Former NFL players and medical marijuana advocates have been usingwhat is probably the largest platform of the entire year to get their point across: Super Bowl Week. A panel comprised of the NFL greats and experts discussed medical marijuana as a natural alternative to opiates for treatment of sports injuries especially concussions all too common among football players. The event Cannabis in Professional Sports sponsored by Vapen CBD and Merry Jane was held on Wednesday at the Revention Music Center in Houston Texas. Marijuana is currently on the list of substances banned by the NFL but several former players are hoping to change that. If an NFL player tests positive for weed he can be fined suspended or kicked out of the league. Members of the panel included former New Orleans Saints lineman Kyle Turley who said he became addicted to opioids prescribed to him for injuries sustained as a college and professional football player. [I had] constant thoughts of suicide and depression and rage and all these things that were neurologically disrupting my life and I cant say enough about making that transition said Turley. Turley said back in 2015 that he would have considered another sport if he had known the long-term effect that prescription painkillers taken during his eight-year NFL career would have on his body. Turley waspart ofa class-action lawsuit filed in 2014over the use of painkillers prescribed by league teams. Now Turley doesnt use anything but cannabis. I dont take an aspirin to this day an Aleve an Advil nothing. I have a strict cannabis regiment that I use he explained. Jim McMahon former NFL quarterback and two-time Super Bowl champion has also been open with his struggles with opiate addiction. Marijuana is not a drug said McMahon. Its a medicinal herb. Drugs happen only when man puts their hands on it. McMahons mission is to remove the stigma related to cannabis and promote its benefits not just for current and former NFL players but for the general public reported Click2Houston. Its proven to help millions of people. There are no side effects other than you may get a little hungry added McMahon [but] its never killed anybody. Eddie Boo Williams former New Orleans Saints tight end talked about how he lost all hope five years agoandplanned to kill himself on the railroad tracks near the teams headquarters. He survived thankfully and now spends his time as a speaker and advocate for ex-players struggling with depression and head injuries. I went through a real bad depression and laid down on the railroad tracks and tried to commit suicide myself so it was just by the grace of God that I found God and found cannabis as well said Williams. ESPNs Outside the Linescovered the event which event producer Rory Mendoza greatly appreciated. It brings even more credibility to what we are trying to accomplish and helps us spread the word to the masses about the benefits of cannabis and how it can help professional athletes said Mendoza. Read More About Pot and the NFL:Is This a Secret Loophole in the NFLs Pot Ban?Pot and the NFL: Nate JacksonPot and the NFL: Ricky WilliamsPot and the NFL: Jake PlummerTop NFL Doctors Finally Show an Interest in Medical MarijuanaBaltimore Ravens Eugene Monroe Donates $80K to Medical Marijuana ResearchWATCH: How Cannabis Will Save the NFL6 Things We Learned from the New Report on Marijuana Use in the NFLNFL Superstar Blasts the Leagues Marijuana PolicyWhat Does It Take to Stay in the NFL? You Dont Want to Know You can keep up with all of HIGH TIMES marijuana newsright here. by Maureen Meehan at High Times