Allen Thompson

Marijuana in the NFL

Rob Cole
Allen Thompson

Marijuana in the NFL

Marijuana

Marijuana is a frequently used drug in the world that we live in

today and it is often viewed as bad or criminal, making it completely

illegal in twenty-four states. Marijuana is known to have psychological

effects that are known to make people high or stoned, which make

the public have a negative view on the drug. But in the past couple of

decades there have been copious amounts of research that revolves

around the drug and the effects have been a lot different than

researchers thought. Since marijuana has been around it has brought

around questions of why and how long its been around but Narconon

International states that Marijuana has been used as an agent for

achieving euphoria since ancient times showing that marijuana has

been used to get some sort of high. (Narconon) With there being so

many negative attitudes towards marijuana people began to rally and

fight for making marijuana completely illegal resulted in marijuana

becoming classified alongside LSD, heroin, cocaine and other class one

drugs and being viewed as the most addictive and having no accepted

medical use making it a burden for people that enjoyed marijuana. But
 once marijuana became classified as a Level One drug people that

were marijuana advocates began to fight for marijuana to be legalized

as medical marijuana and hoping that once it became legalized for

medical use it would later become legal.

Douglas Berman

The most recent arguments revolving around making marijuana legal

in the United States has gone from how it has obvious medical uses, it

has a high potential of making money for the United States economy, it

would stop the international drug trade and how it would promote

happiness due to the fact that there would not be illegal drugs wars on
the street if it were to become legalized. With the people that were

lobbying for the legalization of marijuana being partially successful

brings up the fact that many states have recently allowed medical

marijuana and even a few states have legalized recreational use of

marijuana. But the main reason that marijuana has slowly but surely

began to be used in the United States revolves around the fact that

marijuana can be used as medicine. With medical marijuana slowly but

surely becoming a medical method brings up the topic regarding if NFL

athletes should be allowed to replace prescription pain killers with

medical marijuana, in which medical marijuana would be a better

alternative for pain remedies and bring more health benefits.

Marijuana Addiction vs. Narcotic Addiction

With there being a large topic of discussion revolving around the

side effects NFL players receive after being prescribed narcotic drugs

for their pain brings up the topic of discussion that revolves around

allowing NFL players to smoke medical marijuana. With medical

marijuana becoming a large topic of discussion brings up the topic that

the tendency to overdose on prescription drugs is much higher than

someone overdosing on marijuana. Marijuana is known to be pretty

much impossible to overdose on and by contrast, and according to a

German study there was zero documented cases of death by

marijuana overdose in the world until a German study published in

February 2014 claimed to have found exactly two cases which can

compare to 16,235 people overdosing on prescription drug overdoses

since 2014. (CDC)

CDC

With there being a substantial amount of people overdosing on

prescription narcotics instead of only two confirmed overdoses on

marijuana strongly supports that marijuana is a much better option

than the doctors prescribing the players to opiates. Also with marijuana

being pretty much impossible to overdose on makes it a strong

candidate to help NFL players to relieve pain due to the fact that if

they are to become completely dependent on a way to relieve pain

than they have a lot less chance of becoming abusive with the drug

during the time of pain. With marijuana being difficult to become

addicted to helps the doctors prescribe people to marijuana instead of

narcotics, hopefully making them feel better with prescribing them

medicine and help them be able to have the feeling that they are not
capable of promoting a possible drug overdose by prescribing them

narcotics. The discussion regarding overdosing on prescription

narcotics brings up the topic about addiction and how easy it is to

become addicted to the frequently used prescription narcotics. With

the topic of how addictive these drugs can be supported with Amanda

Gardner stating how experts believe that more than 8 and a half

million American abuse such meds comparing to the National Institute

on Drug Abuses statement saying that 4 million people in the United

States used marijuana and only 9 percent of those people become

dependent. ( NIDA) These statistics it help support the argument

that medical marijuana would potentially be a better solution than

prescription narcotics. Since there is a smaller chance of people

becoming addicted to marijuana compared to prescriptions drugs

should convince the government that they should allow NFL players to

smoke marijuana because this could also help constrict these peoples

chance from becoming depressed when taking hard prescription drugs.

 Drugsfree.org

With there being so many NFL football players receiving serious

injuries that require pain medicine and harsh rehab brings up the topic

that these players are often prescribed to prescription drugs. These

prescription drugs are used for these players to fight pain and help

relieve the stress around the injuries that these players obtain. But

with pain medicine comes negative effects for these players such as

the fact that these painkillers have such addicting tendencies on

people and these people often become dependent on them. Also when

NFL football players become injured they often lose their touch and job

resulting in them looking at alcohol for help, resulting in negative

effects. But David Peters states, The claim that marijuana is used to

substitute for narcotics and other drugs has been recently supported

by a survey with 400 people saying they substitute prescription

narcotics for marijuana which helps support the argument that the

people that become addicted to opiates or become alcoholics can lean

on medical marijuana to slowly drift away from opiates, which would

result in a positive effect for these people. With injuries most often

being treated with pain pills there is copious amounts of research

revolving around if marijuana can mimic the pain killing of effects of

prescription narcotics and Peter Cohen states Several patients

claimed they had been able to completely stop taking narcotics by

substituting marijuana. A male in his 40s had dual hip replacement

and was able to stop taking narcotics because of marijuana which

helps support the argument that people that have injuries, such as hip

injuries in which many NFL football players experience are able to get

rid of narcotics and get rid of pain by using medical marijuana. (Cohen)

Also with medical marijuana being potentially just as strong of a pain

killer as prescription narcotics would also help eliminate the illegal

consumption of narcotics, because it is known that many people will

illegally obtain these drugs but if they ware able to smoke marijuana

than the amount of arrests with the possession of illegal narcotics

would decrease. A lot of NFL players have came out to state that they

believe medical marijuana should be used instead of pain killers

because of the side effects and so on but also they say they would

enjoy if they were able to consume marijuana to help ease pain and if

this were a reality than there would not be as many NFL players being

released or fined for positive drugs tests making the NFL more

complete, like its rival sport the NBA which has already allowed for NBA

players to use medical marijuana if it is legal in the state that they are

a resident. With players such as Kyle Turley stating. "Turley says he

became addicted to the drugs and depressed to the point of

contemplating suicide.

Then last year, he quit the prescription painkillers and started using

marijuana to manage his pain. (Turley) With Turley supporting the

promotion of medical marijuana helps show that NFL players are

rapidly supporting marijuana, especially the ones that have recently

been addicted to other means of pain killers and went on to medical

marijuana, which seems to help their pain just as much as pain killers.
Turley also went on to say the amount of marijuana needed to get

effects like pain killer was only two hits meaning the amount a

person needs to consume is not as much as people think. So if the

football players are allowed to use medical marijuana they wont have

to keep taking copious amounts of pills and they could just eat

marijuana foods or even smoke the marijuana to achieve these pain

relieving effects.

Health Benefits From Marijuana Vs. Narcotics

It has been known that people have been using marijuana for

health reasons for a while now but the fact that NFL players are not

allowed to smoke marijuana, even though most have came out and say

they do, is not fair to them, especially since almost have the states

have legalized medical use and a few have even legalized recreational

use to the public. But when football players experience head trauma or

a concussion they are usually required to be put in rehab activity while

allowing the brain to heal. Doctors often take an approach to help

these players speed up their recovery with concussions by prescribing

them prescription narcotics but recently there have been many studies

that narcotics can have negative effects on the brain and if they

frequently take them the brain will suffer a negative effect, especially
when doing physical activity. With them doing extreme physical

