Former NFL Player Marvin Washington Explains How Marijuana Could Protect Players From Brain Damage

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Today, retired Jets defensive lineman Marvin Washington wrote a thoughtful piece on The Player’s Tribune about the concussion protocol, what it’s was like playing with concussions, and what he thought were possible solutions to help combat CTE.

According to Washington, marijuana might be the key to preventing long term brain damage for players.

Via The Player’s Tribune

“There’s a compound in marijuana called cannabidiol (CBD), which has shown scientific potential to be an antioxidant and neuroprotectant for the brain. In layman’s terms, there’s a possibility that CBD can work as a sort of “helmet for the brain.”

How serious is this development? Well, the U.S. f”ederal government has patented the technology, and researching the potential for using cannabinoids as a treatment for CTE. To conduct said research, the government has licensed KannaLife Sciences, who I’m proud to work with directly. Dr. Omalu spent almost a year on KannaLife’s Scientific Advisory Board, where he was joined by many of the top neurologists in the country.

There are a lot of very smart people who think that there’s a chance that medical marijuana might be the key to potentially preventing CTE. For this reason alone, the NFL should be doing all that it can to make to push this research to the forefront.”

It will be interesting to see whether the NFL would help fund research for marijuana as a potential cure for CTE if more data backs up Washington’s claims.

Jorge Alonso BroBible avatar
Brobible sports editor. Jorge is a Miami native and lifelong Heat fan. He has been covering the NBA, MLB and NFL professionally for almost 10 years, specializing in digital media.