70 Athletes, Hedge Fund Manager Join Cannabis Not-For-Profit, Tout CBD's Benefits

Athletes For CARE — community, advocacy, research and education — is an organization that includes more than 70 professional athletes from various sports, aims to involve its members in studies analyzing how cannabinoids could treat neurodegenerative diseases such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy and traumatic brain injury.

Emily Paxhia, co-founder and managing director of the cannabis hedge fund Poseidon Asset Management, recently jointed the not-for-profit's board of directors.

“Many people do not realize the sacrifices that our beloved professional athletes make to stay in the game and how these sacrifices can impact their lives while they are playing and after they retire," Paxhia told Benzinga.

"There are so many reasons to support our heroes. They bring our society such positive memories and shared experiences [and] we should want to be sure they are shepherded through and beyond their careers with care." 

Athletes And CBD 

Marijuana's adoption in sports is ongoing.

Earlier this year, the World Anti-Doping Agency removed cannabidiol from its list of banned substances. The NFL and the NBA still consider CBD a banned substance.

Nate Jackson, retired NFL player and A4C co-founder and board member, said CBD is banned by the NFL because the football league "doesn't understand it."

Many NFL players use CBD to manage pain and help protect their brains, he said.

"'Marijuana has always been a banned substance in the NFL. And the NFL is resistant to change." 

Jackson said cannabis can help solve many of the league's problems.

"They’ll see that cannabis instead of pain pills saves money. They will also see that cannabis is a neuroprotectant — meaning it protects the brain in advance of a brain injury." 

Riley Cote, A4C's NHL ambassador, told Benzinga that CBD plays an important role in his recovery process. 

"It has helped me mitigate the collateral damage from the concussions I sustained during my career. It has also added another dimension to my sleep. I've always been a pretty good sleeper, but using CBD before bed puts me into another league of sleep."

The drug provides Cote with "a sense of general well-being" and has both anti-inflammatory and calming properties, he said. 

Javier Hasse contributed to this article.

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Public domain photo of the cannabidiol molecule via Wikimedia.