Why pro athletes are flocking to CBD, from Lamar Odom to Bubba Watson
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Lamar Odom #7 of the Los Angeles Lakers speaks during a news conference at the Lakers training
facility on May 11, 2011 in El Segundo. (Credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Suddenly, the pro sports world is gaga over CBD products.
As the marijuana legal landscape in America has rapidly changed on a state-by-state basis, companies big and small are in a frenzy to launch products with cannabidiol (a cannabis extract that does not contain THC), from supplements to pain relief rubs to gummy bears to dog treats to bath oils.
Those companies are eager to make sponsorship deals, and they’re finding those opportunities in the sports world.
“CBD is a miracle drug, and it's a drug I'm proud to say I partake in every day,” Odom told Yahoo Finance in an extensive interview this week for the release of his revealing new memoir. “It helps me with my anxiety, anxiety for me was big because it led to poor decision-making. So for me to be able to curb that is important. Any kind of ailment you may have, whether it's dry skin, to a scrape, to a cut, any inflammation in your body, your joints, your bones, take a drop, put it on, it heals right up.”
Boxing legend Mike Tyson launched a cannabis line. NFL alum Ricky Williams launched a CBD product line. And Lamar Odom, the former NBA star and ex-husband of Khloe Kardashian, has his own brand of CBD products called Odom 7.
Aurora Cannabis signed a multi-year, multi-million dollar partnership with the UFC. Canopy Growth teamed up with the NHL Alumni Association for a cannabis research trial.
North Carolina holding company Level Brands acquired CBD brand CBDMD last year, then in May changed its company name to CBDMD and its stock ticker to YCBD, and has since signed endorsement deals with pro golfer Bubba Watson, Bellator fighter Rampage Jackson, and Ice Cube’s Big3 basketball league.
MMA fighter Rampage Jackson praises the health benefits of CBD just as forcefully. “It works, and it changed my life,” he told Yahoo Finance in May.
I use it on my hands and left shoulder, it does help quite a bit.
These over-the-top raves from athletes about the new “miracle drug” become hard to take seriously.
But golfer Bubba Watson says another reason CBD is so appealing to pro athletes is as an approved alternative to banned substances. Watson signed an endorsement deal with CBDMD even though the PGA Tour sent a notice to golfers in April warning them that CBD products “have limited government regulation and may contain THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis that is prohibited.” The PGA Tour does not prohibit CBD, but does suspend players for using marijuana.
I wonder what the PGA's "tolerance" level is?