exercise they deal with negative side effects on the body when taking

pain killers, such as when Kevin Lona stated if the person engages in

especially demanding physical activities, such as those that require

high levels of cardiac fitness, he puts himself in danger of causing

permanent damage to his body which supports the argument that NFl

players should not be prescribed to these drugs because of the copious

amounts of physical activity they take part in. But research is now

showing that medical marijuana has a positive effect with brain

injuries, with Kevin Lona also stating that "Already, many doctors and

researchers believe that marijuana has incredibly powerful

neuroprotective properties, an understanding based on both laboratory

and clinical data," which means that they can help progress physical

damages with medical marijuana. (Lona) Also many scientists having

been proposing to the NF: of getting rid of drug tests such as when

Lestor Grinspoon states that he recently wrote an open letter to NFL

Commissioner Roger Goodell, saying the NFL should stop testing

players for marijuana, and with the most common NFL injury being

concussions, which involves the brain. (Goodell)

 Marijuana Can Help

Since the number of injuries that lead to the end of NFL football

players carrers is so high the number of players that fight depression

and anxiety is relatively high compared to other sports and professions

like soccer of basketball. The NFL experiences 271 concussions in 2015

which is a large increase from the previous years resulting in more and

more players being prescribed to prescription narcotics to relieve pain

and help accelerate recovery. With the NBA allowing their players to

smoke medical marijuana if properly prescribed then I personally

believe that NFL players should be allowed to smoke medical

marijuana since the number of head injuries in the NFL is higher than

the NBA. But with the amount of concussions constantly increasing

results in the amount of depression leading injuries increasing. The

authors of the Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise journal state

that retired professional football players support the notion-that

lifetime prevalence of depression and feelings commonly associated

with a depressed state increases as a function of previous head injury

exposure Marijuana has been known to help anxiety which is also a

symptom linked from depression and if the NFL players were allowed to

smoke medical marijuana then they would be able to easily calm down

their symptoms without having to damage their bodies with

prescription narcotics. (Medicine & Sports Science & Exercise journal)

drugfree.org

Then there is the topic that revolves around what marijuana can do to

help the brain besides with depression and pain and with Clyde Herrie

stating that there is also substantial evidence that marijuana reduces

muscle spasticity in patients with neurological disorders because

when a football player receives a concussing they will often suffer from
other injuries within the brain meaning that these players may suffer

muscle problems in the brain resulting in later complications that could

be post pined by allowing them to smoke medical marijuana. (Herrie)

Also within the NFL there are injuries or diseases that result in constant

physical damage to the body making them have life long complications

that can be treated with marijuana, Laura Sanders states that

Marijuana as a medicine is gaining support in studies to tamp down

diseases that deal with the brain which are often complications that

NFL football players will go through but marijuana can be used to help

these symptoms instead of using prescription narcotics. (Sanders)

There has also been many videos showing how the use of medical

marijuana can almost immediately stop someone when having a

seizure and this happens without them even having to smoke the

marijuana.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZb11PA5H20- a seizure being

stopped
The narcotics given to a lot of these athletes for these injuries dont

just have addictive tendencies but they also lead to shorter life spans

and potentially be fatal if not taken properly. When discussing how bad

narcotics actually are for society and the health on people, especially

these athletes that have to train while on these drugs brings up the

Susan Speakers statement that the people are in the midst of a life

and death struggle with the deadliest foe that has ever menaced its

future helping support the idea that medical marijuana should be

allowed for NFL player if they prefer to use it.

Conclusion

When dealing with medical marijuana in the United States there

are hundreds of things that need to be brought up, ranging from the

economic change, laws restricting certain people from using, taxes,

health benefits and so on. But with many states recently allowing

medical marijuana brings up the topic that NFL players are still given

frequent drug tests which still test for marijuana even though that it

could be legal in the state that that inhabit. If these players are caught

using marijuana, even if its allowed, they are often suspended or even

removed from the team, which seems to happen to a lot of players.

