Jim McMahon, Other NFL Veterans Leading Charge For Marijuana As Painkiller

Back in 1985 Bears quarterback Jim McMahon lead Chicago to a Super Bowl crown with the help of the historically great Bears defense. Years later McMahon is now leading a different kind of battle. Recently he spoke at the Cannabis World Congress and Business Expo at Manhattan’s Javits Convention Center to discuss how he believes Marijuana would be a safer approach to handling everyday pain.

“There’s so many uses to this plant,” says McMahon via NY Daily News, who has been diagnosed with early onset dementia and struggles with severe headaches, memory loss and depression linked to the countless concussions he suffered during his career.

“Hundreds of thousands of people are dying from (painkillers) and there’s not one case of people dying from the hemp plant,” McMahon said.

Among current players who have voiced their opinions on the matter include former Ravens tackle Eugene Monroe. He emphatically believes this was one of the reasons Baltimore released him despite having $20 millions dollars remaining on his contract. Monroe is currently a free agent looking for a home for the 2016 season.

Below is a video of the kind of pain and struggles that McMahon faces on a daily basis.

Marvin Washington, Brendon Ayanbadejo and Scott Fujita are three other NFL retirees advocating funding for this project. For those who have seen the 30 for 30 based around the Chicago Bears have seen the struggles of brain trauma for these former athletes. Whether this notion is right or wrong it is important to do the research to find safer alternatives to opium based substances. It will be interesting to see if the NFL has any sort of response towards the topic in the near future.