Cannabis has been an integral part of the natural healing process for thousands of years.  Ayurvedic medicine suggests cannabis as a remedy to anyone who “works with their body” or experiences physical or mental trauma.  Traditional Chinese medicine places it among the “50 fundamental herbs”.

 Used to treat myriad disorders, illnesses and injuries, from anxiety and depression to sore muscles, and even impotence, the cornerstone application of cannabinoids lies in their ability to enable “homeostasis” (hormonal balance) in the human body.  This natural effect of cannabis is a valuable trait for any user, however, it is especially enticing for the more physically inclined individuals, most notably athletes.

Cannabis was a major part of my recovery process through six years in the NFL.  In truth, I was following my instincts.  I knew it was illegal, so I educated myself on the system. I learned when to expect tests and the windows in which I could utilize the one thing that made me feel better.  I was deathly afraid of testing positive on a drug test, yet I was willing to use cannabis because as the injuries and scar tissue piled up in my body it soothed my mental and physical pain like nothing else had.

Of course, during the football season tons of pills are doled out to numb the pain. There were non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and opiates galore.  The side effects were unpleasant to say the least, ranging from irritability and nausea to rage and defecating blood.  Jolted awake at two or three o’clock in the morning to the sirens of withdrawal: cold sweats, a knifing sensation through the gut, an intolerable discomfort coursing through the nervous system.  My athletic senses were tuned intimately to the vibrations of my body, and I knew opiates to be a dead-end path.

As a way to keep myself whole physically and emotionally I found myself drawn to cannabis over and over again. When I consumed it I felt myself slip into a warm healing place with no side-effects.  My mind was calm and at peace.  The aches and pains throughout my body were brought to a warm hum—not a car wreck.  I was able to sleep, I was able to recover--and I was not alone.  I had many teammates who preferred cannabis as their method of pain management as well.  As athletes who put themselves through intense physical and mental stress it seemed always to be the natural solution to pain.

 Football is a violent game.  We see it every Sunday.  One play in particular comes to mind from Super Bowl LII (2018) in which Philadelphia Eagles Safety Malcolm Jenkins levelled New England Patriots wide receiver Brandin Cooks.  Cooks suffered a concussion, an injury that would no doubt be relieved by cannabis and healed by cannabis.

We know, scientifically speaking, that cannabis heals. We know this to be true thanks to the federal government’s patent #6,630,507 stating: Cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants--which means they help the brain heal from concussions and protect it from future damage.  As concussions and chronic traumatic encephalitis (CTE) are the number one issue facing the National Football League today, it would be inspiring to see the league take an active stance on the problem and work diligently to find a solution.  Fortunately for the league there is already much research to support the medicinal application of cannabis to treat such a problem.  With the implementation of cannabis as a measure to prevent present and future brain trauma, healthcare costs would plummet, there would be a reduction in post-career lawsuits and the NFL would save money when it came to the copious amounts of prescription meds they distribute throughout the season.  On top of that, the spiritual light of the players would change, they would see happier and healthier men leaving the league.  

Aside from the damage us footballers endure to our brains and bodies, by the time we find ourselves in the league it has been, at least, a decade of running on nothing but adrenaline and cortisol, setting our nervous system’s roots in a permanent fight or flight state.  It becomes more and more difficult as we get older to get ourselves out of that place.  The “switch” gets harder to turn off when we come home to our families and civilization.  The homeopathic effect of the cannabis plant can help reset the hormonal system to get us out of the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) and into the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest or feed and breed).  This is a crucial shift for any extreme athlete as they adapt to the slower pace of normal civilization.       

The concept of cannabis as medicine is nothing new. Prior to the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, cannabis extract was a staple in American pharmacopeia. That law outlawing the growth and sale of cannabis, combined with an onslaught of misinformation and propaganda was successful in destroying the credibility of the cannabis plant as a real medicine.  Finally, after more than 70 years, we are beginning to re-educate ourselves collectively on the nutritional, medicinal and industrial value of this powerful plant.

Understanding what I do about my own experience with cannabis, combined with what I have learned from other elite level athletes and military veterans, I believe that the warrior’s relationship with cannabis is not new.  Cannabis use to treat physical ailments and relieve mental stress is an ancient healing practice.  Primal and earth-grown. Warriors have put themselves through intense physical and mental trauma for thousands of years and have needed help expediting the healing process for just as long. 

More and more professional athletes are coming forward to advocate for the healing power of cannabis.  Awareness around the destruction that concussions and opiates are wreaking all throughout collision sports from the NFL, NHL, and UFC is driving the cannabis conversation into mainstream waters.  When I asked former Philadelphia Flyer Riley Cote what cannabis meant for athletes he echoed my sentiments: “Cannabis is the perfect recovery tool for athletes – as an anti-inflammatory, a neuro-protectant and a sleep aid…it is unmatched.”  Very eloquently Cote illustrated three main concerns of nearly every athlete: reduction/management of inflammation, sleep (recovery) and brain health. 

The truth is that it does not require “medicinal” application for effectiveness.  Many athletes are coming home—beat up and tired—looking anywhere for relief.  Former NBA legend Stephen Jackson recently came clean about his cannabis use during his fourteen-year career.  He mentioned using cannabis to “come down” after games.  “I’m not into taking pills and all this man-made medicine…I’m not one of those guys who needed to take all this shit to play – I’m a dog – I fought through a lot of injuries…played with bone spurs for years…I wasn’t into taking shots and all that…but when I got home, I needed to come down – my adrenaline pumping – I twisted one up, lit it – and relaxed for the night, felt good the next day…” Jackson shared this public,  on social media.

Mr. Jackson hits on multiple key points for athletes.  In particular, the comment “I’m a dog”-- many athletes believe they are warriors, built for battle, and part of that is actually enjoying the grind, enjoying the hurt and the pain.  To that point cannabis, this natural plant, does not “kill the pain” as the highly addictive opiates do, but rather “reframes” the sensation of the pain. It creates a much-needed intimacy with the pain, rather than shunning it altogether, like opiates, which merely put a band-aid on the dragon of pain, leaving it in waiting to resurface at any moment. Athletes use pain to grow and assess their own capacity on the field. Killing the pain destroys our ability to do that.

Cannabis works with our body’s endocannabinoid system.  This network of receptors in our body is in charge of regulating a number of processes: sleep rhythm, appetite, mood, pain, and reproduction.  It is directly linked to our immune system and therefore linked to our overall health and wellbeing.  The cannabinoids in the cannabis plant optimize our body’s ability to facilitate all of these processes, thus keeping us in homeostasis. Balance is key to a healthy lifestyle, and cannabis can help facilitate that.

Today, awareness of cannabis as medicine is ever expanding and sports are a key platform to showcase it’s healing power.  As more and more athletes continue to voice their support for cannabis and its healing properties we will continue to see positive movement in legislature on both the state and federal level.  The beautiful fact is that modern science continues to prove and support the thousands of years of anecdotal evidence.