Ravens’ Eugene Monroe wants NFL to end marijuana ban

Baltimore Ravens offensive tackle Eugene Monroe wants the NFL to reduce the use of opioids to treat injured players and instead end the ban on medical marijuana.

Ravens veteran tackle Eugene Monroe wrote an impassioned first-person essay forThe Player’s Tribune that called for the NFL to rethink their policy on marijuana and the treatment of player injuries.

In the letter, Monroe openly questioned why the league was so hard-nosed about its policy on medical marijuana and yet so supportive of team doctors and medical professionals who prescribe opioids to treat player injuries.

Monroe pointed out that marijuana, when used correctly, is “safer” and “less addictive” than many of the legal opioids given to players, and stated that the main reason the league readily allows the use of opioids is because they get players back on the field faster – even at the expense of those players’ health and safety.

Marijuana has been on the NFL’s banned substances list for decades, but Monroe argued that it’s finally time for that to change. He also cited the ongoing links between playing football and developing long-term brain disease as a rationale for his stance, claiming that the league should fund research that suggests marijuana could be used to treat CTE.

"“I’m not asking the NFL to prescribe players cannabis – I’m calling on the league to remove its testing protocols for cannabis. It just makes sense… Football is pain. There’s no way around it, and by no means am I complaining; it’s the sport I love… (but) how can a league so casual about the use of addictive opioids take such a hard line on a drug that might provide a safer alternative?”"

The NFL has yet to comment on Monroe’s essay, but it’s unlikely to change its position on marijuana anytime soon, especially as long as the drug remains illegal in many areas of the country.

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