We all know that the National Football League (NFL) has banned numerous players for the use of marijuana due to the league’s strict substance ban and abuse policy. But this may no longer be the case in the near future. The head commissioner of the NFL, Roger Goodell has opened up to the Associated Press about his stance on the NFL and marijuana use since the successful legalization of recreational marijuana in Colorado at the beginning of this year. According to ESPN reports, commissioner Goodell stated that he could envision a time when players could turn to marijuana to treat pain in states where medical marijuana has already been legalized: “I don’t know what’s going to develop as far as the next opportunity for medicine to evolve and to help either deal with pain or help deal with injuries, but we will continue to support the evolution of medicine.”
The major setback from this issue being pushed faster is the league’s 10 year collective bargaining agreement. Marijuana remains a prohibited drug under the NFL’s substance abuse policy and this agreement was last set in place in 2011 and isn’t set to expire until 2021. The loophole pointed out by Rt.com shows that the CBA only bans the “illegal use of marijuana, meaning a potential gray area exists concerning situations and states where legal and medical marijuana is permitted.”
In a sport where players are beat and battered week after week with pain, the NFL would be a prime example for the sports world in which medical cannabis could properly be used and regulated for the benefit of the players and sports as a whole. What do you think?
Dat Dank 
thank you for stopping by touch of home! love your blog. i really like the photos. 🙂
I forgot how I stumbled upon your blog but it’s really cool! I try to put a “touch of” love on these pics too
🙂
Lexi is one heck of a beautiful creature might I add!
thank you so much! i miss her so much, but she is always in my heart. 🙂
This is an interesting idea! It’s definitely something they need to address considering the grey area. So, by the current law, those in Colorado for example could smoke it and not face a penalty?
Do you think it’s a case of states and America becoming more open to the idea of marijuana for recreational use that something like this would be considered? Could you see marijuana becoming legal on a larger scale? J
Marijuana will be a major topic of political discussion within states in the next year. I say that this is possible due to Colorado and Washington having paved the way for full recreational use legalization where the federal government is actually holding back from fighting the states for the first time in a long time.
It’s hard to deny that states operate on taxes and revenues and with such a strong and consistent revenue stream without much downside, marijuana becoming legal on a larger scale could move quicker than we think.
I could see that segmenting the policies state to state can pose problems for players. It would almost not be fair to players some were allowed and some weren’t. That is an issue that the NFL would have to figure out because it seems like under drug testing policies, it’s either let it in or leave it out.
Thanks for picking my brain solentcrew. Great comment and thanks for reading
Thanks for replying! Yeah it’s definitely something they need to sort, and fast before teams capitalise on it.
As you’ve witnessed some sort of gradual movement within the US over recent years, do you think it has the potential to branch out further than this? Do you think it could happen in the UK? Examples like Portugal and Holland have shown that its decriminalisation can actually have positive effects and has reduced the number of users. Would be really interesting to get your opinion having witnessed the changing of attitudes first hand. J
Very cool picture. Interesting topic too.
thanks newyorkangle. I checked out your blog and am a huge fan of your layout and artwork on there.
Not sure I would play any sport properly when I was hiiiiiigh
LOL, some claim they play better. I know I sure cant
Ahhh, loop holes haha!
seriously right? speaking of loop holes, the link to “your soul food” took me for a loop to nowhere. check it out. I clicked cause it looked like it led to another one of your sites and I was curious to check it out.
Thanks for the heads up! We’ve been doing a little work on it so thats probably why.
But thanks for the checking it out 🙂
There’s a song by a comdey duo called Bowser and Blue which springs to mind, though youtube doesn’t seem to have heard of it. “The Canadian Psychadelic Snowboarding Team”…
Pot, particularly CBD-rich edibles and oils, would be *really* damn good for athletes, actually. Takes care of DOMS really nicely, and more serious batterings will at least have the edge taken off 😉
it almost seem so harmless especially for DOMS. Normal people go to the gym and are sore on average of 2 days following their workout. These athletes not only stress their muscle usage during games receive “serious batterings” as you put it. Can you imagine how our bodies would feel after playing a sunday night game then trying to follow that up with a thursday night game?
The NFL commissioner focuses so much on profits that he doesn’t let the players (employees of the NFL) properly heal and recover. They are not talking about adding more thursday night games and the players hate it for the very reason you discussed above. So when the players bring another class action suit against the league for subjecting them to health hazards, the league deserves it.
Thanks for reading Chris! You comment enriched this post greatly.