This paper discusses the ways that these players are negatively

affecting their bodies when being prescribed prescription narcotics

instead of being allowed to be prescribed medical marijuana. If these

players were allowed to smoke medical marijuana they would most

likely never have complications with addiction, players would receive

better results when dealing with injuries if allowed to smoke marijuana

and also medical marijuana is often used to help fight serious problems

with people and Is starting to become known for its health benefits. So

if the NFL were to permit players to smoke medical marijuana they

would have more positive effects than negative ones, especially when

comparing the allowed narcotics to marijuana.

tokesignals.com

Rhetorical Rationale

To be completely honest this was one of the more difficult

projects I have had to take part of. I began with this research project

thinking that I already knew what exactly my question was but it did

not take long at all for me to realize how boring it would be for me
discussing fish migrating. Once I turned in my first proposal I knew

then that my topic would not be the topic that I actually wanted to

discuss making me having to start from scratch when I already had a

few sources ready to be used. This topic really got my interest once

one of my friends and former FSU football player Carlos Williams had

been caught smoking marijuana multiple times, yes it was illegal but to

be removed from a team made me really think that some of these

players should be allowed to smoke marijuana. I started this project

with my eyes wrapped around the health benefits that would come

from players being allowed to smoke medical marijuana instead of

having to take hard prescription drugs which I now know have much

more negative effects than marijuana for the typical athlete and

person. I took this approach dealing with health and addiction because

that is a thing that is etremely important to these elite athletes. Over

time it seems that a lot of players have became addicted to these hard

drugs because of an injury and a lot of the injuries can lead to a career

having to end. I had gone to the library for most of my work due to the

fact that writing papers and doing work is just easier when in the

library. Once I prosed my first topic to the professor I realized it was a

pretty soft topic and how there has already been copious amounts of

research dealing with the topic. The topic revolving around allowing

NFL players to smoke marijuana is a relatively new topic that actually

was brought to major news attention in the winter of 2016. When

writing this paper it really made me realize that these athletes are

watched so carefully and have such strict rules that it is hard for some

of them to just live their every day lives because of the amount of

ridicule that they can see. My thesis changed around because I needed

to become more detailed when dealing with a research paper because

it first started off dealing with just why NFL players should be allowed

to smoke marijuana but then I went more into detail when I decided to

compare the marijuana with Narcotics, which ended up making the

thesis much stronger. Also a major revision that had to be done when

writing this paper was the organization that my rough draft had, it was

confusing an did not flow in the way that I intended, so my peers

helped me fix my organization making it much more enjoyable for the

audience hopefully. But overall with this paper I noticed that my

research skills improved expediently, making future research projects

for other classes most likely easier. Even though the whole assignment

ended up being tough and very time consuming it was one of the most

enjoyable papers that I have writing. Since there is so much

information that would support the people fighting for NFL players to

be allowed to smoke marijuana might end up leading in their success

because after doing research I have not seen really any reasons for it

to be deemed illegal. If the researchers continue to find information

would not be surprised if all sports allow for NFL players to smoke

marijuana if correctly prescribed. But if I were to do the project again I

would most likely have tried to begin with a stronger thesis and

research topic due to me having to go back and pretty much restart

half way through the project making it harder on myself than it should

have been.

References

Berman, Douglas. "Marijuana Law, Policy & Reform."

Marijuana Law, Policy & Reform. Washington Post, 25 Jan.
2017. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.

Cantu, R.c. "Recurrent Concussion and Risk of Depression in

Retired Professional Football Players." Yearbook of Sports
Medicine 2008 (2008): 903-09. Medi Sports Science. Web.
<http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/558116_4>.

CDC. "Medical Cannabis vs Opiate Pain Relievers." Salveo

Capital. Salveo Capital, 09 July 2015. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.

David C. Peters II. Patients and Caregivers Report Using Medical

Marijuana to Decrease Prescription Narcotics Use. Humboldt Journal of
Social Relations, vol. 35, 2013, pp. 2440.,
www.jstor.org/stable/humjsocrel.35.24.

Founder, Ycl. "MARIJUANA IS SAFER & HEALTHIER THAN

PAINKILLERS." YourCannaLife. N.p., 16 Mar. 2017. Web. 26
Mar. 2017.

Gardner, Amanda. "Prescription Drug Abuse: Who Gets

Addicted?" WebMD. WebMD, 02 Apr. 2015. Web. 26 Mar.
2017.

