Sport and CBD. The commitment of Eugene Monroe

Eugene Christopher Monroe is a former American football player, star of the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Baltimore Ravens, and is a convinced advocate and activist of the medical use of cannabis.

His commitment to the progress of research on the health benefits of the extracts from the hemp plant stemmed from his personal history.

Eugene Monroe, the successes, the injuries and his retirement

The professional career of Eugene Monroe started smoothly in 2009, with the signature of his first five-year contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

In 2013 he started playing in Baltimore to then retire in 2016. In the last part of his – short – career in the NFL, Monroe suffered an interminable series of shoulder, knee and hip injuries, as well as several head traumas , which made him undergo numerous surgical interventions.

One retired, Monroe had to deal with  the consequences of the experienced traumas. Right from the start, in various interviews, Monroe wanted to focus the attention on how he was only the last of a myriad of similar cases.

American football practiced at a professional level, in fact, is often a source of  great physical stress for the players, exposed to the danger of severe injuries which can cause permanent damage.

Monroe in several occasions reminded of  the study according to which in 90% of the NFL players, symptoms were found which could be ascribed to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Often, at the end of their careers, the players are left alone to deal with the ailments caused by the suffered injuries with the consequent chronic pain.

Monroe advocate of the use of cannabis in the NFL

Monroe  shows up in public to support the removal of cannabis from the list of substances prohibited by the NLF and fights against the use of opiate drugs as a remedy for chronic pain.

The former player very often financed research initiatives on cannabis for medical use and created a personal website on which he constantly divulges information on hemp and its extracts and derivatives.

His activities and his enthusiasm influenced also other sports celebrities of the NFL, among whom Jim McMahon, Jake Plummer, Kyle Turley, Nate Jackson, Eben Britton, Leonard Marshall and Marvin Washington, to ask the League an opening towards cannabis.

The players claim that CBD products, accepted by now, can be an excellent alternative to opiate drugs and that they are the key for “veterans” of injuries, to mitigating pain.

In November 2016, the NFL Players’ Association announced the formation of a committee studying the topic of management of chronic pain among the players, including the use of cannabis as a treatment. Monroe was in this occasion nominated founding member of the committee.

Since then, Monroe continues his battle for the free use of certified and guaranteed products, like infusions and oils containing CBD, while intervening during numerous events for public awareness, in his blog and in his very popular Twitter account.