Monroe speaks out on marijuana

Ravens offensive tackle Eugene Monroe became the first active NFL player to advocate that the league look into the possible benefits of medical marijuana in an article posted Wednesday on cnn.com.

The drug is on the NFL’s list of banned substances, but Monroe said players use it to combat the chronic pain that comes with being a professional football player.

“You’re hitting each other as hard as possible every single day in practice. Your body is in pain a lot of time,” he was quoted as saying, also noting that there is concern about players turning to and becoming dependent upon opioids to combat the pain.

“All over our country people are addicted, and that’s happening in our locker rooms,” Monroe said.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is quoted in the article as saying that the league’s marijuana policy is “in the best interest of our players and the long-term health of our players.”

But Monroe said that it might be time to reconsider the policy.

“The NFL will need to have legitimate information before they remove marijuana from the banned substance list and ultimately not hurt their product in the field,” Monroe said in the article. “But there’s opportunity in that space also, for the NFL to get involved and maybe lead efforts.”