Goldman, Tom. "NFL Players Searching For Painkiller Choices

Hope For Relaxed Marijuana Ban." NPR. NPR, 21 Nov. 2016.
Web. 26 Mar. 2017.
Graham, Ruth. "Is Marijuana Good for Public Health?"
Https://daily.jstor.org/marijuana-and-public-health/. ITHAKA,
08 Oct. 2015. Web.

Gregoire, Carolyn. "New Study Finds Marijuana To Be

Effective Against Depression." The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 06 Feb. 2015. Web. 26 Mar. 2017

Herreid, Clyde Freeman, and Kristie DeRei. Intimate Debate Technique:

Medicinal Use of Marijuana. Journal of College Science Teaching, vol. 36,
no. 4, 2007, pp. 1013., www.jstor.org/stable/42992935.

Lona, Kevin. "The Risk of Drug Use During Physical

Activities." Foundations Recovery Network. Foundations
Recovery Network, 28 Sept. 2015. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.

Mercola, Dr. "Medical Benefits of Cannabis: Treatment for

Epilepsy and More." Mercola.com. N.p., 12 Apr. 2015. Web.
26 Mar. 2017.

Rehabs.com. "LEGALLY DEAD | Exploring The Epidemic of

Prescription Drug Abuse." Rehabs.com. Rehabs.com, 2012.
Web. 26 Mar. 2017

Salem-News.com, Dr. Phil Leveque. "Pain Therapy and the

Paramount Painkiller - Marijuana." Pain Therapy and the
Paramount Painkiller - Marijuana - Salem-News.Com. Salem
News, 07 May 2011. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.

Seppa, Nathan. Not Just a High. Science News, vol. 177, no. 13, 2010,
pp. 1620., www.jstor.org/stable/25677928.

Speaker, Susan L. The Struggle of Mankind against Its Deadliest Foe:

Themes of Counter-Subversion in Anti-Narcotic Campaigns, 1920-1940.
Journal of Social History, vol. 34, no. 3, 2001, pp. 591610.,
www.jstor.org/stable/3789819.

Tokesignals.com. "Opioid Overdose." Pinterest. N.p., n.d.

Web. 26 Mar. 2017.
Zamon, Rebecca. "How Medical Marijuana Can Help People In
Pain (And How It Can't)." The Huffington Post. The Huffington
Post, 01 Oct. 2015. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.

Annotated Bibliography

Bergman Germany, NFLPA actively studying medical marijuana use for

players Nov, 9 2016, The statement around this article deals with the fact
if the NFL will allow for the use of medical marijuana for pain issues and
avoiding the long term bad effects of narcotics. This is a good resource to
be used because of the relevance of the topic within the society that we
live in today. If you are to take words directly from the NFL players and see
how they feel then you have stronger information than someone just
quoting a football player.

David C. Peters II. Patients and Caregivers Report Using Medical

Marijuana to Decrease Prescription Narcotics Use. David Peters states
that narcotic use with people that have diseases that can be treated or
lessened by the use of THC should be encouraged. Prescription pills have
long and addictive side effects. But with marijuana there still has been
research saying that the addictive qualities and the harmful side effects
arent nearly as bad as the side effects of narcotics.

Foley, Francesca M., et al. Long-Term Effects of Marijuana Use on

the Brain. of marijuana on people but up to date the long term effects eem
to be non existent due to the fact that medical marijuana has not been an
option for that long of a time. But also it states that there has been
extensive amounts of research dealing with pain killers and narcotics that
football players are told to take making people notice that they should try
and not take them even though a option these players have to abuse them
because of the pain that they are in.

