NFL Funds Two Universities With $1M To Research Impact Of CBD On Players

It looks like the NFL is continuing to warm up to cannabis. In recent news, the league has selected two medical teams to research how cannabinoids affect pain management and neuroprotection from players with concussions. The two teams received shared funding of $1 million.

NFL chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills told The Associated Press that the league’s medical staff is constantly trying to improve how they treat “acute and chronic pain in NFL players.” One of their main areas of concern is ensuring players get the most modern and beneficial treatments possible to stay in tip-top shape.

When discussing CBD and the league’s interest in the cannabinoids, Sills added that whenever they want to begin using a new therapy on players, the team must understand “how that decision might impact their well-being and their performance.”

Sills and his team are well aware that CBD is of high interest in the medical community, but they were not confident in the amount of research that showed the reliable “benefits of marijuana, CBD, and treating acute and chronic pain.” This notion led them to begin funding two selected medical teams to make reliable conclusions.

ESPN reports that out of the 106 proposals to conduct said research, the NFL decided on the medical teams from the University of California San Diego and the University of Regina in Canada. This is another step forward for the league as it continues warming up to cannabis.

We recently saw the banning of suspensions in players who test positive for cannabis use thanks to the collective bargaining agreement, notes Bleacher Report. Under the new rules, players can only be fined for using cannabis if they test positive repeatedly. 

Players no longer take cannabis drug tests from April to August. In order for a player to test positive twice, they must have a higher cannabis content in their system than what showed up on the first test. The NFL seems to be loosening its cannabis regulations after watching many star performers advocate the plant’s healing properties and help reduce opioid use. 

The Associated Press reports that the NFL announced initiatives to find pain management alternatives to opioids in June, and cannabis was included as part of those alternatives. Currently, we should expect to wait about three years to hear back from both universities regarding their findings on CBD for pain management and neuroprotection from concussions.