Steven Monteleone Grant ENGL 1102-094 4/29/14 Sports and Marijuana In the US, marijuana used to be a very controversial

topic, but within the past decade it has become more socially accepted because its recent changes in policies and legalization laws. Currently 20 States and DC have laws in effect that allows possession of medicinal marijuana up to certain amounts at a time. Of those, only Colorado and Washington have legalized the recreational use of marijuana, meaning that one does not need a state-authorized medical marijuana identification card (MMIC) in order to purchase marijuana (Lee). With marijuana becoming legal in the medical world, its use is still prohibited in the sports world. The NBA, NFL, and MLB test their players for the use of marijuana. Each professional league also has their own ways of punishment for their players who violate their drug policies. Since marijuana is now being noticed for its medicinal use, then how come the sports world cannot do the same? If a person, who has a medical issue and can go get a prescription for medicinal marijuana, should not athletes be able to do the same? If anyone needs medicinal marijuana, it is professional athletes, with their physical strain on their bodies they need a medicine that will help with injuries. The sports world needs to look into new ways to help their players, especially in a sport like football where concussions and other injuries are very prevalent. The NFL has even recently come out saying that concussions are a big issue and they want to develop new techniques to help protect their players. The league has become stricter with hits on the field and fining players
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who hit unnecessarily hard. They have made the needed changes on the field to help their players with head injuries, now they just need to make the proper changes off the field to help as well. So why not allow their playing to use marijuana? So is marijuana a drug or a medicine? Technically it is drug, but it has its medicinal benefits. The term medical marijuana is generally used to refer to the whole unprocessed marijuana plant or its crude extracts, which are not recognized or approved as medicine by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). However scientific study of the active chemicals in marijuana, called cannabinoids, has led to the development of two FDA-approved medications already, and is leading to the development of new pharmaceuticals that harness the therapeutic benefits of cannabinoids (Iversen). Currently the two main cannabinoids of interest are THC and cannabidiol (CBD). THC stimulates appetite and reduces nausea, but it may also decrease pain, inflammation, and spasticity (Iversen). CBD is a non-psychoactive cannabinoid that may also be useful in reducing pain and inflammation, controlling epileptic seizures, and possibly even treating psychosis and addictions (Iversen). As of today from our current research the FDA has not approved the marijuana plant, only the cannabinoids THC and CBD are FDA approved. Of course with any drug there are side effects that do not benefit ones health. The known safety concerns of marijuana include impairment of short-term memory; altered judgment and decision making; and mood effects, including anxiety or even psychosis, especially following high-dose exposures. Marijuana also significantly reduces motor coordination and slows reaction time, which makes it very dangerous to use before driving a car. Additionally, we do not yet know whether marijuana smoking contributes to lung cancer risk, it can be linked to other respiratory problems such as bronchitis or chronic cough. In the medicine world, in order for marijuana to be useful the
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benefits must outweigh the risks. Looking at the affects of marijuana its main benefits is that it works as a pain reliever and it can also work as a stress reliever. Going back to the NFL, the main issue was players getting hurt and dealing with their injuries. Recently the NFL has sparked news about the use of marijuana with professional athletes. This topic came up because the Super Bowl between the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks. The reason this related to marijuana was because the Broncos and Seahawks both are located in areas where the use of marijuana is legal. Buzz on the internet started turning up that the reason the Broncos and Seahawks made it to the Super Bowl together was because the players were using marijuana. These were just statements targeted at the teams because of their location. It was not actually looked into that the players used marijuana other than the NFLs regular drug tests. What made this topic even more interesting was when an ESPN article was released at the end of January, a week before the Super Bowl, including Coach Carrolls thoughts on medicinal marijuana. In the article he goes on to say that the NFL should consider medicinal marijuana as a way to treat injured players (Graziano). Then a week later Carroll and his team went on to demolish the Broncos in a huge win to become the champions. So did marijuana play a factor in the Seahawks successful season? Just to point out two of Carrolls players were suspended during their Super bowl season for testing positive for marijuana. Thats only two players who were actually caught by testing positive. So are there players in the NFL using marijuana and not getting caught? The football community got a better look at this when Brendan Ayanbadejo, former Baltimore Raven and Chicago Bear linebacker, revealed in an ESPN article that teammates smoked marijuana days before playing in the Super Bowl. Ayanbadejo played in Super Bowl XLI in 2006 with the Bears and in Super Bowl XLVII

