Will the NFL allow players to use marijuana? League wants science to determine drug policy

The question is simple enough: Should the NFL soften its hard-line stance on marijuana?

No one with the Chargers cares to answer, a team spokesman says. Same goes for the Rams where, at a summertime practice, one player after another declines to comment.

As veteran Rams safety Eric Weddle says: “It’s kind of tricky.”

This reticence might seem unusual given that league executives recently agreed to include cannabis in a study of alternative pain therapies.

But pro football has a history of keeping marijuana on the banned substance list, even as public opinion has gravitated toward its legalization and available research has identified its potential to alleviate a range of ailments.

Players wanting to use cannabis or related products, such as Cannabidiol extract, have needed to do so quietly, sidestepping periodic tests. When Commissioner Roger Goodell announced the new NFL initiative last spring, he chose his words carefully.

“There are a lot of alternative pain medications and treatments,” he said. [Read more at The Los Angeles Times]