NHL Alumni to Take Part in CBD Brain Injury Study
The NHL Alumni Association recently announced a new study to examine the effects of CBD on brain injury therapy. The research will involve 100 former NHL players who suffer from various types of brain injuries.
“It’s truly unfortunate that most league athletes leave the sport with numerous serious and currently incurable brain injuries, which have a profoundly negative impact on their health and emotional well-being. It’s no secret that many professional hockey players suffer from chronic migraines, different forms of depression and anxiety, as well as a unique form of post-traumatic disorders, often manifesting as impulsivity and high, unprovoked aggression toward others,” said neurosurgeon and project co-leader Dr. Charles Tator in the announcement.
Background: Athletes and Therapeutic Cannabis
Both former and current hockey players, like their peers in other major U.S. sports leagues, have long fought for the right to use medical cannabis to treat such injuries. For example, Detroit Red Wings player Darren McCarty and VEDA Sport director Marvin Degon have openly urged league officials to consider how legalizing therapeutic cannabis use among athletes could protect them from the serious health consequences of brain injuries.
Overall, the NHL has been more open to supporting the legalization of medical cannabis for its athletes than other major U.S. sports leagues, largely due to geographic factors. Currently, 28 out of 31 NHL teams are based in states and Canadian provinces where cannabis is already legal either fully or for medical use. To avoid possible player disqualifications for “doping” (which includes cannabis in most leagues), the NHL leadership has been more willing to discuss therapeutic cannabis use than their counterparts in baseball, football, or basketball.
Despite the fact that about 82% of all U.S. professional teams are located in states that have adopted some form of medical cannabis reform, most athletes and military veterans remain cut off from access to this medicine under threat of severe sanctions. Athletes risk losing their careers even if they use the medicine legally, with a doctor’s approval and in accordance with local laws, to treat the effects of serious physical injuries.
Changing Attitudes in Professional Sports
However, as cannabis reform progresses in the U.S., even sports league leadership is gradually shifting toward accepting the plant and its benefits. For example, last year, former NBA commissioner David Stern made headlines by publicly calling for cannabis to be removed from the official list of banned substances in U.S. professional sports leagues. “I believe we all need to recognize the appropriateness of athletes using cannabis as a therapeutic and pain-relieving agent,” Stern said at the time.
Details of the CBD Study
The study involving former professional hockey players is set to formally begin in early summer and will last for one year. According to the athletes’ association, the experiment will use CBD extracts in capsule form, provided by private cannabis companies Canopy Growth and Neeka Health. During the trial, medical professionals will assess and measure the impact of CBD on symptoms related to severe traumatic brain injuries sustained by participants during their careers.
Canopy Growth has already committed to sponsoring further similar research, noting that many previous private studies have clearly demonstrated CBD’s high effectiveness in treating chronic pain, depression, anxiety, and symptoms of PTSD—conditions commonly found among athletes with brain injuries.
“We already know that cannabis is extremely effective in treating chronic pain and depression, so we believe that CBD will show similar effectiveness in treating these symptoms resulting from old brain injuries,” Dr. Tator noted. “While the true effectiveness of the medicine will be shown by the final results of the study, I am quite confident that the test will show impressive results even in the early stages of the experiment.”