{"id":4142,"date":"2015-05-11T03:15:39","date_gmt":"2015-05-11T03:15:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/?p=3247"},"modified":"2015-05-11T03:15:39","modified_gmt":"2015-05-11T03:15:39","slug":"former-nfl-star-says-weed-is-a-viable-painkiller-for-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/former-nfl-star-says-weed-is-a-viable-painkiller-for-players\/","title":{"rendered":"Former NFL Star Says Weed Is A Viable Painkiller For Players"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/former-nfl-star-says-weed-is-a-viable-painkiller-for-players\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p>A former NFL player thinks current players should choose marijuana as a painkiller.<\/p>\n<p>Lingering pain from crushing hits is part of the game, said Greg Patrick, who played for the Detroit Lions in the early \u201890s.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe were given painkillers when stuff hurt,\u201d Patrick said.<\/p>\n<p>His brother, who also played professional football, knows three teammates who became addicted to the pills, Patrick said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy not use something that grows in the earth and that does a better job of [relieving pain],\u201d Patrick said.<\/p>\n<p>He said marijuana is a viable alternative pain reliever. Patrick is now the marketing director at American Green, a Tempe-based medical marijuana company.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHad I known [in my playing days] what I know now, you can bet I would have been looking into\u201d marijuana use, he said.<\/p>\n<p>His conservative upbringing kept him away from all drugs, Patrick said. He does not smoke marijuana now, but regularly uses some of its extracts as a health aid, he said.<\/p>\n<p>A story on the website Bleacher Report quoted an unnamed NFL general manager who estimates that up to 40 percent of the current NFL draft class regularly uses marijuana.<\/p>\n<p>The Denver Broncos drafted Shane Ray in the first round Thursday, after he was cited on Monday for marijuana possession. The defensive end, who played for the University of Missouri, apologized for the incident.<\/p>\n<p>Current NFL players face a suspension after several positive marijuana tests.<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"http:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/gallery\/data\/1412\/13984.jpg\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>News Moderator: Jacob Redmond <a href=\"http:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">420 MAGAZINE \u00ae<\/a><br \/>\nFull Article: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.abc15.com\/news\/region-southeast-valley\/tempe\/former-nfl-player-weed-is-viable-painkiller-for-players\" target=\"_blank\">Former NFL player: Weed is viable painkiller for players &#8211; ABC15 Arizona<\/a><br \/>\nAuthor: Jon Erickson<br \/>\nContact: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.abc15.com\/about-us\" target=\"_blank\">About Us | abc15.com | Contact Info, 15 Links, Staff Bios, Jobs, TV Listings and more from ABC15 in Phoenix, Arizona | KNXV-TV<\/a><br \/>\nPhoto Credit: None Found<br \/>\nWebsite: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.abc15.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">abc15.com | ABC15 Arizona news in Phoenix | KNXV-TV<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A former NFL player thinks current players should choose marijuana as a painkiller.<br \/>\nLingering pain from crushing hits is part&#8230; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/2015\/05\/former-nfl-star-says-weed-is-a-viable-painkiller-for-players\/\" class=\"read-more\">[Read More]<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1614,9,1,3],"tags":[4182],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4142"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4142\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}