ESPN, citing league sources, reported recently that the National Football League soon will change its policies pertaining to the use of marijuana. If that report is correct, and the NFL is in fact on the verge of raising the level of marijuana it currently requires for a positive test as well as reducing penalties for marijuana use, many observers believe this new approach will improve the long-term health prospects of NFL players.
Supporters of a more relaxed approach to marijuana use claim that anything that potentially steers players away from their reportedly heavy use of painkillers (both legal and otherwise) is all to the good. The pain-reducing properties of marijuana, it is thought, would serve as an acceptable and desirable substitute for the harsher long-term effects of painkillers. Please see this article for a discussion of five painkillers commonly used by NFL players. Here from that article is a brief description of each:
Toradol: A non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drug. Complications associated with Toradol include potential kidney failure, liver damage and gastrointestinal bleeding as well as an increased risk of heart attack and stroke. Moreover, this drug inhibits platelet function, creating a danger of brain bleeding for players who suffer head injuries while the drug is in their system.
Percocet: Side effects include nausea, vomiting, constipation, lightheadedness, dizziness, drowsiness, flushing, vision changes and mental/mood changes. Percocet addiction is one of the more severe opioid addictions because it contains the powerful narcotic called oxycodone.
Oxycontin: The strong narcotic pain reliever is similar to morphine and is designed to treat moderate to severe pain expected to last for a long time. Oxycontin is a highly addictive drug.
Dilaudid: A derivative of morphine, but eight times more potent than morphine. It is a schedule two narcotic, and is a popular drug used in pain management therapy. Dilaudid was manufactured to be a substitute for heroin.
Vicodin: A combination of hydrocodone, a narcotic, and non-narcotic acetaminophen. It can cause nausea, vomiting, constipation, lightheadedness, dizziness, drowsiness, flushing, vision changes and mental/mood changes. In the 1980s, former Miami Dolphins tight end Dan Johnson admitted that he “was taking about 1,000 Vicodins a month.”
Supporters of a less stringent approach to the regulation of marijuana use by the NFL point to recent state actions that have significantly reduced penalties for marijuana use, and note that two NFL teams (including the current Super Bowl Champions) play in states with very relaxed attitudes toward marijuana.
Please see this article for a comprehensive look at the misuse of painkillers by former NFL players. Whether one believes the information in this article is scientifically accurate or not, I think we would all agree that professional football is a violent sport, and lingering, serious injuries are a foreseeable and expected outcome of participation in that sport. NFL players, bigger and faster with each passing year, are subjecting their bodies to considerable damage for our entertainment and a healthy paycheck. Should they not have access to all reasonable avenues of pain management?
Opponents of any reduction in the severity of punishment for the use of marijuana will point to the reality that not every instance of marijuana use by a professional football player will be for medical purposes. It is likely that with the implementation of new standards for punishment requiring higher levels of marijuana to trigger punitive action by the league, players increasingly will use marijuana for recreational purposes as well as for pain management. The question is whether that should lead to a conclusion that the benefits of pain management do not outweigh the potential harm caused by an increase in recreational users of marijuana. Opponents also will note that many physicians believe marijuana is a gateway drug to more serious substance abuse.
I think we all (including the NFL) want to implement the most ethical, humane and effective options for managing the substantial pain that flows inevitably from a career in professional football and continues through retirement from the NFL. The question is whether marijuana will be viewed as an appropriate weapon in a player’s arsenal against pain.
Where do you come out on this issue? I welcome any thoughts at mike.gilleran@gmail.com. Thanks.
