Professional sports is a power game, one in which cannabis represents an outsized imbalance between rules and reality. 82% of the 123 ‘big four’ professional sports teams play in a state or province where cannabis is legal, and it is estimated that nearly 90% of professional athletes use cannabis for pain, anxiety and recovery management. Until last month, cannabis was a banned substance in three of the four major leagues.
Annually, the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL collectively generate $40 Billion with revenues tied directly to player health. The perpetual cycle of pain, prescription pills and rehab has led to an NFL opioid addiction rate four times the national average. Former athletes are some of the industry’s most germane ambassadors for cannabis as medicine. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the NBA’s Adam Silver have publicly expressed interest in understanding the science behind cannabis as a medical alternative.
Major League Baseball’s December 12th, 2019 decision to begin opioid testing and drop all natural cannabinoids, including THC, from its drugs of abuse list marks a major shift in professional sports’ drug policy away from punishment and toward player health.
With professional sports shouldering outsized influence on Americans’ collective values, 2020 may be a watershed moment for social attitudes, sports, and science to converge around this original super-food.
Legal-Illicit U.S. Market Tango:
Changing laws change habits, and both are of immense benefit to the cannabis complex. Legal U.S. cannabis sales approximately equal total California cannabis sales, both at ~$13 Billion. Thus far, the legal market in California has captured ~20% of total sales, and nearly 75% of California dispensaries currently remain unlicensed.