanwhile, one large and successful American enterprise has been ahead of the curve — the National Hockey League.
When asked recently how Canadian legalization would affect NHL policy, the NHL’s Deputy Commissioner told the Associated Press that it would not. That’s good news because, according to a report by Civilized, the NHL doesn’t classify cannabis as a banned substance.
The Civilized report adds that although the league routinely tests players for performance-enhancing substances, it tests only a randomly-selected one-third of players for illicit substances like cannabis. If and when the league detects cannabis use, the report describes, it compiles those cases into a statistical snapshot, which goes to the league’s Performance Enhancing Substances Program Committee without naming any players.
That’s it — no penalties and no suspensions — although I note that a spokesman has been quoted as saying the NHL does not “condone” use.
If a player’s test detects what the league determines is a dangerously high level of cannabis use, that player is referred to the NHL’s Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Program. I could not find data showing the number of players who get referred, but, anecdotally, it appears to be small.
By contrast, the National Football League can be particularly harsh on cannabis use. Because the league classifies it as a banned substance, a player who tests positive for cannabis use can face swift fines and suspensions.
According to a 2016 CNBC piece by former Vikings, Giants, Eagles and Cardinals player Jack Brewer, the league fined 20 players more than $10 million for substance-related violations, and the majority of those violations came from cannabis infractions.
Such a policy is damaging in the short term and perhaps even deadly in the long term. As we see with their NHL counterparts, current and former NFL players can benefit from cannabis to cope with injuries and pain. It can also help them combat the risk of developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the horrific brain injury that affects professional football players at staggering rates.
In 2014, Harvard psychiatry professor Lester Grinspoon wrote an open letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell about this connection. “Already, many doctors and researchers believe that marijuana has incredibly powerful neuroprotective properties,” he wrote, calling upon Goodell and the league to invest in cannabis research to further explore whether “cannabis … can indeed provide significant protection against the damage of repetitive concussions.”
However, players are turning to alcohol and opioids at an alarming rate. In 2011, Drug and Alcohol Dependence found that over half of surveyed former NFL players used opioids during their career, that seven out of 10 of those players abused them, and that, overall, NFL players are three times more likely to use opioids than the general population.
The players themselves testify to this.
Retired Miami Dolphin Larry Chester is quoted in a CBS4-Miami report as saying that, after retiring from the NFL, he coped with chronic pain by practically “eating opioids,” which he said made him belligerent toward his family and others. What allowed Chester to quit using opioids was a prescription to cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive cannabis ingredient that helps to alleviate ailments such as pain, inflammation, and anxiety, all without inducing a “high.” According to the same story, Chester called the prescription life-saving.
Former NFL Ravens player Eugene Monroe, now a partner with national cannabis grower and retailer Green Thumb Industries (GTBIF) who advocates for commonsense cannabis policy in the NFL, told Civilized he drew the line when the oxycodone he had been taking after a shoulder surgery had interfered with his ability to be a father. “My daughter approached me and I didn’t recognize her … I stopped taking [opioids] immediately and that’s really where I picked up learning as much as I could about marijuana.”
NFL free agent Mike James said medical marijuana allowed him to “be coherent and still have pain relief.”
While this evidence is admittedly anecdotal, it appears that the NHL’s model is one that other professional sports leagues would benefit from following.
