Seeking safer alternatives

Throughout his 10-year career as an NFL quarterback, Plummer was cognizant of the physical and mental pain he was inflicting on himself. As much as he tried to avoid painkillers, there were times when he needed the assistance.

“There were guys in college that were taking Percocets all the time and drinking beers,” he said. “It was rampant. I had done that a few times, but the effects afterward, the day after, just the feeling I had, I hated it. It made me feel detached. In 10 years (in the NFL), I took maybe 20, where I could come out of a game and be like, ‘I need to make this flight home, because it hurts like hell just sitting here.’ But if I had had (CBD), I would much rather have done that.”

Others would too.

Former Broncos tight end Nate Jackson has spoken candidly of the abuse his body took playing football. Torn ligaments. Torn muscles. Broken bones. Chipped bones. Separated shoulders. A dislocated shoulder. Misaligned clavicles. Lower spine trauma. Brain trauma. And more.

First family of CBD The Stanley brothers — Joel, Jon, Jordan, Jesse, and Jared — entered the marijuana industry in 2008 in Denver. They began to grow a strain that helped put CBD on the map in 2013, when CNN documented the plight of 5-year-old Charlotte Figi, who had a rare and severe form of epilepsy called Dravet Syndrome. Figi suffered hundreds of grand mal seizures a week. When medical treatments failed, Figi’s parents took a gamble on cannabis. The Stanley brothers’ high-CBD, low-THC strain of cannabis that was infused in oil helped to significantly reduce the number of Figi’s seizures. The product, which drew a waiting list of families seeking the same results for their children, later became known as Charlotte’s Web. The Stanley brothers founded CW Botanicals and a nonprofit, the Realm of Caring, which helps families afford cannabinoid treatment. Over the years, CW has grown from a small family-owned upstart to a global operation with dozens of employees and multiple greenhouses and dispensaries scattered across Colorado. Millions of dollars in technology, and teams for quality control and research and development, are housed in its new Boulder lab alone.

He was the first player to get involved with the Bright Lights campaign, joining CW Botanicals and the Realm of Caring, its non-profit partner for cannabinoid advocacy and education. He did it not because he wants NFL locker rooms to become smoke-filled retreats with trainers handing out joints. He simply wants players to have options — effective but safer options than the prescription painkillers and illegal drugs he admittedly used in desperation when he played.

CBD, he believes, is one.

“I didn’t take Vicodin or Percocet before practices or games,” Jackson said. “It was not something that I wanted to try because football is too much. It’s too violent. You got 11 guys coming to take your head off, so I didn’t want to chance it.”

Pills and injections are the norm in football, and the long-term health concerns are great. Players have often cited the unwelcome side effects — lethargy, depression, stomach pain, the risk of addiction — and some have chosen to self-medicate instead, often with marijuana.

Last summer, Plummer added CBD to his regimen. He ingests the oil and rubs the gel on his wrists and back. He doesn’t get high, but he is able to play two to three games of handball with “the young cats.”

“I’ve used every tincture and fad known to man that comes through to claim pain relief,” he said. “This one really does give me some relief in the area of discomfort.”

Anecdotal evidence and preclinical research, often on animals, suggest CBD is effective in treating neuropathic pain and inflammation without getting users high; tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis.

About cannabidiol Cannabidiol, or CBD, is one of nearly 100 cannabinoids in cannabis that is believed to have many medical benefits without getting users high. Studies and anecdotal evidence have found CBD helps people cope with the following diseases and symptoms, among others: Inflammation

Neuropathic pain

Anxiety

Depression

Seizures

Addiction

Alzheimer’s/dementia

Nausea

Glaucoma

Insomnia

Arthritis

“We’re talking about something with a safety profile that looks like vitamin C, but because it comes out of the controversial world of cannabis, people immediately associate it with a dangerous drug,” said Joel Stanley, the CEO of CW Botanicals. “Nothing could be farther from the truth.”

CW’s product, called Charlotte’s Web, is made from hemp, distinct from marijuana and legally defined as having no more than 0.3 percent THC. It’s believed that no player could consume enough of the product to cross the NFL’s allowable limit of 35 nanograms of activated THC per milliliter of urine. But any amount poses a risk.

“These guys, if they want to just take care of their bodies, they can’t out of fear that they would test positive,” said Ryan Kingsbury, CW’s chief communications officer. “If they test under it, it’s not a big deal. I’m confident it won’t, but I don’t want to tell a guy who has a multi-million-dollar deal that it won’t.”

Kingsbury estimates at least 30 active and retired players use some form of CBD from CW Botanicals, with the former group clearly believing the rewards outweigh any risks.