The NFL announced $1 million as its grant to finance two pieces of research on cannabinoids such as CBD for pain. The studies with the University of Regina and University of California San Diego researchers will explore how cannabinoids affect neuroprotection from elite footballers’ concussion and pain treatment.
The grant concluded the first demand for cannabis research proposals from the NFL’s Joint Pain Management Committee. The committee looks to facilitate studies to understand and boost potential alternative treatments for pain management for National Football League players in a better way. The demand for the proposals from the PMP contributed to 106 submissions. With the NIH format to score proposals, the NFL’s Research and Innovation Committee whittled the finalists down to 10 proposals to provide the committee with written materials and oral presentations.
The National Football League has granted up to $1 million in a bid to fund the following studies on phytocannabinoids such as cannabidiol for pain.
The Study That Involves UCSD Researchers
It is a randomized controlled trial on how cannabinoids impact recovery and pain from injuries related to sports of elite athletes. Mark Wallace, Thomas Marcotte, and their colleagues from the University of California San Diego will lead the study.
The trial will primarily assess the adverse and therapeutic effects of cannabidiol, THC, and a THC/CBD combination, versus a placebo product, on pain from soft-tissue injuries of elite athletes after the competition. The study will make the athletes vaporize cannabinoids after their match-related injuries and will monitor outcomes through mobile applications.
The findings of this trial will do the following.
- Will offer important, preliminary data about the potential effectiveness of phytocannabinoids for injuries related to sports
- Will inform larger studies about the challenges related to their design and execution
The Study With Researchers From The University of Regina
The researchers will explore cannabinoids for neuroprotection and pain from contact sports participation and concussion. Patrick Neary will lead a team of University of Regina researchers in the project.
It will look to discover whether cannabis-based phytocannabinoids are usable effectively and safely for pain and reduce the consumption of prescription drugs in athletes with persistent post-concussive symptoms. It will also look at the neuroprotective effects of phytocannabinoids to lessen the gravity or incidence of chronic and acute concussion in elite professional footballers.
There will be elite professional sportspeople from beyond the NFL in these studies financed under the grant.