Write your search in the input below and press enter.
Esc to close.

The Sports Doc Chalk Talk with Dr. Chris Stankovich

Peak Performance:
Not Just for Sports, for Life

  • Products
    • Toolkits
    • Audio
    • Videos
    • Books
    • Apps
  • Services
  • Chalk Talk
    • Recent
    • Athletes
    • Coaching
    • Sports Parenting
    • Sports Administrators
    • Life
    • Administrators
  • About Dr. Stankovich
  • Testimonials
  • Contact
  • Products
    • Toolkits
    • Audio
    • Books
    • Videos
    • Apps
  • Services
  • Chalk Talk
  • About Dr. Stankovich
  • Testimonials
  • Contact

Hello. Sign In

My Account
  • Login
  • Register
0
The Sports Doc Chalk Talk
Subscribe
The Sports Doc Chalk Talk with Dr. Chris Stankovich
  • Recent
  • Athletes
  • Coaching
  • Sports Parenting
  • Life
  • Administrators
Home / Blog / Science May Support Medicinal Marijuana to be Used with Neurological Sports Injuries

Science May Support Medicinal Marijuana to be Used with Neurological Sports Injuries

By: Dr. Chris Stankovich | @DrStankovich | Apr 23, 2015

No Comments

football-brain-injury

As brain injuries and concussions continue to be a primary focus for in contact and collision sports, a new (yet familiar) drug may be a solution for the future: Medical marijuana.

Interestingly, recent studies (including an excerpt from the recent CNN program “Weed 3”) have shown medical marijuana to have a positive impact on a number of neurological conditions, including neurological damage following ischemic insults (including stroke or trauma), or the treatment of neurological diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and HIV dementia.  Of course, much more research needs to be compleed to validate these findings, but early reports do appear promising.

Medical marijuana and sports head injuries

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in athletes with a history of repetitive head trauma. Increasingly more NFL players have been diagnosed with CTE in recent years, prompting a more through investigation into on-field playing rules, safety equipment, and medicinal approaches to prevent/respond to the symptoms of CTE.  Herein is where medical marijuana may help, according to some researchers.

“We’ve found in some clinical research that cannabidiol, CBD, acts as a neuroprotectant, so in the parlance of pharmaceutical sciences, we could be using that as a prophylaxis against repetitive concussive injury,” reports Dean Petkanas, CEO of KannaLife Sciences.

Will medicinal marijuana be used in the future to help athletes with brain injuries?  If so, will this be a watershed moment that prompts a recalibration of how all drugs are viewed within the context of American sports?  To date, there are many conflicting messages, including the banning of medical marijuana (which may prove to be useful in brain injuries), yet the acceptance of various psychotropic and pain medications (including opiates and ADHD psychostimulants) that have well established and serious side effects and addiction rates.  What is good, bad, right, or wrong when it comes to drugs in sports needs an up-to-date, comprehensive overhaul it appears when you take these points into consideration.

The future

Without question there are still social and political layers impacting views on medicinal marijuana, but for scientists it’s a search for the truth — and this is where critical thinking, objectivity, and empirical science are the primary concerns.  And for the thousands for former NFL players suffering from neurological damage, the prospect of using medical marijuana is seen as a potential drug to preserve the quality of life, not something to use simply to get high.  In fact, there are already strains of marijuana that do not include THC (the substance responsible for the high marijuana gives), which may allow future users to gain the benefits of marijuana without changing cognition or mood states.

As a researcher, I don’t have a “horse in the race,” so to speak, as my only interest is in learning about the most effective means to minimize future head injury risks, as well as successfully treat athletes who have been traumatized from on-field collisions.  Will medical marijuana play a role in helping athletes in the future?  That remains to be seen, but there appears to be interest by scientists in learning more about the effects marijuana might have on athletic contact brain injuries.

www.drstankovich.com

Connect your school or youth sports league with 24/7 sport education for athletes, parents and kids — learn more about Sport Success 360!

concussions, CTE, head, injury, marijuana, medical, NFL, psychology, sport

  • Author
  • Comments
  • Details
Get to Know the Author

Dr. Chris Stankovich

Dr. Stankovich has written/co-written five books, including Positive Transitions for Student Athletes, The ParentsPlaybook, Mind of Steel.

Latest Blog Posts

  • March 22, 2023 Nature or Nurture? Exploring the Psychology of Sport Success
  • March 20, 2023 Morning Sports Practice Before School is Becoming the Norm, but is this Healthy for Kids?
  • March 14, 2023 Understanding Intelligence: Putting Knowledge into ACTION!
  • March 13, 2023 3 Important Tips for Today’s Multi-Sport, Youth Sport Athlete
  • February 26, 2023 The Most Important Sports “Ability” Might Surprise You

Comments are closed.

PREVIOUS POST

Watch for Young Athletes Experiencing ‘Good Stress’ & Tips to Help

NEXT POST

The Optimal Training Approach to Avoid Sports Burnout

Category

Amateur , Athletes , Athletic Counseling , College , Communicating with Coach , Emotional Intelligence , Life , Mental Disorders , Off Field Issues , Prep , Pro and College Sports , Social Responsibility , Sport Philosophy , Sport Psychology , Sport Sociology , Sports Administrators , Sports Culture and Society , Sports Leadership , Sports Parenting , Sports Performance Science , Stress , Uncategorized

Tags

concussions, CTE, head, injury, marijuana, medical, NFL, psychology, sport

  • Recent Posts
  • Most Read
  • Nature or Nurture? Exploring the Psychology of Sport Success
  • Morning Sports Practice Before School is Becoming the Norm, but is this Healthy for Kids?
  • Understanding Intelligence: Putting Knowledge into ACTION!
  • 3 Important Tips for Today's Multi-Sport, Youth Sport Athlete
  • The Most Important Sports "Ability" Might Surprise You
  • The Psychology Behind Breaking Bad Habits
  • What has Happened to Free Play and Recreational Sports for Kids?
  • The Importance of Efficiency Applied to Success & Productivity
  • The Most Important Sports "Ability" Might Surprise You
  • Accident Prone & Forgetful? Poor Stress Coping May be the Reason
  • The Sports Doc on TV

    Catch Dr. Stankovich’s tv, radio, and print interviews and columns here!

    Dr. Chris Stankovich Watch Videos
  • Sport Performance Assessment

    Dr. Chris Stankovich Quickly and accurately test your level of mental toughness in just a few minutes using the Sport Performance Assessment.

    (SPA), an easy-to-use sport psychology system specially designed to help you REACH YOUR FULL ATHLETIC POTENTIAL.

    learn more
  • SportsSuccess360

    Life strategies for performance and character development for coaches, parents, and student athletes competing in youth and interscholastic sports.

    Life Strategies learn more
  • Contact Dr. Stankovich

    1395 Grandview Avenue Suite 6, Columbus OH 43212

    (614) 561-4482
    Media & General Inquiries
    information@drstankovich.com
    Sales & Product Support
    sales@drstankovich.com
  • About Dr. Stankovich

    • Media
    • Blog
    • Testimonials
  • Products

    • Toolkits
    • Videos
    • Books
    • Audio
    • iPhone Apps
  • Services

    • Athlete Performance Training
    • Parent Community Forum
    • Coach Education & Development
    • Athletic Crisis Response and Intervention
    • Drug & Alcohol Assessment
    • Life Success Programs
    • Counseling & Consulting Services
  • Blog
  • YouTube
  • twitter
  • facebook

All rights reserved © 2023 Advanced Human Performance Systems™

↓ ↓