“How Can I Ease the Pain?”: Cannabinoids + The NFL + Addiction

Retired NFL player Eugene Monroe and his family“How Can I Ease the Pain?”: Cannabinoids + The NFL + AddictionDavid J. Leonard | @DrDavidJLeonard | NewBlackMan (in Exile)
When the Baltimore Ravens started their season, they had a new protector of Joe Flacco's blindside. Unfortunately, with the release and ultimate retirement of Eugene Monroe this off-season, the NFL will need to find another conscience.
After several months of public advocacy for the NFL to change its marijuana policy, the Baltimore Ravens released its left tackle during the off-season.  In a league where loyalty is a one-way street, especially for multi-million dollar offense lineman who play only a handful of games, and players that are regularly cut with little fanfare, the release and ultimate retirement of an offensive tackle in his 7th year in the league would usually go unreported.  
Eugene Monroe isn’t just any player.  He, along with several other retired players have been at the forefront of the movement to change the NFL’s drug policy. Tired of the pain, the side effects from drugs promised to ‘help him,” and fearful about addiction to prescribed narcotics, he wanted to find alternatives. Writing in The Player’s Tribune, Monroe, who has said he will not “allow his son to play football," made his motivations clear:
“I became the first active NFL player to openly advocate for the use of cannabinoids (medical marijuana) to treat chronic pain and head injuries. The NFL relies heavily on opioids to get players back on the field as soon as possible, but studies have shown medical marijuana to be a much better solution; it is safer, less addictive and can even reduce opioid dependence.”
Noting that studies have found that cannabidiol (CBD) work as a neuroprotectant, “which can shield the cells in the brain from injury or degeneration,” Monroe has called for research and a revaluation of the NFL’s anarchic policy: “We need to learn more about this.”  
Hoping also to address the issues surrounding concussions and CTE, and to lessen the short and long term effects of football, Monroe has joined several former players, including Jake Plummer, Kyle Turley, Nate Jackson, in advocating for a cultural shift within the NFL.  Calling on the NFL to not change its policies with respect to marijuana but to support research so that players can best protect themselves while playing the game of football, this #cannabis4pain movement is pushing the NFL to a moral crossroads.  
Nate Jackson, a former tight end with the Broncos, estimated that an estimated 50 percent of NFL players use marijuana, often for medical reasons. “I weeded as needed,” he told Andrea Kremer on HBO’s Real Sports in 2014. “Marijuana was something that helped me, as the season wore on my body would start to break down. I was in a lot of pain.”
Former NFL quarterback, Jake Plummer recently started taking CBD. Noting its positive impact on his health, he wishes it had been available while he was playing. “It might have the potential to save the game, and improve the lives of current and former players. Research is needed.” Studies are essential in learning “how CBD impacts concussion recovery, physical recovery, and mental recovery.”
Monroe has put money behind the cause. He donated $80,000 to the University of Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins University to study “the benefits of cannabidiol (CBD) for pain management and [in treatment of]” chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)” with both current and retired NFL players.
While marijuana remains banned, players are encouraged to pop pills to get back on the field.  A 2011 study of drug use among former NFL players from researchers at Washington University in St. Louis found that over fifty percent of respondents acknowledged use of opioids during their careers. A startling 71% reported misusing opioids, often as a means to treat undiagnosed concussions. Highly addictive and with significant short and long term side effects, the drug culture of the NFL hurts current and former players.
The Washington University study found that 93% of respondents reported daily struggles with pain. Over 80% suffered from pain described at severe to moderate levels, a rate “three times the rate (26%) of the general population.”  Whereas close to 90% reported excellent health at the start of their NFL careers, only 13% noted excellent health in their retirement years. The pressure to stay on the field in the face of countless injuries and the long-term physical toll resulting from an NFL careers contributes to misuse of opioids and long-term addiction.
