Pubdate: Thu, 05 Mar 2015
Source: Albuquerque Journal (NM)
Copyright: 2015 the Associated Press
Contact:  http://www.abqjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/10
Author: Arnie Stapleton, the Associated Press

EX-PLAYER: NFL SHOULD LIFT RESTRICTIONS ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA

He Preferred It Over Opiate Painkillers

DENVER (AP) - Former Broncos tight end Nate Jackson says he believes 
the NFL will have no choice but to remove marijuana from its lists of 
banned substances in the near future.

Speaking at a marijuana business conference, Jackson called on the 
league to allow medical marijuana as a means to help players deal 
with the physical and psychological pain and head injuries inherent 
to their profession.

Jackson said he avoided opiate painkillers as much as he could during 
his six-year career from 2003-08. Instead, he self-medicated with 
marijuana so that he wouldn't retire addicted to prescription drugs 
like so many of his contemporaries, he said.

"It kept my brain clean," Jackson said Wednesday during the Cannabis 
Business Executives Breakfast that kicked off a three-day conference 
titled "Sports, Meds and Money."

"I feel like I exited the game with my mind intact. And I credit that 
to marijuana in a lot of ways and not getting hooked on these pain 
pills that are recklessly distributed in the league when a guy gets 
an injury," Jackson said.

He said he believes most NFL players use marijuana - they're tested 
for street drugs only once a year, whereas random tests for steroids 
are conducted year-round - and that the league knows this.

"They're aware that probably over half of their players smoke weed. 
They've been doing it since they were teenagers. The fact that 
they've been doing it that whole time and still made it to the NFL 
and are able to satisfy the demands of very, very strict employers on 
a daily basis means that their marijuana use is in check," Jackson 
said. "Marijuana is not a problem in their lives."

The real danger is that they're "smashing their skulls over and over 
and over again," he said. "And as long as we as fans or the media 
love this game and want this game to continue and want our players to 
play hard, we have to open up our minds and be a little bit more 
compassionate about how we approach their health care."

That's why Jackson said he believes the league, beleaguered by a 
domestic abuse saga last year, is "going to get behind this movement" 
to destigmatize the use of marijuana and allow players to use it 
without penalty.

"One, it's a good public relations move for the NFL to do this 
because they have a lot of former players who are hurting, who have a 
lot of cognitive issues, who have orthopedic issues, who have 
psychological problems, and it seems that marijuana helps with all of 
these things," Jackson said. "So, the NFL has taken some PR hits in 
the last year over a few things, and I think they'll be eager to get 
behind something like this."

League spokesman Greg Aiello told The Associated Press on Wednesday: 
"At this time, the medical advisers to our drug program tell us that 
there is no need for medical marijuana to be prescribed to an NFL player."

The league said it uses "experts on substance abuse disorders and 
addiction and we ask them to make recommendations and to date they 
haven't recommended any change." It also said there's "other 
medications doctors can use for effective treatment of pain."

Lastly, the NFL says: "If the science shows it and there is a 
rigorous process in place to determine that the only drug that could 
help is medical marijuana, then we would consider allowing it in 
necessary cases."

"That's the most promising of those bullet points for sure," Jackson 
said after his keynote address and panel discussion.

"I don't ever think the league will come out with like a marijuana 
banner. They're never going to say, 'Hey, marijuana, it's great for 
everyone!' But I think what they will do is remove it from the banned 
substances list and stop punishing people for it," Jackson said. "It 
actually keeps it in the news more when it is a banned substance than 
if it weren't.

"Josh Gordon's in the news for weed. These other guys are in the news 
for weed. That wouldn't happen anymore."

Jackson said he never used marijuana before games or practices and 
knows of nobody who did. But, he said it helped him recover afterward 
and it didn't adversely affect his performance. In fact, he said, it 
helped him hone his craft because he would visualize successful play 
while high "and that carried over to when I was sober."

"I consider it a performance-inspiring drug," Jackson said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom