After asking for research on cannabis, CBD, and other cannabinoids as alternatives to opioid pain medication for players, the NFL is now offering up to $1 million in grants for research.
The Pain Management Committee (PMC), part of the Player Health and Safety division of the NFL, wants to offer better alternatives and medication for their players that won’t lead to addiction as some pain meds can. When they asked for research, they saw many different ideas. A representative of PMC said “clearly there are a lot of great ideas in this space and there’s a lot of important research that needs to be funded.” However, with cannabis still a Schedule I drug, research is hard to fund.
When asked about the scheduling, the PMC Co-Chair Dr. Kevin Hill said it “definitely adversely affects the level of research that is allowed.” However, a lack of funding is causing more trouble than the DEA’s scheduling.
“You have a lot of folks—both states and companies—who are profiting considerably through the sale of cannabis and other cannabinoids, and most of those groups are not contributing to the science,” he said, “I think that’s one of the great things about this request for proposals is that obviously the players are stakeholders and we want them to have the best in terms of pain management, so we’re interested in trying to find out some of the answers that people have been saying that they’re interested in for a number of years.”
New Approach
The NFL is trying to shift their approach when it comes to players’ drug use issues. They started not punishing players for testing positive for all drugs but are instead “ensuring evaluation and treatment” over punishment. If players reach out for help, they want to help them overcome any addiction issues or concerns they may have.
This follows a similar trend other sports leagues are taking as well. The MLB removed cannabis from the league’s list of banned substances. The NBA has also extended their temporary stop to random drug testing players into the 2021 season. The stop started at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. It could potentially be something the NBA continues, but is available right now
Research
The NFL is asking for cannabis, CBD, and other cannabinoid research to focus on three areas.
- the effects of cannabinoids on pain in elite football players (post-surgical and/or in daily pain management);
- the effects of non-pharmacologic treatments on pain in elite football players (postsurgical and/or in daily pain management); and
- the effects of cannabis or cannabinoids on athletic performance (e.g., psychomotor, reaction time, cardiorespiratory function) in elite football players.
Make sure to check back for more cannabis and hemp related news.