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 And with another major U.S. sports league opening the door to allow
players to use marijuana and associated compounds like CBD, a debate
is heating up about the way football players manage pain.
Last month, Major League Baseball (MLB) removed natural cannabinoids
such as THC, CBD and marijuana from its Drugs of Abuse list. The
decision, prompted by concern about growing addiction to opoid
piankillers, was widely acclaimed.
Former football players told Reuters a similar policy would be a
positive step for management of chronic pain in the NFL.
"The landscape around all professional sports is sort of leaning
that way," said Hall of Fame running back Terrell Davis, a two-time
Super Bowl champion with the Denver Broncos. "Now how fast the NFL
gets there, I’m not sure."
In May, Davis co-founded a new sports drink infused with CBD known
as DEFY, after becoming convinced of the cannabis-derived compound's
benefits.
The NFL has firm rules regarding banned substances, with players
regularly receiving suspensions for marijuana and alcohol
violations.
Davis, who retired during the 2002 preseason, said adopting a policy
similar to MLB's would improve players' quality of life.
"The bottom line is just to give players choices," said Davis. "To
be able to say, ‘hey, you’re not forced to take just one kind of
anti-inflammatory.'"
CBD, also known as cannabidiol, is a THC-free cannabis compound that
has found a big market in recent years for products including body
lotions, ingestible liquids and capsules. Advocates tout health
benefits from anxiety reduction to pain management.
Several other former NFL players have gotten into the CBD business
after their careers ended, including three-time Super Bowl champion
Rob Gronkowski, who partnered with topical medication firm Abacus
Health in 2019.
"It’s not going to do miracle work and heal your injuries like that
but I believe it will help give you a relief," said Gronkowski, who
advocates the inclusion of CBD in all professional sports.
"Especially in the football, you’re always getting muscle tissue
damage from all the hits."
One of the highest-performing tight ends in the history of the
sport, the 30-year-old former New England Patriot struggled through
numerous injuries and underwent surgeries for his ankle, forearm,
back and ACL/MCL during his career.
"With the MLB lifting its ban, it’s just a fantastic start, and it
would be wonderful to see like NFL and other major sports
organizations to start following the lead of the MLB and lifting up
that ban," Gronkowski said.
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This month, the Pain Management Committee of the NFL and the
players' union held a forum to examine the potential for CBD to
become a permitted substance.
Dr. Michael Oshinsky, a program director who oversees pains and
migraine research at the National Institutes of Health, told Reuters
evidence remains thin to back up many benefits claimed by CBD
advocates.
"When it comes to pain, because of that subjective nature of it, the
patient has a lot of control over what they perceive," said Oshinsky.
"Maybe a bit for inflammation, there’s some evidence," he added, but
"there’s enough for us to know it’s not some miracle cure for pain."
On the topic of marijuana and CBD, the league told reporters last
week that "everything is under consideration" in regard to different
forms of therapy to help in treat pain.
"If we are going to recommend or approve any kind of therapy for NFL
players, again, whether it's equipment or treatment or intervention,
we'd have to pass an extremely high standard of proof," said Dr.
Allen Sills, the NFL's chief medical officer.
Some battle-worn veterans of the NFL say having the option to use
CBD products should be in the hands of the players.
"(I) literally limped away from the game when I was done," said
three-time Pro Bowl linebacker Lofa Tatupu, whose six-season career
with the Seattle Seahawks was "decimated" by injuries.
After retiring in 2013, Tatupu began researching and eventually
using CBD. He co-founded the Washington-based ZoneIn CBD in 2019.
"The wear and tear is still there," said Tatupu, who underwent 10
surgeries during his NFL career. "It didn’t mask the pain, it helped
me deal with it directly and work through it."
"I hope (the NFL and NFLPA) listen to us, in terms of how much it’s
fixed or repaired the trauma that we’ve experienced from our
career," said Tatupu. "I know I did willingly sign up for that,
because I saw my dad go through it.
"So now I know why he always said, ‘you’re going to play baseball,
not football.’"
(Reporting By Amy Tennery; Editing by David Gregorio)
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