JournalismRead It: Patrick Hruby's Story About Medical Marijuana In Sports
Guys popped pills, Vicodin and Oxycontin, serious stuff, at first a few and then a few more. Guys took injections, Marcaine and Toradol, potent liquid lifelines that wouldn't be out of place in a trauma ward. Jackson did the same, swinging the rubber hammer. The shots made him uneasy. The pills made him groggy. Still, the sport remained a demolition derby, only without the cars. And so Jackson coped with the pain, in his own, personal way.
Sometimes, at night, he smoked marijuana.
"I never smoked weed before practice or games, before going to work," Jackson says. "I didn't think that was a good idea. I had no desire to be a stoner. But as the season would wear on and I would be in more and more pain, I found find myself smoking a little bit. It helped the pain. It helped my mind get away from the game. I think it allowed me not to dive too far down into the opioid [pain-killing drugs]."
Understand: Jackson didn't need to get high. He needed to get well. He didn't need to make a late-night Fourth Meal run to Taco Bell; he needed to make punishing catches over the middle. Marijuana fit the bill.
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