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Roger Goodell talks marijuana and its potential in treating player health in the NFL

By Nicki Jhabvala The Denver Post
NFL commissioner Roger Goodall, third from left, speaks during a fan forum at the Denver Broncos indoor training facility at Dove Valley August 03, 2017.
Photo by Andy Cross / The Denver Post

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said marijuana and its potential in treating football-related injuries is “a medical issue” that the league is interested in researching further.

“If pain management is something that medical marijuana can address responsibly, that’s something that our medical community is evaluating,” Goodell said Thursday at a forum at the Broncos’ Dove Valley headquarters. “We just proposed to our union in the last month or so that we put some research money behind that to see how we could implement that … if they can address pain management in an effective and safe fashion. That’s something that I assume will get a lot of discussion, but hopefully it involves a lot of research and medical opinions that can help us make the best decisions.”

The collectively bargained substance-abuse policy bans players from consuming marijuana — they’re penalized if they test positive for more than 35 nanograms of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) per milliliter of urine — but many former and current athletes have advocated for the use of cannabinoids as alternative to potent painkillers.

Read the full story on The Denver Post website, click here.


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