NFL Gives $1 Million to Two Cannabis Research Initiatives

NFL officials announced in a February 1 official press release that they will donate $1 million to two research teams, UC San Diego and the University of Regina, to study the potential of cannabinoids to maximize pain relief for athletes, as well as to address a number of other problems for professional players. leagues.

The intentions of the officials of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States to improve the quality of the game of athletes by regulating the possibility of legal use of the therapeutic properties of the hemp plant were raised several times during 2021 on the pages of the specialized electronic publication of national hemp growers. In particular, it was mentioned that “ the NFL is considering conducting research on the properties of cannabis as a remedy for pain ”, and also focused on the fact of “ Allocating $ 1 million to the NFL for research grants to study the analgesic properties of cannabinoids . The initiative of the leadership of the National Football League to allocate funds for two hemp research initiatives aimed at studying the effectiveness of the plant as an anesthetic, according to the editors of the specialized electronic publication of national cannabis growers, cannot but be brought to the attention of our esteemed readers and listeners.

NFL functionaries in an official press release published on February 1 announced that they would transfer $ 1 million to two research groups - from the University of California San Diego (University of California San Diego, UCSD - USA) and the University of Regina (University of Regina, UR - Canada). The aim of both research groups is to study the potential of cannabinoids to provide the most effective pain relief for athletes, as well as to solve a number of other problems of professional league players.

This statement was provided by Dr. Kevin Hill, Co-Chair of the NFL-NFLPA Joint Pain Committee, Director of Addiction Psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. According to Dr. Hill, this decision to further explore the possibilities for NFL players to use the therapeutic properties of cannabis will definitely yield positive results. “The NFL-NFLPA Joint Pain Management Committee is delighted with the results so far. We have over 100 proposals from leading clinicians and researchers around the world,” says Dr. Hill. "The NFL is committed to advancing the science of pain management and performance enhancement in order to improve the health and safety of league players."

NFL Chief Medical Officer Dr. Allen Sills also shared his thoughts on the topic, emphasizing that such initiatives could form the basis for a significant amount of future research. “As with the league's broader approach to health and safety, we want to make sure our players receive treatment that reflects the most up-to-date medical approach to the problem. While the burden of proof is extremely high for NFL players who want to understand the impact of any medical decision on their athletic performance, we are grateful that we have the opportunity to fund this evidence-based cannabinoid use research that could lead to the discovery of evidence based on data that could affect the pain relief of our players."

The UCSD study, titled The Effects of Cannabinoids on Pain and Recovery from Sports Injuries in Professional Athletes, will be led by Drs. Thomas Marcotti and Mark Wallace. Their approach to studying the therapeutic and side effects of cannabinoid products involves enabling research participants to use the therapeutic properties of cannabis through vaping to relieve the discomfort associated with injury during gaming. According to Mr. Wallace, "Our team is delighted to receive this funding to conduct a systematic 'real-time' study with professional athletes that should shed further light on the many anecdotal reports that cannabis helps reduce post-competition pain."

The UR study, Naturally Produced Cannabinoids for Pain Relief and Neuroprotection from Concussion and Participation in Contact Sports, will be led by Dr. J. Patrick Neary and a team from the university, with input from colleagues in British Columbia. Their main goal is also to study the impact of cannabinoids as an effective form of pain relief and how they can reduce the need for opioids. In addition, the "neuroprotective properties" of cannabis in the treatment of concussions will be studied.

“Prevention and treatment of concussions are at the heart of my research. That's why I'm very happy to have NFL support for this project. Our multidisciplinary research team believes that the various cannabinoid compounds found in medical cannabis may benefit athletes suffering from the acute and long-term chronic effects of concussions. Our research will also work to show that cannabinoids can be used as an alternative to opioids for pain relief. Ultimately, this research could not only change the lives of current and former NFL players, but the lives of anyone who could get a concussion,” says Dr. Neary.

Commentary of the specialists of the Association “Ukrainian Industrial Hemp”

In June 2021, the NFL-NFLPA's Joint Pain Management Committee (PMC) called on researchers to "add to PMC's knowledge of pain management and athletic performance." The Committee received a total of 106 entries, which were narrowed down to 10 by the NFL Research and Innovation Committee. Following oral presentations and written submissions on the subject, the NFL selected the two study groups identified in the paper.

In our country, there are extremely promising developments related to the use of drug-free cannabinoids of plant origin, not only to relieve discomfort in professional athletes, but also in ordinary people suffering from acute or chronic pain. Unfortunately, these technologies are used outside the territory of our country due to the fact that the current regulatory framework does not allow the legal use of drug-free phytocannabinoids in products or various additives. At the moment, for the relief of pain in Ukraine, herbal complexes are legally used, which are less effective, but still relieve acute or chronic pain, and also help to solve a number of other problems associated with the treatment of the cause of pain (hernia, protrusion; disruption of various internal organs, etc.). In detail, this issue was analyzed and the effectiveness of appropriate methods of treating pain using non-narcotic cannabinoids was demonstrated during the training of students of the “ Hemp University ”. In particular, theoretical calculations were provided for study, and practical results of the use of non-narcotic cannabinoids for the relief of acute or chronic pain, as well as the treatment of a number of diseases associated with pain, including problems with pain syndromes in professional athletes during round tables were shown . cannabinoids in the treatment of severe / chronic diseases ", as well as" Cannabinoid therapy ".