NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has admitted to being open to
administering medicinal marijuana to injured NFL players. When
addressing the specifics of the treatment, Goodell said it would be used
for concussions if science determined it was beneficial. Seattle
Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll was asked for his comments concerning
the commissioner’s statements and Carroll replied “I would say that we
have to explore and find ways to make our game a better game and take
care of our players in whatever way possible.” He then said “Regardless
of what other stigmas might be involved, we have to do this because the
world of medicine is doing this."
The topic was brought about
because the two teams in this year’s Super Bowl are both representing
states which have legalized not just medicinal use, but recreational use
of marijuana. The trouble of taking marijuana off of the NFL’s banned
substance list is that not all states have conformed to the laws of
Colorado or Washington. Not to mention that marijuana is still federally
illegal which makes it illegal to transport across state lines.
The
article can be viewed as either hard or soft news but I view it more in
terms of soft news. The hard news part of it would be the Super Bowl,
but the soft news part of it is medicinal marijuana. Some of the
material is taken out of context. For example, the article mentions two
players (Brandon Browner and Walter Thurmond) who served drug
suspensions in an article about marijuana. Both players happen to be
from the state that legalized the recreational use of the plant, but
Browner was suspended not for substance abuse, but PEDs (performance
enhancing drugs). Browner and the infamous Richard Sherman were both
suspended 4 games last season for the use of Adderall, or what some know
as speed. Browner was suspended this season for the same thing as well,
but not marijuana use. I’m not sure why the writer put that in there
because he’s not taking a stance, rather simply reporting the news.
My
reaction to the article is quite simple: why not? If THC can be used to
enhance the health of others, I don’t see why we aren’t considering it
more. I have read articles and reports of children with either epilepsy
or epileptic symptoms significantly reduce the numbers of seizures they
have through the injection of liquid marijuana. The strain called
Charlotte’s Webb was actually made for a little girl named Charlotte who
was experiencing hundreds to almost a thousand seizures in a short
amount of time. Once she was receiving the treatment nearly all of her
seizures stopped. If marijuana is helping with seizures, I have faith
that it can help with concussions.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs/2013/story/_/id/10360723/pete-carroll-seattle-seahawks-coach-says-nfl-consider-medicinal-marijuana-treat-injured-players
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