Ravens Player Wants NFL To Allow Marijuana Use For Sports Injuries


Eugene Monroe has been in the NFL for seven years now. He played for the Jacksonville Jaguars, and now, he plays for the Baltimore Ravens. During his seven-year career, he has had shoulder injuries, ankle sprains, and concussions. That’s part of the territory when tackling people multiple times per game.

Monroe has stepped forward and asked the NFL to stop testing players for marijuana. He wants them to allow players to take the medical version of the drug to deal with their numerous injuries. It is much safer than taking opioids, which come with a high risk of addiction.

Monroe had this to say about the opioids:

“We now know that these drugs are not as safe as doctors thought, causing higher rates of addiction, causing death all around our country, and we have cannabis, which is far healthier, far less addictive and, quite frankly, can be better in managing pain.”

 He is doing more than talking about it: Monroe actually donated $80,000 to marijuana research. His donation went to the Colorado non-profit Realm of Caring. It will be used to investigate marijuana’s effects on pain and brain injuries.

Monroe also started a website promoting the use of medical marijuana for pain management.


Commissioner Roger Goodell had this to say on the subject about changing views on marijuana:

“Yes, I agree there have been changes, but not significant enough changes that our medical personnel have changed their view. Until they do, then I don’t expect that we will change our view.”

It has also shown to be helpful for children with seizures. Meet this mom who helped get medical marijuana legalized in New York for her son’s seizures:

Featured image by Erik Drost via Flickr, available under Creative Common Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Hi, I'm from Huntsville, AL. I'm a Liberal living in the Bible Belt, which can be quite challenging at times. I'm passionate about many issues including mental health, women's rights, gay rights, and many others. Check out my blog weneedtotalkaboutmentalhealth.com