Medical Marijuana is Legal in 20 States ... And The NFL?
CANNABIS CULTURE - NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has gone on record saying the NFL would be willing to consider allowing athletes to use medical marijuana in treating head injuries, including concussions, if medical experts deemed it to be a legitimate solution.
This is certainly a puff of fresh vapour. Not quite AAA but it gave me a buzz. I'm sure the cynical can poke all sorts of holes in Goodell's statement, as it's still pretty far from the NFL saying "we support cannabis use," but let's look at the big picture.
The head of a major sports organization in North America, where the Drug War has raged for almost a century, has gone on public record saying his employees should be allowed to use cannabis to treat injuries.
A coach also piled on the support wagon: Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carrol said, "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."
These are not secretaries, mailmen, truck drivers, or chefs, these are professional athletes in an extremely competitive and cut-throat world of modern pro sports. Survival of the fittest takes on a literal meaning in the NFL, and the bar is insanely high. If an athlete can't reach it, someone is waiting right behind him to take his place. Many of these athletes want to use medical cannabis to maintain the bodies they depend on being in top shape.
Roger Goodell's statement opens a window of hope that there may be reform coming to the currently heartbreaking system.
The Seattle Seahawks will head into battle on Sunday, for the richest prize in all of football, The Superbowl. Every last athlete on both of these teams have dreamed of this moment their entire lives, or gave everything they had to get back to this moment again, including Brandon Browner.
Brandon Browner plays for the Seattle Seahawks, in a state where Cannabis is Legal.
Browner won't play in the Super Bowl because he's is serving a year-long suspension for testing positive for pot.
Real Sports reported that 50-60% of players in the NFL use cannabis on a regular basis. In an interview with Team 1040, former Superbowl Champion Mitch Berger said the percentage of players toking was about 60% during his playing years.
Mitch Berger also said that players are usually aware of when the drug test will occur, and it is once a year. So players are free to take a pee in the cup, wash their hands, walk out the door and pack a superbowl to get medicated again. The next test isn't for a year.
So what did Brandon Browner do to get singled out? Well he went and played in the CFL, eh.
Between 2006-2011 Browner missed a series of drug tests, putting him into a harsher level of testing reserved for former offenders and people who refuse to report for testing. He was not an NFL Player at the time of these tests as he played for the Stampeders in the CFL.
So in the end, they crushed a man's dreams because the current laws say that man is a criminal. A professional athlete, who probably has a better handle on discipline than any of the politicians who want him punished for his medicine. (Note: There's no proof yet the NFL informed him of of his drug tests.)
That's why its so important that they finally started talking about the issue of marijuana in professional sports. It's also why its important for every cannabis user to let their loved ones know they smoke it. They will most likely still love and support you and see that cannabis is really nothing like in the movies. Nothing is.
So while you watch the Superbowl and have a few cold ones with friends, light yourself a joint and start the conversation (between quarters of course).
Go Seahawks
