Much like current and ex-athletes, former NFL running back Tiki Barber is diving right into the ever-booming marijuana business after he recently launched an investment firm to back young marijuana and cannabis startups.
During a recent interview with FOX Business, the former New York Giants all-pro running back went into discussing his playing days and revealed just how easy it was to escape the drug tests back when he played.
Via FOX Business:
“Former New York Giants running-back-turned-entrepreneur Tiki Barber says despite the NFL’s tough policies surrounding marijuana use, back when he played the game the league’s tests were easy to beat.
“We always used to call it like the ‘dummy test’ because you know when the test is going to happen so just be clean and as long as you’re not in the program you can probably get away with it even if they technically know that it’s happening,” Barber told FOX Business.”
The 43-year-old made it clear that he is not a marijuana user, but does sometimes dabble in CBD-infused products for pain management. CBD products, or products with cannabidiol, contain the non-psychoactive component of marijuana.
“We’ve seen the punitive nature with which the NFL attacks users of cannabis and I believe a lot of these guys are just self-medicating. They don’t want to be caught in the opioid addiction crisis that has affected a lot of former players because of the constant damage to your knees and your joints and that’s not even to mentioning the head trauma,” he said. He also added that contrary to popular belief, he believes only 20 to 30 percent of NFL athletes actually use marijuana.
“It’s an evolving conversation with the league and I’m sure come 2020 or 2021 with a new collective bargaining agreement going to be negotiated, it’s going to be a talking point. Guys are tired of managing their pain with things that are going to destroy their livers and make their lives down the line very untenable in some ways,” Barber said.