Finn, Kristin V. Marijuana Use at School and Achievement-Linked

Behaviors. The author Kiristin Finn states that marijuana use in school
was not as bad as people used to perceive. Marijuana use in school has
led to students believing that they are more engaged and interested in the
topic at hand due to them being high. If this is the case then football
players in the NFL may benefit from the use of marijuana due to the
immediate side effects not being as bad because of the fact that high
school students are able to say that marijuana has helped them. Since
marijuana can seem to help just about anyone it seems that this is a strong
source because it doesnt just deal with the typical adult but with people of
all ages and how marijuana does not affect peoples health no where as
much as prescription narcotics.

Green, Brian E., and Christian Ritter. Marijuana Use and

Depression. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, vol. 41, no. 1, 2000,
pp. 4049., Brian Green in this article states that marijuana is a great way
for people to completely avoid depression due to the fact of them being
high. Marijuana is said to not be an addictive drugs but people with
extreme depression, especially football players that have had a high
number of head injuries leading to depression and the fact that football
players wood be able to smoke marijuana and get better results from that
then a pain killer.

Kounang, Nadia players and NFL to reconsider marijuana stance

Nov, 11 2016, This article states the thought of reconsidering the use of
medical marijuana and how it may be able to help.m There has not been
much research regarding the topic making it hard for the people supporting
marijuana in the NFL but if the long-term research of other people using it
in states that have marijuana legalized may result in the NFL allowing the
players to use marijuana for medical reasons. This was a strong source
because of the newer information and the relevance of what the players
and researchers have had to say in the recent times. Since science has
became so advanced compared to not that long ago information has
changed very quickly.

Madras, Bertha K. Dopamine Challenge Reveals Neuroadaptive

Changes in Marijuana Abusers. Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 111, no. 33, 2014, pp.
1191511916., www.jstor.org/stable/42919127. When dealing with
marijuana there is a high number of people that are against it and so on
but since people that need medicine are saying that medical marijuana
might be the cure. Mello states that medical marijuana is a gateway to
making people have lower stress levels which results in them being able to
think clearly and potentially be more creative when dealing with certain
things in life, so his support of medical marijuana would be able to deal
with the fact that there is now an argument around the effects of medical
marijuana being allowed for NFL football players.
 Mello, Jeffrey A. Employment and Public Policy Issues Surrounding
Medical Marijuana in the Workplace. Author Mello describes the fact that
marijuana in the workplace can affect people since they are high but with
football players constantly being put on painkillers what the difference. In
research that I have received since the beginning of the project I have
learned that painkillers have bad addiction problems and so bad. This is a
credible source due to his high amount of research on the topic
surrounding the effects of marijuana on employees.

NFL Today, Cannabis Confidential Nov 2, 2016, This is an actual

source with how football players and sports analyses feel about NFL
players being allowed to use marijuana in their own home for pain and
mental problems. The result of this article shows that the majority of the
people want to legalize it for them. Even it states that there wouldnt be
nearly as many arrest for NFL players if it were legal for them allowing for
football players to use this medication and not be in trouble for using this
kind of drugs, which personallyI dont believe is a drug.

Sidney, Stephen, et al. Marijuana Use and Cancer Incidence

(California, United States). Cancer Causes & Control, vol. 8, Sidney says
that marijuana use is the most used illegal drug in the United States but
with it becoming legal in states at a rapid pace the amount of arrests have
dropped. Also with tobacco use being such a high thing It is easily stopped
when people begin to smoke marijuana due to them losing the feeling of
craving a cigarette because they re smoking something that has
completely got rid of their need. Also marijuana is known to numb the
stomach allowing people with cancer and eating disorders to eat because
of them having the feeling of being hungry. This source may not be as
strong as the others due to how old of a source it is and how new the
information revolving around marijuana has became.

Zablocki, Benjamin, et al. Marijuana Use, Introspectiveness, and

Mental Health. Journal of Health Marijuana is usually known as a drug
that is used to get people high and a lot of time is known for reducing
stress. People a lot of the times resort to hard narcotic drugs such as
Xanax and pain killers to cope with pain and stress but the effects of
marijuana so someone has better effects and not as strong as an effect as
these drugs do. Also marijuana has many other ways to be consumed from
drinks, edibles and so on, which makes it easier for people to consume.