The Green Room Episode 6: Ricky Williams talks cannabis, the NFL and pain management

When the Nationwide Soccer League introduced final week that it was awarding $1 million in analysis funding to 2 groups of medical researchers to review the influence of hashish and CBD on ache administration, it in all probability took lots of people abruptly. Ricky Williams, whose 11 seasons within the NFL included two high-profile suspensions for utilizing weed, was not one among them.

I do know this as a result of, simply 5 days earlier, I used to be sitting on the balcony of the football-player-turned-cannabis-advocate’s Manhattan Seaside dwelling speaking about his sports-themed weed model (Highsman, which launched in late 2021, is a not so refined reminder that he’s the identical man who gained the Heisman Trophy in 1998), the intersection of sports activities and spirituality, how prioritizing inside peace over outer fame resulted in his choice to depart the sport and the league’s not too long ago softening stance towards hashish consumption.

“Soccer is a brutal sport,” Williams stated throughout our dialog (excerpts of which seem above as Episode 6 of The Instances’ “Inexperienced Room” video collection). “And to me, the NFL’s accountability is to present gamers all cheap means to handle themselves … I feel the NFL owes it to its gamers.”

Whereas the NFL definitely isn’t there but, each the analysis funding announcement and the relaxed punishments for THC-positive gamers are indications that opinions like Williams’ are no less than being heard. And meaning the ball’s in play — and headed in the suitable course.