Cannabis safer, more effective than opioids

By Nate Jackson, Guest Commentary In The Cannifornian

Pain is a constant in the game of football, and the National Football League has long relied on painkillers to keep its players on the field. This has made NFL locker rooms especially vulnerable to the opioid epidemic.

Former NFL players abuse opioid pain medications at four times the rate of the general population, according to a study by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis. In recent years, the NFL has been the subject of Drug Enforcement Administration investigations and multiple lawsuits alleging that the league recklessly administered painkillers to its players.

On top of opioid addiction, the NFL is facing mounting evidence that chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, the degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head injuries, is a near certain consequence of playing professional football. In a study released last month, CTE was found in 110 out of 111 former NFL players’ brains. The Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman John…