in 2013 with the Ravens (Martinez). He did not disclose of which Super Bowl the incident occurred nor did he expose of the players who were involved. All of these findings are not to show the NFL as pot heads who are getting away with breaking rules. What should be taken away from this is there are players who already use marijuana whether they get caught or not and they are going to use it whether it is legal or not. In an interview with former New York Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie he stated players are going to do it anyway (Ray). It is obvious that there are players using marijuana in the NFL. What we do not know is how many players actually use it. The question we should really be asking is not who uses it now but who would use it if the NFL allowed it? From there we can see how it helps the league and its players. An icon for this topic is retired Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams. For those of you who do not Ricky Williams, he was an NFL player who loved to smoke marijuana and was caught multiple times. He even went as far as retiring early in 2004 because of a suspension for testing positive for marijuana. He did return in 2005 but to once again only end up in trouble by violating a NFL drug policy for the fourth time. He was suspended for the entire 2006 season and he ended up going to play in the Canadian Football League and was allowed to play as long as he returned to the NFL for the 2007 season. He played with the dolphins until 2011 when he signed with the Baltimore Ravens for two years. Williams retired on February 7, 2012. During his career Williams was known to be shy, quiet, and kept to himself. Ex teammates say he did not talk much and only associated with a few people he felt comfortable talking to. Williams was notorious for conducting post game interviews with his helmet, dark tinted visor included, in order to avoid eye contact. He was later diagnosed with clinical

depression, social anxiety disorder, avoidance disorder and borderline personality disorder with which he struggled to cope with during his football career. Williams was treated with medication and therapy including Paxil which he later quit, stating it did not agree with his diet (Chiari). In an interview with ESPN he also mentioned that his marijuana use was a type of psychotherapy (Chiari). He also noted marijuana is 10 times better for me than Paxil because it produced fewer side effects (Chiari). Williams admitted in a 60 Minutes interview that one of the reasons for his retirement was to avoid the humiliation of his marijuana use being made public with his third failed drug test. After his retirement he went to California to get a prescription for medical marijuana. In the case of Ricky Williams, marijuana was a big help for not only physical strain but it also provided a safe treatment for his mental conditions. Playing football at a professional level can definitely do some physical damage that would require some sort of medicine to help cope with the pain. Also being a professional athlete and a celebrity in the eyes of viewers can affect player like Williams who have a hard time dealing with people and media. Medical marijuana is that ultimate treatment for both physical and mental illness. Marijuana is Williams prescribed medicine but because of NFL policies he is not allowed to use it and play in the NFL at the same time. He had to make a choice, either marijuana or football. Clearly we can see he chose the medicine over sports because that is how much of an impact it has on his life. This can also benefit other players as well if the NFL allowed it. Sports are very popular all around the world and at all ages. In the US high school and collegiate sports are also very popular underneath the professional level. We see on TV pros playing and getting hurt all the time. What we do not see all over the TV is the younger

generations mimicking the same thing as the pros. Young adults get hurt playing sports just like their idols. To give an example of sports and medicine not at a professional level, I want to share a story that can relate to this topic. I will not include full names to protect those involved. I want to rewind time to the beginning of my junior year of high school back in my home town. This was about a year and a half ago when this took place. My high schools first football game of the season was on a Friday during the first week of school. The icon of the team was number 5, 18 year old senior, Harry. He was the captain, quarterback and leader of the team. The first game of the season on that Friday night, Harry led the team to a victory to start off our high schools season strong. For those of you who know football, Harry loved to rush as a quarterback, meaning he ran the ball a lot. During that game he ran for more yards than he threw, which is uncommon for a quarterback. The only downside to Harry running the ball a ton was that he would get tackled more as well. For those who know Harry or have at least seen him, he is not a big guy what so ever, which is the reason why he ran so much because he was small and fast. Since he was smaller and ran more, this meant he was more likely to get hurt. After the game Harry being battered and bruised did not show a sign of strain. He just walked off the field with a smile on his face which he was known for. That weekend Harry struggled to cope with the injuries he sustained during the game. He wanted to be tough and not show a sign a weakness so he hid his injuries from everyone else. He took matters into his own hands and took his grandmothers prescribed medication to help the pain. What Harry was unaware of the dosage of the medication he took. His grandmother was a larger sized person while Harry was a slender 18 year old boy. The next morning Harry never woke and his parents tried to wake him but there was no response. He was rushed to the hospital where he remained
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unresponsive for days until eventually considered brain dead. The medication he took was too much for his body. Harry then passed just days after his huge season opening performance. The school and community were shocked by the news. Harry meant no harm to himself when looking for a medication to reliving his pain. Many people do not realize that legal medications that one could get prescribed by a doctor can still be harmful and dangerous. In the sports world thats full of injuries, players need a medication that is safe and not addictive. Ricky Williams even went on to point out that medical marijuana provides a better option for athletes for a medicine over other prescription pills that players could get addicted to, like Vicodin (Chirai). The big problem that comes up when talking about athletes and marijuana is that marijuana is not legal in all states for recreational or medical use. This means there will be a conflict if a professional sport organization wanted to allow their players to use marijuana. As an example I will use the NFL again. If the NFL lifted the ban on the use of marijuana, that means the NFL would no longer punish their players for testing positive for marijuana. That also means players would be allowed to use marijuana as they please without concern of disobeying NFL policies. But this only goes for players who live in areas where marijuana use is legal. So if players do not live where marijuana is legal then by law they are still not prohibited to use it. If this event occurs we would have a NFL where some players are allowed to use marijuana while others arent. Would this be a fair league? Does allowing players to use marijuana give an unfair advantage over those who cannot use marijuana? In my opinion it would be unfair. Either all players should be allowed or nobody is in order to keep the game fair.