Players are also using marijuana to stay on the field, to withstanding the physical suffering, and the emotional challenges of playing football at an elite level. The Buffalo Bills Seantrel Henderson was recently suspended four games following a positive test for marijuana.  Recently diagnosed with Crohn’s Dissease, a painful intestinal disease caused by excessive inflammation, which studies have shown can be mitigated by cannabis use, Henderson’s medical needs are clearly of secondary importance. The NFL’s rules are what matter.  
As noted by Henderson’s agent, Brian Fettner, “Merciful or not, there is no medical exception that the NFL will accept. It doesn’t matter that Seantrel is battling Crohn’s disease, and has had his intestines outside his body. It doesn’t matter how you take it, if you digest the cannabis, that’s it."
Embracing a Nixon-Trump approach to law and order, and a culture that sees the NFL’s almost 70 percent black players as nothing more than “super predators” one puff away from dangerous criminal activity, there are no provisions for players who are hurting physically and mentally, to use marijuana to return to the field and more importantly live a normal life without pain.
Nevermind those stereotypical narratives that depict NFL players as ‘thugs’ and criminals who simply want to get high; never mind those who lament the influence of hip-hop culture or today’s kids who cannot “stay off the weed”, the debate surrounding marijuana usage is one of health and medicine. 

A 2009 study from the Institute of Medicine concluded that, “Cannabinoids can have a substantial analgesic effect.” A 2013 study found that use of Cannabidiol allows mice to regenerate brain cells responsible depression, anxiety, and chronic stress. A more recent study at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center found that patients with high levels of THC were “less likely to die of their injuries.”
In their initial studies, Dr. Mechoulam and others have demonstrated the potential benefits.  According Dr. Raphael Mechoulam, professor Medicinal Chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, “marijuana may be of value in lowering the damage from concussions.”
It is no wonder that Dr. Lester Grinspoon, professor emeritus of psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School, in an open letter to Commissioner Roger Goodell, called upon the league to support research “designed to determine whether or not some combination of cannabinoids is effective in preventing the consequences of concussions” all while thwarting its own war on drugs
“I implore you to immediately stop subjecting players to drug tests for marijuana, so they no longer face severe penalties for choosing a potentially life-saving medicine that can be used legally in twenty states.”
While such research is widespread, the NFL continues to maintain its antiquated position, claiming there still needs to be more research.  The NFL has historically hid behind the law and America’s draconian approach to drugs.  Times have change. In 2014, less than 30% of NFL teams played “in a weed-friendly city.”  Currently, over 65% of NFL teams play in states that allow for medical marijuana.
Still the fight to change the NFL’s approach to marijuana remains an uphill battle.  Eugene Monroe knows this all too well.  After complaining that the Ravens “continue to distance themselves from me and my cause,” Monroe found himself without a job.
While there is no direct evidence that links his activism to his release, and the Ravens maintained that his release was all about football, Monroe told the New York Times, "I can't say for sure whether or not my stance on medical cannabis was the reason the Ravens released me. However, as I've said in the past, they have distanced themselves from me and made it clear that they do not support my advocacy.” Yet, despite his value, Monroe’s availability did not prompt other teams to move to sign him. On July 21, 2016 Monroe announced his retirement from the NFL.  Citing fears about long-term health issues, and increased anxiety about CTE, it is hard not to think about how the NFL’s drug policy and Monroe’s fierce advocacy contributed to his retirement.
Power remains in the hands of the owners and the league. Fear of potential suspensions, and lost of endorsement, undermines the push for this medical change.  The release of Monroe further threatens change, reminding players that there are potential costs in challenging the NFL orthodoxy.
Plummer told me, “They are not going to lead the charge unless it impacts the bottom line.”
Race and anti-black racism are also part of the challenge here.  The racial stereotypes surrounding the NFL and the false narratives that portray it as the ‘National Felons’ League’ shape the conversation around marijuana. Look no further than the media spectacle and Jerry Jones comments surrounding Ezekiel Elliott merely VISITING a LAWFUL marijuana dispensary in Seattle.
