So now the NFL is looking at ways to keep the wounded quiet............
The NFL has written to the NFL Players Association offering to work in tandem to study the potential use of marijuana as a pain management tool for players, according to people familiar with the situation.
It is the clearest indication to this point that the league may be willing to work cooperatively with the union toward such marijuana use, which is currently banned by the sport.
The NFLPA is conducting its own study and, according to those familiar with the deliberations, is yet to respond to the NFL’s offer to cooperate on marijuana-related research.
“We look forward to working with the Players Association on all issues involving the health and safety of our players,” said Joe Lockhart, the NFL’s executive vice president of communications.
The NFLPA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The NFL, according to one person with knowledge of the matter, wrote a letter to the union asking if, given the NFLPA’s public comments on the issue this year, it is interested in working together on research. The league’s letter outlined a few areas for potential research that included pain management for both acute and chronic conditions.
NFL players currently are tested for marijuana and face potential discipline, including suspensions, for positive tests.
The league and union agreed in 2014 to modifications of the drug policy regarding marijuana. The threshold for what constitutes a positive test for marijuana was relaxed. A level of 15 nanograms of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) per milliliter of urine or blood was counted as a positive, the most stringent standard in professional sports, before 2014. Under the revision, 35 nanograms per milliliter counts as a positive; a nanogram is one-billionth of a gram.
We’ve had several conversations about this issue and several years ago we did take a less punitive approach to marijuana,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a Fox radio interview in January. “That will be one of the subjects in the collective bargaining process, which we’d like to get into sooner rather than later.”
The union has not delivered its proposal regarding a less punitive approach to marijuana use by players to the league since Smith’s comments earlier this year, according to multiple people close to the situation. One reason, according to one of those people, is the feeling that the league prefers to deal with the issue as part of negotiations for the next collective bargaining agreement, rather than as a separate issue. The current CBA between the league and union runs through 2020.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...union-to-study-marijuana-for-pain-management/
The NFL has written to the NFL Players Association offering to work in tandem to study the potential use of marijuana as a pain management tool for players, according to people familiar with the situation.
It is the clearest indication to this point that the league may be willing to work cooperatively with the union toward such marijuana use, which is currently banned by the sport.
The NFLPA is conducting its own study and, according to those familiar with the deliberations, is yet to respond to the NFL’s offer to cooperate on marijuana-related research.
“We look forward to working with the Players Association on all issues involving the health and safety of our players,” said Joe Lockhart, the NFL’s executive vice president of communications.
The NFLPA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The NFL, according to one person with knowledge of the matter, wrote a letter to the union asking if, given the NFLPA’s public comments on the issue this year, it is interested in working together on research. The league’s letter outlined a few areas for potential research that included pain management for both acute and chronic conditions.
NFL players currently are tested for marijuana and face potential discipline, including suspensions, for positive tests.
The league and union agreed in 2014 to modifications of the drug policy regarding marijuana. The threshold for what constitutes a positive test for marijuana was relaxed. A level of 15 nanograms of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) per milliliter of urine or blood was counted as a positive, the most stringent standard in professional sports, before 2014. Under the revision, 35 nanograms per milliliter counts as a positive; a nanogram is one-billionth of a gram.
We’ve had several conversations about this issue and several years ago we did take a less punitive approach to marijuana,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a Fox radio interview in January. “That will be one of the subjects in the collective bargaining process, which we’d like to get into sooner rather than later.”
The union has not delivered its proposal regarding a less punitive approach to marijuana use by players to the league since Smith’s comments earlier this year, according to multiple people close to the situation. One reason, according to one of those people, is the feeling that the league prefers to deal with the issue as part of negotiations for the next collective bargaining agreement, rather than as a separate issue. The current CBA between the league and union runs through 2020.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...union-to-study-marijuana-for-pain-management/