Jake Plummer takes a dose of Charlotte’s Web hemp extract, which contains CBD, before playing handball at the East Boulder Community Center. (AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post)

Game of Pain: Pushing for research on CBD’s benefits to NFL players

Former Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer and other retired and active NFL players believe CBD, a nonpsychoactive compound in cannabis, could be an alternative to potent painkillers used by players in the league.



Read the full report

By Denver Post reporter Nicki Jhabvala, with photos by AAron Ontiveroz

Why Jake Plummer and others are pushing for research on CBD’s benefits to NFL players:

Cannabidiol (CBD) has gained national attention in treating epilepsy in children and has been shown to have anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties.

Plummer and many other retired and active NFL players believe the compound is an effective alternative to the potent painkillers they receive while in the league and that players should be allowed to use it.

So he and four other ex-NFL players, as well as one current one, have teamed with a Colorado hemp producer and its partnering non-profit to raise money for research to find out if CBD is a safe and viable treatment for not only pain but also symptoms of concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

“Do we have the silver bullet? Do we have the remedy? I don’t know,” Plummer said. “I sure would like to find out.”


More coverage on CBD

SPECIAL REPORT: CBD in Colorado. Learn about the cannabis plant compound cannabidiol, which has drawn hundreds of desperate families to Colorado, in This Denver Post series that was a 2015 Pulitzer finalist

How the body reacts: The body’s endocannabinoid system — we all have one, but what does it do?

Top 2016 cannabis trends: Mapping weed genome, CBD, healthy edibles

High-CBD marijuana: More coverage on Charlotte’s Web CBD oil, made from Colorado-grown marijuana

Unknown territory: Legalization’s opening of medical pot research is dream and nightmare

Medical views: Why Drs. Gupta, Oz and Besser changed their stance on marijuana


This story was first published on DenverPost.com