But I do believe marijuana helps players and it can benefit the league. Players should be allowed to use it for at least medicinal purposes. The Next problem we run into is the legalization of marijuana. As of right now only Washington and Colorado are states with legalized cannabis for recreational use. 21 more have medical marijuana, while another 6 have decriminalized cannabis possession laws (Lee). The topic of the legalization of marijuana as been very popular recently and marijuana itself is now being looked at more as a medicine rather than a drug. Many states are in the process of creating new laws in steps to hopefully one day legalize marijuana for medical or recreational use. Under the federal law of the US the use, possession, sale, cultivation, and transportation of cannabis is still illegal even though states are allowed to pass laws that decriminalize it (Lee). In the near future I am sure there will be new states that will join in with the ones that have already passed decriminalization and legalization laws. For which states those will be, we do not know. But it is always a battle and states will get close to passing a bill but just barely fail. With the recent legalizations in Colorado and Washington these two states are paving the way for the other 48 states to follow. We have seen how legalizing it would generate tax revenue and economic opportunities while reducing drug enforcement costs. The sports world needs to look into their options of medicine. Medical marijuana could be the next best thing when it comes to treating athletes. It is shown to help with physical injuries including concussions, which is the one of the most popular and dangerous injuries we see in sports. Roger Goodell said he would consider allowing marijuana because in the NFL concussions are the biggest of worries for their players. Also marijuana can help psychologically. Like with Ricky Williams and his struggles throughout his career with social anxiety and

depression. I think we are close to seeing marijuana becoming more legalized widespread. Once that does happen thats when we will see in incorporated into sports, making sports a safer and better game for everyone. This inquiry project has given me new views and perspectives on this topic. With this topic still in the works, I do not have a conclusion to what should be done. All I can say is my opinion which is that I do believe sports can improve and benefit from marijuana if it becomes legal for everyone. But as of now marijuana is not legal nationally so the sports world is going to have to wait and see what is to come with this topic of discussion in the future.

Work Cited Bonander, Ross. "California Election: Can Marijuana Be Healthy?" AskMen. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Apr. 2014. Bryant, Howard. Smoke Screen. ESPN The Magazine. 10 Dec. 2013. Web. 25 Aug. 2014 Burke, Chris. Roger Goodell: NFL May Allow Medicinal Marijuana if it Helps With Concussions. SportsIllustrated.com, 23 Jan. 2014, Web. 25 Aug. 2014 Chiari, Mike. Ricky Williams and Ryan Clark. BleacherReport.com. 6 Feb. 2014. Web. 25 Aug. 2014. Ray, Ashlee. Interview of Antonio Cromatrie. This is 50. Jan. Web. 25 Aug. 2014 "DrugFacts: Is Marijuana Medicine?" National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). NIDA Drug Pubs, Apr. 2014. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. Graziano, Dan. Carroll Weighs in on Medicinal Pot. ESPN.com, 27 Jan. 2014. Web. 25 Aug. 2014. Iversen, Leslie L. The Science of Marijuana. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. Print. Lee, Jolie. "Which States Have Legalized Medical Marijuana?" USA Today. Gannett, 06 Jan. 2014. Web. 6 Apr. 2014. Martinez, Ronald. "Ayanbadejo: Pot before Super Bowl." ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, 30 Jan. 2014. Web. 12 Apr. 2014.

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