It is no wonder that NHL, and Olympic sports (under the watch of WADA) have far more relaxed policies with respect to marijuana. In fact, in the NHL marijuana is not even banned.
The longstanding (racial) stigmas associated with marijuana use, and America’s racialized war on drugs is at the core of these very different approaches to marijuana use from its players.  The difficulty in changing the NFL’s approaches to drug rests with a culture that sees black bodies as inherently criminal. According to Michelle Alexander, law professor at The Ohio State University and author of The New Jim Crow, “the term black and criminal is nearly redundant. To be a black man is to be thought of as a criminal, and to be a black criminal is to be despicable – a social pariah.”  A study in the Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education found that while African Americans constitute 12-15 percent of all monthly drug users, 95% of respondents pictured a black drug user. Whereas those participating in overwhelming ‘white sports,’ from hockey to lacrosse, can get high with impunity, black players don’t have such privileges. Using for medical purposes remains elusive despite the research and the ample player protest.  
Research also demonstrates that whites feel less empathy for African Americans. Building on “archival data from the National Football League injury reports reveal that, relative to injured White players, injured Black players are deemed more likely to play in a subsequent game,” one study found that “that people assume a priori that Blacks feel less pain than do Whites.” Seen as immune from pain, and as ‘criminals’ and ‘thugs,’ it is no wonder that the NFL continues to lag behind other sports and society as a whole with respect to the medical use of marijuana.
Eugene Monroe, Nate Jackson, Jake Plummer, and others are not just fighting the NFL and its drug policy but a culture that loves football no matter the cost.  It is battling a culture that neither sees nor seems to care about the pain and suffering of its gridiron heroes.  In fact, the NFL machine routinely valorizes those players who can ‘play hurt,’ who have the ‘metal’ and the ‘intestinal fortitude.’ To recognize the pain and suffering, and the beneficial treatments, undercuts this destructive culture and the narrow understanding of masculinity.
The fight to change the NFL’s marijuana policy isn’t simply about decriminalization within the NFL. The recent changes regarding testing rules already opens up possibilities for players to use oils and other forms of CBD. It is about legalization and changing a culture that provides all players with access and education of natural remedies that will enhance their physical and mental health.  It is about changing a culture that sees NFL players as nothing, as irrelevant, when not playing. To embrace marijuana, and its potential health benefits, is to say the long-term physical and mental health of men who play football matters.
The NFL also has a potential to be a leader with respect to workplace safety, America’s prescription pill crisis, and health issues throughout the nation.
“I feel like the NFL has a responsibility to look into it, to delegate time and money to research this for its players,” Derrick Morgan, a linebacker with the Titans told Katie Couric during an interview with Monroe. “Given how much influence that the NFL has on society, I think it would help the greater good.  There’s a lot of people suffering and a lot of people that can benefit from cannabis as a medical treatment.”
While clearly not driven by justice or righteousness, the NFL can be instrumental in challenging a war on drugs that as ravaged the black community, torn families apart and destroyed lives over some weed.  It has the potential to shift the conversation and destabilized America’s “New Jim Crow.”
The players fight is challenging a culture of racism that is comfortable with a racially divided war that requires black bodies, whether they be NFL stars or unknown statistics, to be seen as deviant and criminal. To see NFL players, disproportionately black, as using marijuana to heal not only undermines what the league is selling about the game but what the nation is selling about who is guilty and who is innocent in the war on drugs.  
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David J. Leonard is Professor in the Department of Critical Culture, Gender and Race Studies at Washington State University, Pullman. Leonard's latest books include After Artest: The NBA and the Assault on Blackness (SUNY Press) and the forthcoming Playing While White: Privilege and Power on and off the Field. He is the co-editor of African Americans on Television: Race-ing for Ratings (Praeger Press) with Lisa Guerrero and Beyond Hate: White Power and Popular Culture with C. Richard King. He is currently working on a book Presumed Innocence: White Mass Shooters in the Era of Trayvon about gun violence in America. You can follow him on Twitter at @drdavidjleonard.