Jim McMahon wants marijuana off of NFL’s banned substances list

Jim McMahon has used marijuana to tend to his early onset dementia.

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Former Chicago Bears quarterback Jim McMahon hopes marijuana is removed from the banned substances list to enable players to use the drug as a medicinal alternative for pain management, according to the New York Daily News.

“Hundreds of thousands of people are dying from (painkillers) and there’s not one case of people dying from the hemp plant,” McMahon said at the Cannabis World Congress and Business Expo.

Since retiring from football in 1996, McMahon has been diagnosed with the early onset of dementia as a result of concussions that he sustained in his career.

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Free-agent offensive tackle Eugene Monroe believes that the NFL should reconsider its stance against marijuana and is the only active player that has been vocal about a change. In March, he said marijuana would also eliminate the concern that some players have over getting addicted to pain medication.